Unit 3

Outline
Conjunctions (и, а, но́)
Numbers
Present tense pseudo-quiz
The single-stem verb system
Learn to conjugate verbs by memorizing only one form
(Okay, and a few rules)

The conjunctions и, а, and но́
Three conjunctions that correspond to the two English conjunctions ‘and’ and ‘but’
но́ is stressed, the other two are unstressed
Always write a comma before но́ and а
Do not write a comma before и (most of the time)
Never use a “serial comma”
Ivan, Dmitrij, and Fedor live in Moscow.
Ivan, Dmitrij and Fedor live in Moscow.
Ива́н, Дми́трий и Фёдор живу́т в Москве́.

и
и combines two things that are alike, with no expression of contrast or contradiction
Мы́ чита́ем и пи́шем хорошо́.
The subject is the same (мы́) and we do both things well.
The only difference is that there are two activities.
Мы́ пи́шем хорошо́ и вы́ пи́шете хорошо́.
The activity is the same (writing) and everyone does it well.
The only difference is that there are two subjects.

но́
но́ implies contradiction
One clause sets up an expectation that is then frustrated in the other
Мы́ пи́шем хорошо́, но́ ме́дленно.
Most people who write well don’t have to qualify such a statement by adding that they have to do it slowly.
Good writing suggests writing at a normal speed, so having to do it slowly frustrates the normal expectation.
Usually one difference (“we” and “write” are constant, but the adverb [“well”/“slowly”] changes)

а
а implies contrast, but not contradiction
Мы́ пи́шем хорошо́, а вы́ пи́шете пло́хо.
On the one hand, we write well, but, on the other hand, you write poorly
We write well, whereas you write poorly.
There is no expectation that if we write well, you should also write well (that is, there is no contradiction)
Reversing the order of the clauses doesn’t change the meaning
Usually two differences (“write” is constant, but “we”/“you” and “well”/“poorly” varies)

Conjunction practice
Ма́ма говори́т по-ру́сски ___ па́па говори́т по-ру́сски.
Ма́ма говори́т по-ру́сски и па́па говори́т по-ру́сски.
Мама говори́т по-ру́сски ___ она́ не чита́ет по-ру́сски.
Мама говори́т по-ру́сски, но́ она́ не чита́ет по-ру́сски.
Ма́ма говори́т по-ру́сски ___ па́па говори́т по-англи́йски.
Ма́ма говори́т по-ру́сски а па́па говори́т по-англи́йски.
Ма́ма говори́т по-ру́сски но́ па́па говори́т по-англи́йски.

New numbers
You already know 0–10, the teens, 20, 30, 40, and 50
This unit adds 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, which lets you count up to 199
Form compound numbers in Russian as you do in English (but with no hyphens)
String the pieces together
One hundred twenty-eight =
сто́ два́дцать во́семь
Practice in recitation

Learning numbers
Memorize 0–10
Teens sound like the units value plus –надцать
оди́ннадцать, двена́дцать, трина́дцать, …
20 and 30 sound like the units value plus
–дцать
два́дцать, три́дцать
50, 60, 70, 80 sound like the units value plus
–десят (note: no soft sign at the end)
пятьдеся́т, шестьдеся́т, се́мьдесят, во́семьдесят
Memorize 40, 90, and 100, which are peculiar
со́рок
девяно́сто
сто́

Numbers and the soft sign
Numbers never have more than one soft sign
Numbers through 30 with a soft sign have the soft sign at the end
пя́ть, ше́сть, се́мь, во́семь, де́вять
оди́ннадцать, двена́дцать, трина́дцать, …
де́сять, два́дцать, три́дцать
Numbers from 50 up with a soft sign have the soft sign in the middle
пятьдеся́т, шестьдеся́т, се́мьдесят, во́семьдесят

How to use numbers
Surprisingly, numbers are not normally followed by the nominative plural (!)
Numbers are normally followed by case forms we haven’t learned yet (coming in Unit 6)
Notice SAM, p. 57, ex. Б, with different forms of the word for “ruble” after different numbers
This means that we don’t yet know how to count things
We do know how to recognize telephone numbers, addresses, prices, etc.
We don’t know how to say “I have six cats and four dogs”

Present tense pseudo-quiz
In the ёт conjugation, when do we write –у (e.g., я́ пишу́, они́ пи́шут) and when do we write –ю (e.g., я́ зна́ю, они́ зна́ют)?
It depends on the place of stress.
It depends on whether there is a /j/ sound before the ending.
It depends on whether the other forms have е or ё.
It must be memorized for each verb.

Present tense pseudo-quiz
In –ёт conjugation verbs, when do we write ё (e.g., о́н живёт) and when do we write е (e.g., о́н пи́шет)?
It depends on the place of stress.
It depends on whether there is a /j/ sound before the ending.
It depends on whether the они́ form uses –ут or –ят.
It must be memorized for each verb.

Present tense pseudo-quiz
What is the difference in stress patterns between conjugation type (–ёт vs –ит) and stress?
–ит conjugation verbs always have mobile stress.
–ёт conjugation verbs always have end stress.
–ит conjugation verbs always have end stress.
There is no correlation between conjugation type and stress.

Present tense pseudo-quiz
In –ит conjugation verbs, when is the ending for the я́ form –у and when is it –ю?
It depends on the place of stress.
It depends on whether there is a /j/ sound before the ending.
It is always –ю.
It must be memorized for each verb.
(As far as we know.)

Present tense pseudo-quiz
In –ит conjugation verbs, what is the ending of the они́ form?
ут
ят
unstressed ют
stressed ю́т

How to learn verb forms
What forms should you memorize, and which ones can you derive by rule?
The infinitive has no predicative power
чита́ть, чита́ю
писа́ть, пишу́ (not *писа́ю)
жи́ть, живу́
говори́ть, говорю́ (not *говори́ву)
The present tense has no predictive power
живу́, жи́ть
пишу́, писа́ть (not *пи́ть)
Your textbook tells you to memorize four forms for each verb: infinitive plus three present-tense (я́, ты́, они́)
You can cut that down to just one form per verb

The single-stem verb system
For each verb, memorize a single stem
Derive all forms from that single stem by rules
Pro: Much less memorization
Are you comfortable with learning systems and applying rules?
Con: The stem and the rules are abstract
Would you prefer to avoid abstraction, even if doing so requires more memorization?
Disclosure: The presentation here is slightly simplified because you know only seven verbs

Stems and endings
As with nouns and adjectives, think in terms of sounds, not letters
Like nouns and adjectives, verb forms are made by combining stems and endings
Stems may end in consonant sounds or vowel sounds
Endings may begin with consonant sounds or vowel sounds

Verb stems

The parts of a Russian verb form
Root
Always ends in a consonant
Lexical part of the verb, e.g., /čit/ ‘read’
Suffix
Provides information about how the verb is conjugated, e.g., /-aj+/
Stem
Combination of root plus suffix, e.g., /čit-áj+/
Some verbs are unsuffixed, e.g., /živ+/
Grammatical ending
Tense, number, person, and gender
e.g., /u/ in чита́ю = first person singular present tense

Working with stems and endings
Think of words and their parts in terms of sounds, not letters
чита́ю has five letters but six sounds /čitáju/
The stem is the sounds /čitáj/
The ending is the sound /u/
The stem is not a real word
You have to add an ending to it to make it a real word
The stem is useful because you can derive real words from it by following the rules
If you memorize one stem for each verb, plus the general rules, you don’t need to memorize any other forms

Suffixes and conjugations
There are two conjugations in Russian
–ёт and –ит
Suffixes indicate conjugation unambiguously
There are about a dozen suffixes
You know four suffix types
/–aj+/, /–a+/, /–i+/, and non-suffixed verbs
Of the types you know
/–i+/ is ит-conjugation
all others are ёт-conjugation

–ёт conjugation
As always in Russian, unstressed ё loses its dots and is pronounced like е.
живёт /živ’ót/, пи́шет /píšet/, and чита́ет /čitájet/ have the same ending: /–'ot/
живу́ /živú/, пишу́ /pišú/, and чита́ю /čitáju/ have the same ending: /–u/

–ит conjugation

The two conjugations

Juncture
The meeting of stem and ending is called juncture
When two unlike things meet (C+V or V+C)
Stable juncture
Nothing happens
When two like things meet (C+C or V+V)
Unstable juncture
Something (predictable) happens

When two unlike things meet
(C+V or V+C)
Stable juncture
Just slap the stem and ending together
/čit–áj+u/ = чита́ю (C+V)
/pis–a+l/ = писа́л (V+C)

When two like things meet
(C+C or V+V)
Unstable juncture
Something (predictable!) happens
C+C: Truncation of the first item
/živ+t’/ = жи́ть
/v/ is truncated
V+V: Truncation of the first item and mutation of the preceding consonant
/p’is–a+u/ = пишу́
/a/ is truncated and /s/ mutates to /š/

Truncation is easy
No truncation at stable junctures (C+V, V+C)
Nothing interesting happens at stable junctures
At unstable junctures (C+C or V+V)
C+C truncation: delete the first consonant
/živ+t’/ = жи́ть /žit’/
/čit–áj+l/ = чита́л /čitál/
V+V truncation: delete the first vowel
/govor’–í+’u/ = говорю /govor’ú/
/govor’–í+iš/ = говори́шь /govoríš/

Mutation is easy
At V+V junctures, the consonant before the first vowel mutates (changes to another consonant)
V+V mutation
If a consonant mutates, it always mutates to the same thing
/r/ doesn’t mutate
/s/ mutates only to /š/
/govor’–í+u/
V+V truncation: /govor’u/
V+V mutation (/r/ doesn’t mutate): /govor’ú/ = говорю́
/p’is–a+u/
V+V truncation: /p’isu/
V+V mutation (/s/ mutates to /š/): /p’išú/ = пишу́

How do you know what mutates to what?
Your instructors tell you
So far
/r/ doesn’t mutate
This means that when you learn the verb дари́ть ‘to give,’ with the stem /dar’–i/, you will know that the я́ form has to be я́ дарю́ (truncation but no mutation)
/s/ always mutates to /š/
This means that when you learn the verb чеса́ть ‘scratch; comb,’ with the stem /čes–a+/, you will know that the я́ form has to be я́ чешу́ (truncation plus mutation)

Past tense
The past-tense endings are /l, la, lo, l’i/
All past-tense endings begin with a consonant sound
If the stem ends in a vowel sound (/p’is–a+/, /govor’–í+/)
Adding a past ending produces a stable juncture (V+C)
Just add the stem and ending
/p’is–a+l/ = писа́л
/govor’–í+la/ = говори́ла
If the stem ends in a consonant sound (/živ+/, /čit–áj+/)
Adding a past ending produces an unstable juncture (C+C)
Truncation of first consonant
/živ+l/ = жи́л
/čit–áj+la/ = чита́ла

Past tense

Infinitive
The infinitive ending for most verbs (and all verbs we know so far) is /t’/
The infinitive ending begins with a consonant sound
If the stem ends in a vowel sound (/p’is–a+/, /govor’–í+/)
Adding an infinitive ending produces a stable juncture (V+C)
Just add the stem and ending
/p’is–a+t’/ = писа́ть
/govor’–í+t’/ = говори́ть
If the stem ends in a consonant sound (/živ+/, /čit–áj+/)
Adding an infinitive produces an unstable juncture (C+C)
Truncation of first consonant
/živ+t’/ = жи́ть
/čit–áj+t’/ = чита́ть

How do you know the stem of a verb?
You can’t predict the stem from any single real form
Your textbook doesn’t tell you what the stem is
Your textbook authors don’t tell you about single stems; they tell you to memorize four separate forms
Your instructors tell you what the stem is

/rabót–aj+/ ‘work’
сейча́с я́
я́ рабо́таю /rabót–aj+u/
сейча́с ты́
ты́ рабо́таешь /rabót–aj+’oš/
сейча́с о́н
о́н рабо́тает /rabót–aj+’ot/
сейча́с мы́
мы́ рабо́таем /rabót–aj+’om/
сейча́с вы́
вы́ рабо́таете /rabót–aj+’ot’e/
сейча́с они́
они́ рабо́тают /rabót–aj+ut/
ра́ньше о́н
о́н рабо́тал /rabót–aj+l/
ра́ньше она́
она́ рабо́тала /rabót–aj+la/
ра́ньше они́
они́ рабо́тали /rabót–aj+l’i/
Infinitive
рабо́тать /rabót–aj+t’/

/čes–a+/ ‘scratch, comb’
сейча́с я́
я́ чешу́ /čes–a+u/
сейча́с ты́
ты́ че́шешь /čes–a+’oš/
сейча́с о́н
о́н че́шет /čes–a+’ot/
сейча́с мы́
мы́ че́шем /čes–a+’om/
сейча́с вы́
вы́ че́шете /čes–a+’ot’e/
сейча́с они́
они́ че́шут/čes–a+ut/
ра́ньше о́н
о́н чеса́л /čes–a+l/
ра́ньше она́
она́ чеса́ла /čes–a+la/
ра́ньше они́
они́ чеса́ли /čes–a+l’i/
Infinitive
чеса́ть /čes–a+t’/