Ruff Guide to Russian Language

Lesson 4: Basic Nouns/Pronouns

Next, I will give you the ability to discern between males and females (difficult these days I know) but in terms of speech of course! We will also cover some basic animal/object names in the Russian language. Hint: vodka is spoken as vodka.

Нож - Knife - Similar to other languages, Russian has a system of linked letters, that switch pronunciations depending on position within the word, because it is at the end of the word, 'Ж' becomes a 'Ш'. Pronounced: Nosh.

Вилка - Fork - To be pared with your 'Нож'! This word is nice and phonetic: spoken exactly as written. Pronounced: Veel-ka.

Тарелка - Plate - The last of our Russian table set, we have the plate. Pronounced: Ta-rill-ka.

Кошка - Cat - Here we have the first of our animals (besides you of course) everybody's favourite mouse slaying predator. Pronounced: Kosh-ka.

Мышь - Mouse - Next, we have these abhorrent (but pretty cute) rodents. Pronounced: Mish.

Птица - Bird - The humble bird, a simple word, what's not to like? Pronounced: Puh-Teetsa.

Небо - Sky - Another accursed O-switch word! Pronounced: Nye-ba.

Солнце - Sun - What else would be next? Pronounced: Soln-tse.

Мужчина - Man - Plain and sample, a man (NOT A BOY! DIFFERENT WORD!) Pronounced: Moozh-chin-aah.

Женщина - Woman - A nightmare to spell, here we have your opposite sex equivalent. Pronounced: Zhen-shina.

Next, i will teach you some very basic grammar rules, and the three main pronouns in the Russian language, have fun!

Он - He - To refer to males. Pronounced: On.

Она - She - For the opposite gender: the females. Pronounced: On-aah.

Они - They - For more than one person. Pronounced: On-ee.

So to finish up, I will teach you a very important grammar rule: the gender system. Neuter words end in an 'И' or 'Ы' Feminine words end in a 'А' or a 'Я' and Masculine words end with everything else; words ending with a hard/soft sign can be either, look them up you lazy bugger!

See you next time!