Rodnaya Rech'' Contents AcknowledgementsPreface IntroductionPhonetics Syllables Vowels Consonants: Hard-soft pairs The hard sign and the soft sign Voiced and voiceless consonants Word stress: Stressed and unstressed vowelsMorphology: The composition of a word Morphological principle of spelling Writing unstressed vowels Spelling of prefixes Spelling of suffixes Spelling of unstressed vowels in the root Vowels and consonants of the root that cannot be checkedGrammar: Parts of speech Adverbs Nouns Gender How to determine a noun''s gender? Number ExceptionsSummary Chapter 1: How to describe peopleIn focus: Word meaning In focus: Form and structure Parts of speech: Adjectives and adverbs Noun-adjective agreement Adjectival endings Nuances of adjectival endings Superlative degree of adjectivesSummary Chapter 2: How to talk about daily routineCentral focus: The meaning of wordsCentral focus: The form of words Verbs The Infinitive Reflexive verbs Spelling of the particle - in reflexive verbs Verb tense Past tense Present tense and future tense Endings of conjugated verbs Consonant mutation Tricky verbs Verbs with the -- suffix Verbs of the type Irregular verbsSummary Chapter 3: How to describe past, present, and future eventsCentral focus: The meaning of wordsCentral focus: The form of wordsVerbal aspectImperfective and perfective forms of verbs Functions of verbal aspect Verbal aspect and tense Verbal aspect and adverbs Tricky aspectual pairsSummary Chapter 4: How to talk about family and friendsCentral focus: The meaning of wordsCentral focus: The form of words Grammatical case Genitive case of nouns Important nuances Adjectives and possessive pronouns in the genitive case Personal pronouns in the genitive case Functions of the genitive case Possession: Expressing the idea of ''having'' Expressing belonging: Whose? Attributive functionInsufficient amount of something, lack of something or absence of something or somebodySummaryChapter 5: How to describe a community where I liveCentral focus: The meaning of wordsCentral focus: The form of words Plural nouns in the genitive case Plural adjectives in the genitive case Important details on the form of the plural genitive The fill vowel Exceptions Additional function of the genitive case: countingSummary Chapter 6: How to talk about academic studiesCentral focus: The meaning of wordsCentral focus: The form of words Accusative of nouns and adjectives: Singular Personal pronouns in the accusative case Functions of the accusative case Function 1: Direct object Function 2: Direction and directionality Function 3: Accusative case with prepositions Accusative of nouns and adjectives: PluralSummary Chapter 7: How to talk about trips and travelCentral focus: The meaning of words Verbs of motion Directionality Conveyance: On foot vs. via transportation Prefixed verbs of motion Generalized meaning of verbs of motionCentral focus: The form of words Conjugation of verbs of motion Direction/destination and directionality Review of the accusative singular Verbs of positioning, self-positioning and location Review of the accusative pluralSummary Chapter 8: How to talk about feelings and emotionsCentral focus: The meaning of wordsCentral focus: The form of words Dative case of nouns Singular adjectives and possessive pronouns in the dative case Personal pronouns in the dative case Describing emotional states Plural nouns, adjectives and possessive pronouns in the dative case Verbs requiring the dative case Different endings--different meanings--different casesSummary Chapter 9: How to talk about where people liveCentral focus: The meaning of wordsCentral focus: The form of words Prepositional case of nouns Functions of the prepositional case Personal pronouns in the prepositional case Adjectives and possessive pronouns in the prepositional case Expressions of time in RussianSummary Chapter 10: How to talk about people''s interestsCentral focus: The meaning of wordsCentral focus: The form of words Instrumental case of nouns Functions of the instrumental case Adjectives and possessive pronouns in the instrumental case Personal pronouns in the instrumental case Verbs requiring the instrumental case The verb ''to be'' in the instrumental caseSummary Chapter 11: Tying it all togetherCategories of gender and numberCategories of case Subject and object Talking about places: Location, direction, point of departure Spatial prepositions Expressions of time Temporal prepositionsCategories of verbal tense and aspect Competition of aspect Verb government of cases Co-occurance of words Parting words.