Table · Grade 5
Branches of linguistics
Eleven terms: what each branch of linguistics studies and what its name means.
All materials
The lessons are in Russian; titles and summaries are in English.
Found: 136 materials
Theory note · Grade 5
Text and types of speech
What a text is and how narration, description and reasoning differ.
Theory note · Grade 5
The speech situation
Who speaks to whom, where and why — and how this shapes the style of speech.
Table · Grade 5
Functional styles
The colloquial style and four bookish styles: features, function and where they are used.
Theory note · Grade 5
How to identify the style of a text
A ten-step plan: from topic and speech situation to a conclusion about style.
Theory note · Grade 5
Retelling a text (izlozhenie)
Kinds of retelling, an eleven-step plan and ways to compress a text.
Theory note · Grade 5
Short essay: a work plan
Five steps for a short essay: aim, plan, topic, checking and reading aloud.
Theory note · Grade 5
Correcting your mistakes
What to do with each kind of mistake: dictionary words, spelling rules, analyses, transcription, speech.
Theory note · Grade 5
Speech sounds: vowels and consonants
How many vowel and consonant sounds and letters Russian has, and which consonants come in pairs.
Theory note · Grade 5
Phonetic analysis of a word
How to analyse a word sound by sound (using «льётся») and how tricky letter clusters are pronounced.
Theory note · Grade 5
Intonation: expressive speech
Five tools of expressive speech and a marked-up example from a poem.
Table · Grade 5
Synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, paronyms
How words relate by meaning, sound and spelling — from synonyms to homographs.
Theory note · Grade 5
Morphemes and their kinds
What a morpheme is, its kinds, and how it differs from a sound and a word.
Theory note · Grade 5
Morphemic analysis
Six steps of morphemic analysis, using the word «книжный».
Theory note · Grade 5
Parts of speech
Independent and function parts of speech, interjections and onomatopoeia; the TT shape for each.
Theory note · Grade 5
The noun
What a noun names, which questions it answers and what features it has.
Theory note · Grade 5
Noun cases and declensions
The six cases with their questions and helper words, and the three noun declensions.
Theory note · Grade 5
Proper and common nouns; animate and inanimate nouns
How to tell proper from common nouns and animate from inanimate ones.
Theory note · Grade 5
Noun gender: common gender and tricky words
What common gender is, how to agree job titles, and the gender of tricky words.
Theory note · Grade 5
Heteroclitic and indeclinable nouns
The ten nouns in -mya plus «путь»; how to find the gender of indeclinable nouns.
Theory note · Grade 5
The adjective
What an adjective expresses, which questions it answers, how it changes and how to parse it.
Theory note · Grade 5
The verb
What a verb expresses, its fixed and changing features and its role in a sentence.
Theory note · Grade 5
Verb aspect and tense
Perfective and imperfective aspect; how verbs change in the past, present and future.
Theory note · Grade 5
Roots with vowel alternation (a): final consonant and suffix -a-
When the vowel in a root depends on the root's final consonant or on the suffix -a- after it.
Theory note · Grade 5
Roots with vowel alternation (b): stress and meaning
When the vowel in a root depends on stress or on the root's meaning.
Theory note · Grade 5
Prefixes: invariable ones and those ending in -z / -s
Which prefixes never change and how to choose z or s at the end of a prefix.
Theory note · Grade 5
Y or I after prefixes and after ts
When a root after a prefix starts with y or i, and how to choose the letter after ts.
Theory note · Grade 5
O or Yo after sibilants in the root
How to choose O or Yo after sibilants in a stressed root, plus the words to memorise.
Theory note · Grade 5
O or E (Yo) after sibilants and ts in suffixes and endings
How to choose o, e or yo after sibilants and ts in suffixes and endings.
Theory note · Grade 5
Hard and soft signs: dividing signs and after sibilants
Where the dividing hard and soft signs go, and when a soft sign follows a sibilant at the end of a word.
Theory note · Grade 5
NE with nouns
When ne is joined to a noun and when it is written separately.
Theory note · Grade 5
Unstressed noun endings
Which letter to write in unstressed genitive, dative and prepositional endings of each declension.
Theory note · Grade 5
NE with adjectives
Three cases where ne is joined to an adjective and four where it is written separately.
Theory note · Grade 5
Verb conjugation and unstressed endings
How to find a verb's conjugation from its infinitive and choose the unstressed personal ending.
Theory note · Grade 5
Verb suffixes -ova- (-eva-) and -yva- (-iva-)
How to choose the verb suffix using the first-person present form.
Theory note · Grade 5
The phrase (word combination)
What a phrase is, what is not a phrase, and the kinds of phrases by head word.
Theory note · Grade 5
The sentence and parsing it
Features of a sentence, school underlining marks and a model parse.
Theory note · Grade 5
Main parts of the sentence
Subject and predicate: what they mean, what expresses them and when a dash goes between them.
Table · Grade 5
Secondary parts of the sentence
Attribute, object and adverbial: questions, meaning, typical forms and underlining.
Theory note · Grade 5
Kinds of adverbials
Eight kinds of adverbials by meaning and the questions they answer.
Theory note · Grade 5
Homogeneous parts and the generalising word
Features of homogeneous parts and three patterns with a generalising word.
Theory note · Grade 5
The complex sentence
Compound, complex and asyndetic sentences: patterns and conjunctions.
Theory note · Grade 5
Direct speech: punctuation patterns
Five punctuation patterns for direct speech and the author's words.
Theory note · Grade 6
Describing a painting: an essay plan
A five-step plan for describing a painting and tips to make the description vivid.
Theory note · Grade 6
Native and borrowed words, professional terms and dialect words
Vocabulary by origin and by use: native, borrowed, professional and dialect words.
Theory note · Grade 6
Obsolete words: archaisms and historicisms
How archaisms differ from historicisms; old words for parts of the body; proverbs with obsolete words.
Table · Grade 6
Old Russian measures of length and weight
Arshin, versta, vershok, sazhen and other historicisms in modern units.
Theory note · Grade 6
Set phrases (idioms)
What makes a set phrase, where idioms come from, with examples from the notebook.
Theory note · Grade 6
Tropes
Words used figuratively: epithet, metaphor and its kinds, synecdoche, irony, antonomasia, oxymoron.
Theory note · Grade 6
Figures of speech and sound devices
Alliteration, assonance, anaphora, antithesis, parcellation and other expressive devices.
Theory note · Grade 6
Ways of forming words
Morphemic and non-morphemic ways of forming words, with examples from the notebook.
Theory note · Grade 6
Classes of adjectives
Qualitative, relative and possessive adjectives: meaning, suffixes and properties.
Theory note · Grade 6
Degrees of comparison of adjectives
Simple and compound comparative and superlative forms; irregular forms.
Theory note · Grade 6
The numeral
What a numeral means, its classes by meaning and by structure, and its role in a sentence.
Theory note · Grade 6
Declension of numerals
How 50–80, 200–400, 500–900, fractions, sorok, devyanosto, sto and poltora decline.
Theory note · Grade 6
Collective numerals
Which collective numerals exist, which words they combine with and how they decline.
Table · Grade 6
Noun, adjective, numeral compared
Summary table of three nominal parts of speech: questions, meaning, features and role.
Table · Grade 6
Pronouns: nine classes
What a pronoun is and what each of the nine classes points to.
Theory note · Grade 6
Personal and reflexive pronouns
Person and number of personal pronouns, their declension, and the reflexive «себя».
Theory note · Grade 6
Interrogative and relative pronouns
The same words: in a question they are interrogative, in a complex sentence they are relative.
Theory note · Grade 6
Indefinite and negative pronouns
How indefinite and negative pronouns are formed, how they change and how they are written with prepositions.
Theory note · Grade 6
Possessive pronouns
How to tell possessive его, её, их from personal pronouns and how possessives decline.
Theory note · Grade 6
Demonstrative pronouns
What demonstrative pronouns do, how they change and which sentence role they take.
Theory note · Grade 6
Determinative pronouns
Ves', kazhdyy, sam, samyy and others: meaning, sentence role, sam vs samyy.
Theory note · Grade 6
Transitive and reflexive verbs
How to tell whether a verb is transitive, and why reflexive verbs are always intransitive.
Table · Grade 6
Verb moods
Indicative, conditional and imperative mood: meaning, formation and how they change.
Theory note · Grade 6
Morphological analysis of a verb
A five-step plan for parsing a verb, with a model.
Theory note · Grade 6
One tense used for another
How the present tense is used with future or past meaning.
Theory note · Grade 6
Prefixes pre- and pri-
The meanings of the prefixes pre- and pri- and word pairs that are easy to confuse.
Theory note · Grade 6
Pol- and polu- (half)
When pol- takes a hyphen, is joined or is separate, and why polu- is always joined.
Theory note · Grade 6
N and NN in adjectives
Which adjective suffixes take one n, which take two, and the exceptions.
Theory note · Grade 6
Adjective suffixes -k- and -sk-
When to write -k- or -sk-, and what happens to consonants where stem meets suffix.
Theory note · Grade 6
Compound adjectives: joined or hyphenated
How to decide whether a compound adjective is written as one word or with a hyphen.
Theory note · Grade 6
Spelling numerals
Where numerals take a soft sign, how compound ordinals are written, and holiday names.
Vocabulary · Grade 6
Grade 6 dictionary words
Nine groups of grade 6 dictionary words to memorise and practise.
Theory note · Grade 7
The interview
The interview as a journalistic genre: aims, kinds and how to prepare.
Theory note · Grade 7
Questions for an interview
Six kinds of questions, useful phrases and a plan for preparing an interview.
Vocabulary · Grade 7
Obsolete adverbs
Old adverbs found in literature: what they mean, with examples.
Theory note · Grade 7
The participle
What a participle expresses, its verb and adjective features, and what voice is.
Table · Grade 7
Forming participles: suffixes
Which stems the four kinds of participles come from and which suffixes each takes.
Theory note · Grade 7
Short participles; verb and participle compared
How short participles are formed and change, and how a participle differs from a verb.
Theory note · Grade 7
The gerund (deeprichastie)
What a gerund expresses, its suffixes, and how ne is written with gerunds.
Theory note · Grade 7
The adverb
What an adverb expresses, which questions it answers, its classes and role.
Theory note · Grade 7
Degrees of comparison of adverbs
Which adverbs form degrees of comparison and what the simple and compound forms look like.
Theory note · Grade 7
Words of the state category
What state words mean and how to tell them from adverbs.
Theory note · Grade 7
The preposition
What a preposition does, which relations it expresses, and its kinds by structure.
Theory note · Grade 7
Derived prepositions
Where derived prepositions come from, which case they take and how they are spelled.
Theory note · Grade 7
Conjunctions. Coordinating conjunctions
What conjunctions do, coordinating vs subordinating, and six groups of coordinating conjunctions.
Table · Grade 7
Subordinating conjunctions
Eight groups of subordinating conjunctions by meaning, with questions and examples.
Theory note · Grade 7
Particles: classes
Form-building and meaning particles; seven groups of meaning particles.
Theory note · Grade 7
Particles: spelling and analysis
Hyphenated particles, kinds by structure and origin, and morphological analysis.
Theory note · Grade 7
Particles NE and NI
The meanings of the particles ne and ni and set phrases with ni.
Theory note · Grade 7
The interjection
What interjections express, where they come from, and their kinds by structure and meaning.
Theory note · Grade 7
Interjections: punctuation and spelling; onomatopoeia
How interjections are punctuated, when they become a sentence part, how they are spelled, and onomatopoeia.
Theory note · Grade 7
N and NN in participles and verbal adjectives
How four signs tell a participle (NN) from a verbal adjective (N).
Theory note · Grade 7
N and NN in short participles and adjectives
Why a short participle has one n while a short adjective keeps the same as the full form.
Theory note · Grade 7
NE with participles
When ne is joined to a participle and when it is written separately.
Theory note · Grade 7
NE with adverbs; NE and NI in adverbs
Joining or separating ne with adverbs in -o/-e, and choosing ne or ni in adverbs.
Theory note · Grade 7
Adverb suffixes; soft sign after sibilants; N and NN
O or E after sibilants, final A or O, soft sign after sibilants, and N/NN in adverbs.
Theory note · Grade 7
Hyphens in adverbs
Four cases where adverbs are hyphenated, plus exceptions.
Theory note · Grade 7
Adverbs: joined or separate
When adverbs formed with prepositions are joined or separate, plus a list of tricky adverbs.
Vocabulary · Grade 7
Spelling dictionary, part 2
Eight groups of tricky words: pre-/pri-, verbs, numerals, N/NN, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, particles.
Theory note · Grade 7
Gerund phrases: when no commas are needed
Three cases where a gerund or gerund phrase is not set off by commas.
Theory note · Grade 8
Functions of language and styles
Five functions of language from the notebook and how function determines style.
Vocabulary · Grade 8
Stress dictionary (А–Д)
Words А–Д that are often mis-stressed: the correct form to memorise.
Vocabulary · Grade 8
Stress dictionary (Ж–О)
Words Ж–О that are often mis-stressed: the correct form to memorise.
Vocabulary · Grade 8
Stress dictionary (П–Я)
Words П–Я that are often mis-stressed: the correct form to memorise.
Theory note · Grade 8
Separating and setting-off punctuation
A punctuation map: where marks separate parts and where they set words and phrases off.
Theory note · Grade 8
Phrases: types of subordinate link
Agreement, government and adjunction; indivisible phrases; a model analysis.
Theory note · Grade 8
Kinds of sentences; word order
Six features used to classify sentences, and direct and inverted word order.
Table · Grade 8
How the subject is expressed (a): one word
Subjects expressed by a noun, pronoun, numeral, participle or infinitive.
Table · Grade 8
How the subject is expressed (b): word combinations
Subjects expressed by a phrase, an idiom, a compound name or an invariable word.
Theory note · Grade 8
Kinds of predicate
Simple verbal, compound verbal and compound nominal predicates.
Theory note · Grade 8
The dash between subject and predicate
When a dash goes between subject and predicate and when it does not, with notebook examples.
Table · Grade 8
Agreement of predicate with subject
When the predicate is singular, when plural, and when both are possible.
Theory note · Grade 8
Attributes: agreed and non-agreed
What an attribute is and what expresses agreed and non-agreed attributes.
Theory note · Grade 8
Apposition (a): what it is
What an apposition is, what it denotes and how to tell it from the word it describes.
Theory note · Grade 8
Apposition (b): the hyphen
When an apposition is joined with a hyphen and when it is written separately.
Table · Grade 8
One-member sentences
Five kinds of one-member sentences: what the main member is and what it means.
Theory note · Grade 8
Incomplete sentences; parcellation
How an incomplete sentence differs from a one-member sentence; what parcellation is.
Theory note · Grade 8
Homogeneous parts: punctuation
Patterns of homogeneous parts with and without commas.
Theory note · Grade 8
Generalising word with homogeneous parts
Five patterns with a generalising word and examples from the notebook.
Theory note · Grade 8
Homogeneous and heterogeneous attributes
How to tell whether attributes are homogeneous and need a comma between them.
Theory note · Grade 8
Separated appositions
When an apposition is set off by commas, when not, and when a dash replaces the comma.
Theory note · Grade 8
Separated attributes: an algorithm
Three questions that decide whether an attribute is set off by commas.
Theory note · Grade 8
Phrases with KAK: comma or not
An algorithm for when a phrase with kak is set off by commas and when it is not.
Theory note · Grade 8
Separated objects
Which prepositions make an object separated and why vmesto is an exception.
Table · Grade 8
Introductory words: groups by meaning
Nine groups of introductory words with examples and how to punctuate them.
Theory note · Grade 8
Introductory word or sentence part?
Odnako, voobshche, nakonets in different roles, and words that are never introductory.
Theory note · Grade 8
Introductory clauses and inserted constructions
How introductory constructions are expressed, what inserted constructions are and how to punctuate them.
Theory note · Grade 9
Analysing a poem
What to look for when analysing a poem, with examples from the notebook's analyses.
Theory note · Grade 9
Compound sentences: when no comma before «и»
Five cases where no comma separates the parts of a compound sentence before «и».
Theory note · Grade 9
Complex sentences: attributive and object clauses
Patterns of attributive and object clauses, conjunctions and relative words, and how to tell them apart.
Theory note · Grade 9
The comma where two conjunctions meet
When a comma goes between meeting conjunctions such as «что если», «и когда».
Table · Grade 9
Adverbial clauses
Ten kinds of adverbial clauses: questions, conjunctions and models.
Theory note · Grade 9
Quotations: how to punctuate
A quotation as direct speech, partial quotations, quotations inside a sentence, epigraphs.
