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Russian Grammar Index

Every Russian grammar topic, organised by CEFR level from absolute beginner to mastery. Find what you need to study, exactly when you need it.

📐 60+ grammar topics 📊 A1 through C2 🔗 Linked to full lessons
All Levels A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2
🔍
71 grammar topics
A1

A1 — Absolute Beginner

14 topics
The Cyrillic Alphabet
All 33 letters, sounds, writing and reading basics
Coming soon
Nouns: Gender (m/f/n)
Every noun is masculine, feminine or neuter — how to tell
Coming soon
Personal Pronouns
Я, ты, он, она, оно, мы, вы, они — forms and usage
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The Nominative Case
The subject of a sentence — the base form of every noun
Coming soon
The Accusative Case (basics)
Direct objects with inanimate nouns
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Present Tense: 1st Conjugation
-ать/-ять verbs: читать, знать, делать, работать
Coming soon
Present Tense: 2nd Conjugation
-ить/-еть verbs: говорить, любить, видеть, смотреть
Coming soon
To Be (быть) — Present
Omission of есть, past and future forms of быть
Coming soon
Есть / Нет — Existence
У меня есть... / У меня нет... — having and not having
Coming soon
Numbers 1–100
Cardinal numbers, pronunciation and basic agreement
Coming soon
Basic Negation with Не
Placing не before a verb or adjective
Coming soon
Question Words
Кто, что, где, когда, как, почему, сколько, какой
Coming soon
Telling the Time
Hours, half-past, quarter-to and common time expressions
Coming soon
Days, Months & Seasons
Vocabulary and the prepositions used with time expressions
Coming soon
A2

A2 — Elementary

12 topics
The Genitive Case
Possession, absence, and use after нет, numbers, and prepositions
Coming soon
The Prepositional Case
Location with в/на + Prepositional; talking about topics with о
Coming soon
The Dative Case
Indirect objects; мне, тебе, ему; age expressions with лет
Coming soon
Past Tense
Formation and gender agreement: -л/-ла/-ло/-ли
Coming soon
Future Tense (imperfective)
Analytical future: буду + infinitive
Coming soon
Adjective Agreement (Nominative)
Long-form adjectives agreeing in gender and number
Coming soon
Possessive Pronouns
Мой, твой, его, её, наш, ваш, их — all forms
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Motion Verbs: идти vs ходить
Unidirectional vs multidirectional; the basic pair
Coming soon
Prepositions of Place
В, на, у, за, над, под, перед, рядом с — location and direction
Coming soon
Numbers 100–1,000,000
Hundreds, thousands and millions with correct noun agreement
Coming soon
Diminutives (basics)
Adding -ик, -очка, -ечка for affectionate forms
Coming soon
Reflexive Verbs with -ся
Мыться, одеваться, называться — formation and use
Coming soon
B1

B1 — Independent User

14 topics
The Instrumental Case
Means, accompaniment, predicate nouns; с + Instrumental
Coming soon
All Six Cases: Complete Overview
Unified table of all case endings for all noun types
Coming soon
Verb Aspect: Imperfective vs Perfective
The central concept of Russian grammar — full introduction
Coming soon
Aspect in the Past Tense
Читал vs прочитал — process vs completion
Coming soon
Aspect in the Future Tense
Буду читать vs прочитаю — ongoing vs single event
Coming soon
Aspect with the Infinitive
After modal verbs: хотеть, мочь, нужно, надо + aspect choice
Coming soon
Verbs of Motion: Full System
All 14 basic pairs + the 12 prefixed forms
Coming soon
Short-form Adjectives
Болен, рад, готов, занят — predicative use
Coming soon
Comparative Adjectives
Forming and using comparatives: лучше, хуже, дороже, старше
Coming soon
Superlative Adjectives
Самый + adjective; superlatives in -ейший/-айший
Coming soon
Subordinate Clauses with Что
Я думаю, что… / Он знает, что…
Coming soon
Subordinate Clauses with Когда/Если
Time and conditional clauses at B1 level
Coming soon
Relative Clauses with Который
Who/which/that — declension of который in all cases
Coming soon
Negation: Ни…ни, Никто, Ничто
Double negation and negative pronouns/adverbs
Coming soon
B2

B2 — Upper Intermediate

14 topics
Active Participles (present)
Читающий, пишущий — formation and declension
Coming soon
Active Participles (past)
Читавший, написавший — formation and use
Coming soon
Passive Participles (present)
Читаемый, любимый — formation and stylistic register
Coming soon
Passive Participles (past)
Написанный, прочитанный — long and short forms
Coming soon
Verbal Adverbs (imperfective)
Читая, говоря — simultaneous actions
Coming soon
Verbal Adverbs (perfective)
Прочитав, сказав — sequential completed actions
Coming soon
The Conditional Mood (Subjunctive)
Бы + past tense; wishes, hypotheticals and polite requests
Coming soon
Indirect Speech
Он сказал, что… / Она спросила, когда…
Coming soon
Aspect: Nuance and Edge Cases
Negation, commands, generalisations and aspect choice
Coming soon
Prepositions: Full Reference
Every major preposition with its case(s) and meaning
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Word Formation: Prefixes
The 20 most productive prefixes with meanings and examples
Coming soon
Word Formation: Suffixes
Noun, adjective and verb suffixes — patterns and productivity
Coming soon
Numerals: Full System
Ordinals, collective numerals, fractions and agreement rules
Coming soon
Impersonal Constructions
Мне холодно, нужно, можно, нельзя, жаль — without a subject
Coming soon
C1

C1 — Advanced

11 topics
Participial Phrases in Context
Replacing relative clauses; formal and literary style
→
Adverbial Phrase Constructions
Complex verbal adverb phrases in written Russian
Coming soon
Register: Formal vs Colloquial
Choosing appropriate register; bureaucratic vs conversational
Coming soon
Particles: же, ведь, -то, ну
Discourse particles and their subtle functions in speech
Coming soon
Aspect in Complex Contexts
Negation, sequences, generalisations — advanced aspect choices
Coming soon
Mood and Modality
Expressing obligation, permission, possibility and necessity
Coming soon
Complex Conditionals
Real, unreal and past counterfactual conditions
Coming soon
Concessive Clauses
Хотя, несмотря на то что, как бы ни…
Coming soon
Emphasis and Word Order
Topic-comment structure; fronting and end-focus in Russian
Coming soon
Stylistic Synonymy
Choosing between near-synonyms for precision and register
Coming soon
Nominalisation
Converting verbs to nouns in formal and academic writing
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C2

C2 — Mastery

6 topics
Old Church Slavonic Influence
Church Slavonicisms in modern Russian: full/pleophonic pairs
Coming soon
Archaic and Poetic Grammar
Verb forms, pronouns and constructions in classical literature
Coming soon
Colloquial Grammar Deviations
How everyday speech differs from standard written Russian
Coming soon
Aspect in Literature
How great Russian writers exploit aspect for narrative effect
Coming soon
Syntactic Complexity
Long sentences, embedding and syntactic compression in prose
Coming soon
Semantic Prosody
Connotation, collocational restrictions and usage patterns
Coming soon

Quick Reference: The Six Cases

Case Question Masc. noun Fem. noun Neut. noun Key Use
Nominative Кто? Что? стол книга окно Subject of sentence
Accusative Кого? Что? стол / стола* книгу окно Direct object; motion to
Genitive Кого? Чего? стола книги окна Possession; нет; numbers
Dative Кому? Чему? столу книге окну Indirect object; age
Instrumental Кем? Чем? столом книгой окном Means; с (with); predicates
Prepositional О ком? О чём? столе книге окне в/на location; о (about)

* Animate masculine nouns take the Genitive form in Accusative.

Quick Reference: Verb Conjugation Patterns

1st Conjugation (-ать/-ять): читать
ячитаю
тычитаешь
он/оначитает
мычитаем
вычитаете
оничитают
2nd Conjugation (-ить): говорить
яговорю
тыговоришь
он/онаговорит
мыговорим
выговорите
ониговорят