Learn how to recognize an implied subject in Russian
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
Intro |
|---|
| Michael: Is it common to omit the subject in Russian sentences? |
| Saodat: And why? |
| Michael: At RussianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following scenario: Albina Arndt is in a bookstore with her friend, Sasha Lee. She points to a book and says, |
| "[Do you] see that book?" |
| Видишь ту книгу? (Vidish' tu knigu?) |
| Dialogue |
| Albina Arndt: Видишь ту книгу? (Vidish' tu knigu?) |
| Sasha Lee: Интересная? (Interesnaya?) |
| Michael: One more time with English translation. |
| Albina Arndt: Видишь ту книгу? (Vidish' tu knigu?) |
| Michael: [Do you] see that book? |
| Sasha Lee: Интересная? (Interesnaya?) |
| Michael: Is [it] interesting? |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Omitting the subject or the pronoun is possible in so-called "pro-drop languages." Pro-drop-languages are languages where omitting the pronoun, or the subject, doesn't affect the information conveyed by the sentence. This is not possible in the English language, but you can observe this in Romance and Slavic languages. In the Russian language, dropping the subject or pronoun in a sentence is also practiced depending on the context, making it a partially pro-drop language. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let's take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Albina Arndt says "[Do you] see that book?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Saodat: Видишь ту книгу? (Vidish' tu knigu?) |
| Michael: If we're going to translate "Do you see that book" in Russian, we would do so by saying, |
| Saodat: Ты видишь ту книгу? (Ty vidish' tu knigu?) |
| Michael: Breaking this sentence down, we have |
| Saodat: Ты (Ty) |
| Michael: which is the pronoun "you," |
| Saodat: видишь (vidish') |
| Michael: the verb "see," |
| Saodat: ту (tu) |
| Michael: the demonstrative pronoun "that," |
| Saodat: книгу (knigu) |
| Michael: and the word "book." However, in this scenario, it is clear that the speakers are talking to each other. The context is obvious too. They are inside a bookstore together, and Albina is addressing no other person but Sasha Lee. In this case, Albina didn't have to mention |
| Saodat: Ты (Ty) |
| Michael: or "you." Thus, it's sufficient for Albina to just say, |
| Saodat: Видишь ту книгу? (Vidish' tu knigu?) |
| Michael: or "See that book?" |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let's take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Sasha Lee says "Is [it] interesting?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Saodat: Интересная? (Interesnaya?) |
| Michael: Here, Sasha could have responded with "Is it interesting?" |
| Saodat: Она интересная? (Ona interesnaya?) |
| Michael: Instead, she replied with just one word: |
| Saodat: Интересная? (Interesnaya?) |
| Michael: "Interesting?" Like in English, there are instances when omitting the pronouns altogether is acceptable, especially if it is inferable from the context. Keep in mind, though, that, in written language, it would be preferable not to omit the pronoun at all. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: We've learned in this lesson that Russian is a partial pro-drop language. This means that there are instances when subjects and objects can be dropped in a sentence without the message losing its meaning. Let's take a look at another instance where the subject can be dropped: |
| Saodat: Где Иван? (Gde Ivan?) |
| Michael: "Where is Ivan?" |
| Saodat: Ушёл домой. (Ushyol domoy.) |
| Michael: "[He] went home." In this example, the pronoun "he" was dropped from the response to the question, "Where is Ivan?" One instance that Russian allows for pro-drop is when replying to questions beginning with "What," "When," and "Where." |
| Expansion |
| Michael: Like in many languages, the presence of the subject or pronoun in a sentence is also not necessary in imperative sentences in Russian. If you're going to use the imperative sentence either for second person singular or second person plural, there is no need for you to add the subject because the sentence already implies it. For instance, a mother telling her son to write them more often would say, |
| Saodat: Пиши нам чаще. (Pishi nam chashche.) |
| Michael: "Write us more often." A similar example would be, |
| Saodat: Прочитайте это. (Prochitayte eto.) |
| Michael: "Read this." |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Saodat: Пока! (Poka!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
Comments
Hide