You have probably already heard that the word order in Russian is free. However, this is not exactly true. It would be more correct to say that the word order in Russian is flexible. Today we’ll talk about the structure of the Russian sentence. It is especially important if you are just starting to learn the language.
The basis of word order in Russian is SVO (subject-verb-object). In affirmative sentences, the subject usually precedes the predicate.
Зима наступила рано. — Winter came early.
The reverse order of the main members of the sentence (first the predicate, then the subject) is common in several cases.
«Я не хочу туда идти», — сказала мама грустно. — “I don’t want to go there,” Mom said sadly.
Пришла осень. — Autumn has come.
Был солнечный день. — It was a sunny day.
Светит солнце, резвятся птицы, дует легкий ветерок. — The sun is shining, birds are frolicking, a light breeze is blowing.
Нельзя бросать окурки в лесу, страшен неуправляемый огонь. — You mustn’t throw cigarette butts in the forest; uncontrollable fire is terrible.
За окном шумели машины. — Cars rustled outside.
Attributes expressed by an adjective are usually placed before a noun.
Наступила поздняя осень. — It’s late autumn.
The object usually follows the word it depends on.
Он читает газету по утрам (read what? — newspaper (subordinate word). — He reads the newspaper in the morning.
Adverbial modifiers of manner (expressed by adverbs with the endings -o, -e), cause are usually put before the predicate.
Он хорошо танцует (adverbial modifier of manner). — He dances well.
Он от страха не мог сказать ни слова (adverbial modifier of cause). — He couldn’t say a word out of fear.
Adverbial modifiers of time and place are often placed at the beginning or end of a sentence.
Завтра он уезжает. — He’s leaving tomorrow.
Они уезжают в Москву. — They leave for Moscow.
Adverbial of degree is put before the word it depends on.
Мама очень занята. — Mom is very busy.Дважды повторять не буду. — I will not repeat twice.
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Introductory words are freely located in a sentence if they refer to it as a whole.
К сожалению, я забыл. / Я, к сожалению, забыл. / Я забыл, к сожалению. — Sorry, I forgot. / I, unfortunately, forgot. / I forgot, unfortunately.
If the introductory word is associated with one member of the sentence, then it is placed next to the latter.
Вчера вечером отключили свет во всем доме, к счастью, ненадолго. — Last night they turned off the lights in the whole house, fortunately, not for long.
The address is also freely located in the sentence but most often it is placed at the beginning.
Доктор, скажите, что я поправлюсь! / Скажите, доктор, что я поправлюсь! / Скажите, что я поправлюсь, доктор! — Doctor, tell me that I’ll get better! / Tell me, doctor, that I’ll get better! / Tell me that I’ll get better, doctor!
Put the particles in front of the word they refer to.Это упражнение трудно даже для меня. / Даже это упражнение трудно для меня. — This exercise is difficult even for me. / Even this exercise is difficult for me.
Sometimes, when you change the word order in a simple sentence, the meaning can change as well, for example, when the form of a word in different cases is the same.
Дочь любит ночь. — The daughter loves the night.
Ночь любит дочь. — Night loves daughter.
In addition, the word order in a sentence depends on the semantic component. If you need to highlight a word or make an emphasis, then it makes sense to change the order.
Compare:
In the second case, it is reported who brought the book, in the third, how it happened. In the first case, successively developing events are reported.
The word order in a sentence (and its meaning) depends not only on the previous context but also on the subsequent one.
Compare:
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