Svetlana Flemming - Colloquial Russian - The Next Step in Language Learning

´ tyj

blurred

rasshi´tyvat; na pobe´du

to count on victory

so[

źnik

ally

su´dq po (+ dat)

judging by

N.B. pri kommuniśtax – under the Communists; but pod vlaśt;[

kommuniśtov – under the power of the Communists

Exercise 3

Answer the questions in English.

1 Which is the most popular party in Russia?

2 Who makes up its electorate?

3 What alliances are there in Russian politics?

4 Why was everyone surprised at the victory of ‘Unity’?

5 What role did the media play in this victory?

6 What was the principal reason for the victory?

7 Is there a ruling party in the Duma?

8 Why did the ‘Unity’ and ‘Fatherland’ movements decide to join forces?

Exercise 4

True or false?

1 V vy´borax 1999 go´da v Rossií oder'aĺi pobe´du (KPRF,

, )?

Vybory v Dumu

|

241

1111

2

OTEЧECTBO

3

PEГИOHAПЬHOE ДBИЖЕН

Ж

4

E

ИE

M

5

“EДИНCTBO”

B

6

CЯ PОCCИ

7

8111

9

10

1

2

BCEPOCCИЙCKAЯ ПAPTИЯ

“EДИНCTBO И OTEЧECTBO”

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

20111

2 Hto´by uhaśtvovat; v vy´borax, na´do preodole´t; (tre¨x-, pqti-, 1

desqti-) proceńtnyj bar;eŕ?

2

3 i ob#ediniĺis;, potomu´ hto oni´ xotq´t 3

byt; (pra´vq]ej, ediństvennoj, demokrati´heskoj) paŕtiej?

4

4 Sredi´

\lektora´ta KPRF preoblada´[t (po'ilyé l[

´ di,

5

molode¨';, intelligeńciq)?

6

5 Ideaĺ ob]eśtvennogo ustro´jstva (mnogoparti´jnaq,

7

odnoparti´jnaq, tre¨xparti´jnaq) siste´ma?

8

9

30

Language points ♦

1

2

Gerunds

3

4

Gerunds are verbal adverbs that can be substituted for adverbial 5

clauses beginning with ‘when’, ‘while’, ‘since’, ‘after’, etc. Like some 6

participles, they may be used to translate the English -ing form. Unlike 7

participles, they are indeclinable.

8

Rabo´taq v Moskve´, q zainteresovaĺas; poli´tikoj.

9

Working in Moscow, I became interested in politics.

40

1

The gerund rabo´taq, ‘working’, substitutes for the adverbial clause 421111

kogda´ q rabo´tala ‘when I was working’.

242

|

Elections to the Duma

The imperfective gerund

You will also find the imperfective gerund referred to as the present gerund.

How to form the imperfective gerund

Take the third person plural (oni´ form) of the present tense and replace the last two letters by -q:

rabo´tat; – rabo´ta[t – rabo´taq working

govori´t; – govorq´t – govorq´ talking

The imperfective gerund of verbs ending in -avat; ends in -avaq: dava´t; – da[

´ t – dava´q ‘giving’.

The imperfective gerund of reflexive verbs ends in -qs; : poĺ;zovat;sq – poĺ;zu[tsq – poĺ;zuqs; ‘using, enjoying’.

As a result of the spelling rule the ending is -a after ' , h, w, ]: der'a´t; – deŕ'at – der'a´ ‘holding’.

The imperfective gerund of byt; is bu´duhi.

The imperfective gerund is generally stressed on the same syllable as the first person singular (q form): du´ma[ – du´maq ‘thinking’.

There are, however, exceptions: si'u´ – si´dq ‘thinking’; sto[´ –

sto´q ‘standing’; le' u´ – le¨'a ‘lying’.