Opinions, Feelings and Connectors

Я ду́маю, что э́то хоро́ший фильм.

I think it is a good film.

The plainest way to give an opinion: думать plus что plus an ordinary statement in an ordinary tense. Two things to get right. The comma goes before что, always, and Russian keeps the subject pronoun я in front of думаю where English happily drops the "that". Note also the direction: думать takes что and never чтобы, because you are reporting a fact you believe, not wishing something into being.

Мне ка́жется, что она́ не зна́ет.

I think she does not know. (literally "It seems to me that she does not know.")

Same meaning as я думаю, but the grammar is different and so is the tone. Here the person who thinks is in the DATIVE (мне), not the nominative, because the subject of the sentence is the seeming itself — literally "to me it seems". That is the same shape as мне нравится (Lesson 4) and мне трудно (Lesson 9). The effect is softer and less committed, which is why Russians use it so heavily when they are about to disagree with you.

По-мо́ему, э́то о́чень тру́дно.

In my opinion, that is very difficult.

The conversational opinion word, built on мой exactly as по-русски was built in Lesson 2. It is a parenthetical, so a comma follows it when it opens the sentence, and it does not need что: the statement after it stands on its own. Register matters here — по-моему is what you say to friends and colleagues you know; по моему мнению, three separate words, is what you write.

По моему́ мне́нию, фильм ску́чный.

In my opinion the film is boring. (formal)

The formal frame, and it shows off the -ие declension: мнение keeps its -и- in every form, so the dative here is мнению, never *мненью. Note that моему is the dative of мой agreeing with a neuter noun — the same -ему ending as the noun itself, and like every oblique form of мой it moves the stress onto that ending. Say this in an essay or at a meeting; say по-моему to a friend.

Я согла́сен с тобо́й.

I agree with you. (said by a man, informal)

согласен is a short adjective, so it agrees with the subject: a man says я согласен, a woman says я согласна. What you agree WITH goes in the instrumental after с — с тобой, с вами, с этим мнением. Never *согласен на тебя and never *согласен тебе.

Я не согла́сна с ва́ми.

I do not agree with you. (said by a woman, formal)

Three markers at once. The feminine -а tells you a woman is speaking. The вы-form вами tells you the two people are not close, or that more than one person is being addressed. And не sits immediately in front of the word it negates, as it always does. The stress stays on the stem in all four forms of this adjective, unlike должна and больна, where the feminine moves it to the ending.

Что ты ду́маешь об э́том фи́льме?

What do you think about this film?

The question that starts every conversation about opinions, and a useful preposition drill at the same time: думать о + the prepositional, "to think about". Before э the preposition о becomes об, and the adjective этот and the noun фильм both take the prepositional ending -е. Compare как тебе фильм?, the shorter and more colloquial version of the same question.

Я не позвони́л, потому́ что не знал.

I did not ring because I did not know.

потому что looks backwards: the fact is already on the table and the connector brings in the cause. The comma goes before потому, not before что, because the two words are one conjunction. Note the double negative too — Russian keeps не in both halves where English drops the second one.

Бы́ло хо́лодно, поэ́тому мы не пошли́ в парк.

It was cold, so we did not go to the park.

поэтому runs the opposite way: the cause comes first and the connector brings in the result. Compare the two sentences side by side and the direction is obvious — Я не позвонил, потому что не знал against Я не знал, поэтому не позвонил. Also worth noticing: было холодно is impersonal, with было carrying the past and no subject anywhere in the sentence (Lesson 4).

Я понима́ю тебя́, но я не согла́сен.

I understand you, but I do not agree.

The standard polite disagreement. но is the right connector because the second clause really does contradict the first; а would be wrong here, since а switches to a different subject without contradicting anything. Russian keeps both pronouns — я понимаю тебя, но я не согласен — where English would drop the second "I".

Он хоро́ший челове́к, одна́ко с ним тру́дно рабо́тать.

He is a good person, but he is difficult to work with.

однако is но wearing formal clothes, and this sentence is exactly where you meet it: a considered judgement about a person. Two other things are worth seeing. с ним is the instrumental of он after a preposition, which is why it grows its н- (Lesson 4). And трудно работать is impersonal — there is no subject, the difficulty just is.

Хотя́ шёл дождь, мы пошли́ гуля́ть.

Although it was raining, we went for a walk.

A concessive clause that comes first, which is the more emphatic of the two orders; put it second and the comma still sits before хотя: Мы пошли гулять, хотя шёл дождь. The weather formula идёт дождь becomes шёл дождь in the past, with the verb in the masculine because дождь is masculine. шёл keeps its stress on the ё, and ё is never given an extra acute.

Е́сли бу́дет вре́мя, я позвоню́ тебе́.

If there is time, I shall ring you.

The tense trap in one sentence. English says "if there is time" and drops back to the present; Russian keeps a genuine future, будет. The same is true of the verb in the other half — позвоню is future too. Where a perfective verb is used, that future form is a present-tense shape (если ты придёшь), which is what makes the two languages look alike and is not.

Я хочу́, что́бы ты пришёл.

I want you to come.

The construction that has no English equivalent. You want somebody else to do something, so the second verb goes after чтобы in a PAST form — пришёл — even though the meaning is future. Never *я хочу, что ты придёшь and never *я хочу, чтобы ты прийти. That past shape is the subjunctive, the same one бы uses; чтобы is simply что and бы grown together. пришёл keeps its stress on the ё, which therefore carries no acute.

Я позвони́л, что́бы спроси́ть о рабо́те.

I rang in order to ask about the work.

The other job of чтобы. Here the doer of both actions is the same person, so the verb after чтобы is an infinitive and the meaning is plain purpose: "in order to ask". One rule decides which of the two shapes you need — same doer, infinitive; different doer, past form. спросить о + the prepositional gives о работе.

Так что ты реши́л?

So what did you decide?

так что closes an argument rather than opening one: the reason has just been given, and this asks for the consequence. Both words are monosyllables, so the whole connector carries no stress mark at all — the only one in this lesson that does not. Keep them separate; такчто is not a Russian word.

Коне́чно, я приду́!

Of course I shall come!

The strongest agreement word Russian has, and the one that needs no argument behind it. It is a parenthetical, so it takes a comma. Say the чн as [шн]: конечно is [kɐˈnʲeʂnə], one of the small group of words — with скучно — where the spelling and the sound genuinely part company. приду is the perfective future of прийти, and it means "I shall arrive", not "I am arriving".

Мо́жет быть, за́втра.

Maybe tomorrow.

The everyday hedge, and the most useful two words in this lesson for sounding natural rather than blunt. It is the third person of мочь plus the infinitive быть frozen into a parenthetical — literally "it can be" — so the rest of the sentence is untouched by it. On its own as a whole reply it means "possibly, I am not sure", which is the polite Russian way of not committing.

Кста́ти, где твоя́ сестра́?

By the way, where is your sister?

кстати lets you change the subject without losing the floor, and it takes a comma after it when it opens a sentence. The rest of the sentence is a zero-copula question straight out of Lesson 1 — где plus the nominative, no verb at all. The opening cluster кст- has no vowel in it and never gains one.

Я вообще́ не понима́ю.

I do not understand at all.

After a negative, вообще means "at all" and strengthens it. In front of a whole statement it means "as a rule, in general" — Вообще я не люблю кофе — and the position of the word is the only thing that tells you which meaning you have. The stress is on the last syllable and both opening о are reduced but still audible.

На са́мом де́ле э́то о́чень интере́сно.

Actually, it is very interesting.

The corrective phrase. You use it when what comes next contradicts what the listener expects, and it is neutral enough for speech and writing alike. It is a prepositional phrase — на plus the prepositional of дело, with the adjective in the prepositional too — so it is literally "on the real thing". интересно here is impersonal: "it is interesting", with no subject.

Мне жа́лко, что ты не мо́жешь прийти́.

I am sorry you cannot come.

Two different jobs of жалко in one lesson. With an object it means "I feel sorry for": мне жалко времени, мне жалко книгу. Here it has no object at all and means "I am sorry that…", which is the ordinary Russian apology for a refusal or a piece of bad news. The experiencer is dative and there is no subject in either use.

Мне оби́дно, когда́ ты не звони́шь.

It hurts when you do not ring.

обидно is stronger than English "hurt" sounds: it is the feeling of having been slighted, of having been treated unfairly, and it is normally followed by что or когда. The experiencer is dative and there is no subject. The verb in the когда-clause is present because this is a repeated situation, not one future event — that distinction is the whole point of the если rule.

Я о́чень рад!

I am very glad! (said by a man)

The exception in this lesson, and the one to keep separate from the impersonals. рад is a short adjective, so the sentence has a real subject in the nominative — я — and the predicate agrees with it: я рад, она рада, мы рады. *Мне рад is not Russian. A woman says я очень рада, and the past brings the copula back: я был рад, я была рада.

Она́ ра́да, что мы здесь.

She is glad that we are here.

рад with a что-clause behind it, which is how you say somebody is glad about a particular thing. The feminine -а on рада agrees with она, and the stress stays on the stem in all four forms. The zero copula does its usual work: no verb anywhere, just она рада.

Мне ску́чно без тебя́.

I am bored without you.

The impersonal family at its simplest: dative experiencer, no subject, no verb. без governs the genitive, so ты becomes тебя (Lesson 8). скучно is pronounced with [шн], not [чн], exactly like конечно. Say the same thing about the past and only one word changes: мне было скучно без тебя.