Forming questions: the word order stays, your voice does the work
Russian asks a yes/no question with intonation alone, and puts a question word where the answer belongs — no auxiliary, no inversion.
Here is the piece of Russian grammar that gives English speakers the most confidence for the least work. To turn a statement into a yes/no question you change nothing on the page. Ты студе́нт is 'you are a student'; Ты студе́нт? is 'are you a student?'. There is no do/does, no auxiliary, no moving of the verb. The entire question is carried by a sharp rise in pitch on the stressed syllable of the word you are asking about — the pattern called ИК-3.
For everything else you need a question word, and the set is short: кто? (who), что? (what), где? (where), куда́? (where to), отку́да? (where from), когда́? (when), почему́? (why), заче́м? (what for), как? (how), како́й? (what kind), чей? (whose), ско́лько? (how much). The question word normally goes first, and the rest of the sentence keeps statement order: subject, verb, object. Где ты живёшь? — not *Где живёшь ты?, which is possible but sounds pointed and theatrical.
Two markers turn up in written and formal Russian and are worth recognising rather than producing. Ли sits immediately after the word in question and makes a neutral yes/no question: Зна́ете ли вы ру́сский язы́к? Придёт ли он? It is bookish, and in speech intonation does the same job. Ра́зве and неуже́ли add disbelief — 'really?', 'surely not?': Ра́зве ты не знал? Неуже́ли э́то пра́вда?
One intonation note matters more than any of the grammar above. A question with a question word uses ИК-2 — a firm fall on the question word itself — while a yes/no question uses ИК-3, a sharp rise. If your rise is too small, a Russian hears a statement and answers the wrong thing. This is the one thing on this page you must practise out loud.
Examples
- Ты чита́ешь? Are you reading? — same words as the statement, only the melody changes Listen in Russian: Slow in Russian: Ты чита́ешь?
- Где ты живёшь? Where do you live? Listen in Russian: Slow in Russian: Где ты живёшь?
- Ско́лько э́то сто́ит? How much does this cost? Listen in Russian: Slow in Russian: Ско́лько э́то сто́ит?
- Когда́ придёт по́езд? When does the train arrive? Listen in Russian: Slow in Russian: Когда́ придёт по́езд?
- Почему́ ты не ра́ботаешь сего́дня? Why aren't you working today? Listen in Russian: Slow in Russian: Почему́ ты не ра́ботаешь сего́дня?
- Зна́ете ли вы ру́сский язы́к? Do you know Russian? — ли is the formal written yes/no marker Listen in Russian: Slow in Russian: Зна́ете ли вы ру́сский язы́к?