Colloquial Russian

Unit 19: Education 271

1 В шко�ле вы изуча�ете (изуча�ли) мно�гие предме�ты

(иностра�нный язы�к, литерату�ру, исто�рию, геогра�фию,

биоло�гию, фи�зику, хи�мию, матема�тику).

2 Како�й ваш люби�мый предме�т и почему�?

3 Кто преподаёт (преподава�л) э�тот предме�т?

мы�слить II independently

необходи�мый necessary

несовместимый� incompatible

обеспокоен� (pp.) worried

о�бласть (f) field, region

образо�ванный educated

(pp.)

отстава�ть от to lag behind

(+ gen)

пра�вильно right

ра�зница difference

совмести�ть combine

столи�чная city sсhool

шко�ла

учёба study

Анке�та: Ва�ша шко�ла

Грамма�тика

The passive voice

The passive voice can be formed in a variety of ways in Russian.

(a) By using the third person plural form of the verb without the pro-
noun они�: Постро�или гости�ницу в це�нтре Москвы� ‘The hotel
was built (lit. they built the hotel) in the centre of Moscow’.
(b) By using the reflexive verb: Гости�ница стро�ится в це�нтре
Москвы� ‘The hotel is being built (lit. building itself) in the centre of
Moscow’. This version of the passive is generally only formed from
imperfective verbs.
(c) By using the short form of the past passive participle with the
appropriate form of the verb ‘to be’: Гости�ница была постро�ена
в це�нтре Москвы� ‘The hotel was built in the centre of Moscow’.
Perfective passives are normally expressed in this way.

Passive participles

There are two kinds of passive participles in Russian, present passive
and past passive, of which the latter is much more frequently used.