Learn some common noun suffixes in Russian
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Intro |
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| Michael: What are some noun suffixes in Russian? |
| Saodat: And why are they useful to know? |
| Michael: At RussianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following scenario: Sasha Lee studies for her language exam together with her classmate, Albina Arndt. She sees an unknown word, and asks |
| "What does "society" mean?" |
| Что такое "общество"? (Chto takoye "obshchestvo"?) |
| Dialogue |
| Саша Ли: Что такое "общество"? (Sasha Li: Chto takoye "obshchestvo"?) |
| Альбина Арндт: Это "society". (Al'bina Arndt: Eto "society".) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Саша Ли: Что такое "общество"? (Sasha Li: Chto takoye "obshchestvo"?) |
| Michael: "What does "общество" mean?" |
| Альбина Арндт: Это "society". (Al'bina Arndt: Eto "society".) |
| Michael: "It means "society."" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: A suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a stem or root word, which results in the formation of a new word. In English grammar, a suffix is added to a word for the derivation of a new word. The same is true in Russian grammar where a suffix is called, |
| Saodat: суффикс (suffiks) |
| Michael: In Russian, suffixes are used to form nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. In this lesson, we’ll take a look at some common Russian noun suffixes. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Sasha Lee says "What does "общество" mean?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Saodat: Что такое "общество"? (Chto takoye "obshchestvo"?) |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let’s take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Albina Arndt says "It means "society?"" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Saodat: Это "society". (Al'bina Arndt: Eto "society".) |
| Michael: Here, we observe Sasha Lee asking for the meaning of the word, |
| Saodat: общество (obshchestvo) |
| Michael: and Albina telling her that it means “society.” The word is derived from the Russian adjective, |
| Saodat: общий (obshchiy) |
| Michael: meaning “common.” It’s using the stem |
| Saodat: общ (obshch) |
| Michael: Attached to the stem is the Russian noun suffix, |
| Saodat: еств (estv) |
| Michael: And the ending |
| Saodat: -о (-o) |
| Michael: This is usually attached to adjectives to turn them into a neuter noun. The suffix |
| Saodat: еств (estv) |
| Michael: or its alternate form |
| Saodat: ств (stv) |
| Michael: denotes associations of people, like, for example, the noun |
| Saodat: братство (bratstvo) |
| Michael: meaning “brotherhood.” Note that the suffix is similar to the English suffix -hood, as in “brotherhood.” The suffix can also denote an abstract characteristic, like the word |
| Saodat: изящество (izyashchestvo) |
| Michael: meaning “elegance,” or it can also denote a titulus, like |
| Saodat: высочество (vysochestvo) |
| Michael: meaning “highness,” as the title used when talking to a king or queen. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ve learned that Russian suffixes are used to form nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. So far, we’ve covered the suffix, |
| Saodat: еств (еstv) |
| Michael: a suffix used to create a neuter noun that denotes relation, social status, or state. |
| Expansion/Contrast (Optional) |
| Michael: The Russian language is rich in words that rely on suffixes. Why don’t we take a look at more Russian noun suffixes? Let’s start with the suffix, |
| Saodat: -тель (-tel') |
| Michael: This is a suffix used to create masculine nouns and denotes a profession. For instance, we have the word |
| Saodat: Учитель (uchitel') |
| Michael: which means “teacher.” A similar suffix would be |
| Saodat: -ник (-nik) |
| Michael: This is also used to denote an occupation, such as in the word, |
| Saodat: Ученик (uchenik) |
| Michael: or “student.” It has other uses too, such as to form words that refer to tools or a feature of a tool. For instance, we have the word, |
| Saodat: уче́бник (uchébnik) |
| Michael: which means “textbook.” Here’s another one: |
| Saodat: -ни (-ni) |
| Michael: This suffix is usually attached to verbs to form nouns with the meaning of action. For instance, we have the word, |
| Saodat: понимание (ponimaniye) |
| Michael: which means “understanding.” Note that |
| Saodat: -е (-e) is an ending attached to the suffix. The noun |
| Saodat: понимание (ponimaniye) |
| Michael: is derived from the verb, |
| Saodat: понимать (ponimat’) |
| Michael: which means “to understand.” And, finally, we have the suffix, |
| Saodat: -к (-k) |
| Michael: which is used to form diminutives, such as with the word, |
| Saodat: ножка (nozhka) |
| Michael: or “small leg,” which is derived from the noun |
| Saodat: нога (noga) |
| Michael: which means “leg.” Note that |
| Saodat: -а (-a) |
| Michael: is an ending attached to the suffix. |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: As you may have already noticed, Russian suffixes are unique in a way that they are not always placed at the end of the word, which is the case for English suffixes. In Russian grammar, suffixes can also appear in the middle of the word. This is especially true when forming a noun from an adjective. For instance, earlier in this lesson, we had the word |
| Saodat: общество (obshchestvo) |
| Michael: where the suffix |
| Saodat: -еств (-estv) |
| Michael: was followed by the ending |
| Saodat: -о (-o). |
| Michael: Another example of this is |
| Saodat: голосистый (golosistyy) |
| Michael: or “loud-voice.” Here, we have the root word |
| Saodat: голос (golos), |
| Michael: which means “voice,” the suffix, |
| Saodat: -ист- (-ist-) |
| Michael: and the ending, |
| Saodat: -ый (-yy). |
| Michael: However, Russian words can also end in suffixes, for example in the case of short adjectives, such as |
| Saodat: красив (krasiv) |
| Michael: meaning “beautiful,” the suffix |
| Saodat: -ив (-iv) |
| Michael: here ends the short adjective. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Saodat: Пока! (Poka!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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