How is your progress in learning Russian? If you still find it difficult, you can visit 4 tips to learn Russian language effectively and easily. Well, now let’s learn about conjunctions in Russian language. As we know, a conjunction has a function to connect words or phrases and make the sentence flow smoothly. The common conjunctions in Russian language are: И, а (and), Но (but), Или (or), Что (that), Потому что (because), and Хотя (although).  Have you ever heard these conjunctions before?

The Conjunction Group in Russian Language

The conjunctions are classified into two groups: coordinate conjunctions and subordinate conjunctions. Coordinate conjunctions are conjunctions that coordinate two or more things in equal or same conditions. Meanwhile, subordinate conjunctions are conjunctions that connect the dependent clauses to independent clauses.

Coordinate conjunctions

Coordinate conjunctions have many functions as you can see in the below with examples.

И, а (and) are used to mention about something or someone

• Я и моя сестра смотрели новый фильм.
  (Ya i moya sestra smotreli novyy fil’m)
  I and my sister watched a new film.
• Меня зовут не Алина, а Арина.
  (Menya zovut ne Alina, a Arina)
  My name is not Alina, but Arina

Но (but) is used to indicate the opposition

• Я плохо говорю по-английски, но хорошо понимаю.
  (Ya plokho govoryu po-angliyski, no khorosho ponimayu)
  I’m bad in English, but I understand it well.
• Он читает книгу и думает.
  On chitayet knigu i dumayet)
  He reads a book and thinks.

Или (or) is used to indicate choices or options

• Она позвонит вам сегодня или завтра.
  (Ona pozvonit vam segodnya ili zavtra)
  She will call you today or tomorrow.
• Тебе это нравится или нет?
  (Tebe eto nravitsya ili net?)
  Do you like it or not?

Subordinate conjunctions

Subordinate conjunctions have many functions too. It can be used to express purpose, condition, comparison, reason or cause. For examples:

• Я счастлива, потому что у меня есть семья.
  (Ya schastliva potomu chto u menya yest’ sem’ya)
  I’m happy because I have a family
• Она не звонит первым, хотя она думает о тебе каждый день.
  (On ne zvonit pervym, khotya on dumayet o tebe kazhdyy den’)
  He does not call you first, although he thinks about you every day.
• Он не пришел на вечеринку, потому что был занят.
  (On ne prishel na vecherinku, potomu chto byl zanyat)
  He didn’t come to the party because he was busy.
• Хотя на улице лил дождь, Марина пошла погулять.
  (Khotya na ulitse lil dozhd’, Marina poshla pogulyat’)
  Although it was raining, Marina went for a walk.

Conjunctions in Russian language is not too difficult, is it? To make you familiar with it, you can practice making sentences using each of conjunctions. Besides Conjunction, you can learn conjugation, past tense in Russian language, and  Russian cases like dative case, and prepositional case here.

Good luck with your studies!