| 1. The preposition о (об) |
| The preposition о (об) - "about", "of" followed by a noun in the prepositional case is used to denote the object of speech or thought. |
| Study the following examples. Click each statement to listen, then say it. |
| 1. Мы говорим о музыке. | 1. We are talking about music. | 2. Я думаю об отпуске. | 2. I'm thinking about/of vacation. | 3. Павел мечтает о машине. | 3. Pavel dreams of a car. |
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| Notes - The preposition о is used before a word starting with a consonantor the vowels я, ю, е, ё, for example: о музыке, о Франции, о России, о Японии .
- The preposition о becomes об before a word starting with the vowels а, у, э, о, и, for example: об отпуске, об Игоре, об учителе.
- The prepositions о and об are always unstressed, therefore they pronounced as [а], [аб] together with the next word (we spell: об отпуске, we say: [аботпуск']).
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| 2. About what vs about who |
| О чём ("about what") is used to ask about objects and things. О ком ("about whom") is used to ask about people and animals. Study the following examples. Click each statement to listen, then say it. |
| 1. О чём ты говоришь? | 1. What are you talking about? | 2. О ком ты говоришь? | 2. Who are you talking about? |
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| 3. The Prepositional Case of Personal Pronouns |
| All personal pronouns change their form when used in the prepositional case. Memorize the prepositional case of personal pronouns: |
| | | Nominative: Кто? Что? | Prepositional: О ком? О чём? |
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| я ты он, она, оно мы вы они | I you he, she, it we you they | | обо мне о тебе о нём, ней о нас о вас о них | about me about you about him, her about us about you about them | о себе | about myself about yourself about himself, herself about ourselves about yourself about themselves |
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| Study the following examples. Click each statement to listen, then say it. |
| 1. Они говорят обо мне. | 1. They are talking about me. | 2. Я думаю о тебе. | 2. I think about you. | 3. Мы часто говорим о нём. | 3. We often talk about him. | 4. Они говорят о нас. | 4. They are talking about us. | 5. Мои друзья часто говорят о вас. | 5. My friends often talk about you (pl.). | 6. Я говорю о них. | 6. I am talking about them. |
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| Notes- The preposition о becomes обо before мне.
- "About it" is translated as о нём if the pronoun replaces a masculine or neuter noun:
Это наш дом. Мы говорим о нём. - This is our house. We are talking about it; Вот море. Мы говорим о нём. - Here is the sea. We are talking about it. - "About it" is translated as о ней if the pronoun replaces a feminine noun:
Это моя машина. Мы говорим о ней. - This is my car. We are talking about it.
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| - "О себе" is used to translate any of the following English phrases: about myself / yourself / himself / herself / ourselves / yourself / themselves. It always refers to the performer of the action. Study the following examples:
7. Она часто говорит о себе. | 7. She often talks about herself. | 8.Они не думают о себе. | 8. They don't think about themselves. |
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| 4. | Verbs говорить, рассказывать, спрашивать |
| The word говорить is a regular 2nd conjugation verb. It can be translated as "to speak" or "to talk". When followed by the preposition о it is translated as "to talk about": |
| 1. Мы говорим о музыке. | 1. We are talking about music. |
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| The word рассказывать is a regular 1st conjugation verb. It is translated as "to tell". When followed by the preposition о it means "to tell about": |
| 2. Он рассказывал о Париже. | 2. He was telling about Paris. |
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| The word спрашивать is a regular 1st conjugation verb. It can be translated as "to ask" or "to ask a question". Note that unlike English "to ask a question", the Russian verb "спрашивать" is never followed by the noun "a question", the noun is implied in the meaning of the verb:учитель спрашивает - the teacher asks (questions). When followed by the preposition о the verb спрашивать is translated as "to ask about", "to inquire about": |
| 3. Студенты спрашивают о России. | Students ask about Russia. |
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| ExercisesУпражнения |
| | Fill in the blanks (о - об + nouns in the prepositional case) | | | Fill in the blanks (о - об + nouns in the prepositional case) | | | Verb practice (жить and рассказывать) | | | Fill in the blanks with the personal pronouns in the prepositional case | |
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