Conjunctions are used to connect words, phrases, and clauses together. Using different sorts of conjunctions can help you let someone know exactly how two ideas are related to each other. Try to continue the following sentences:
- У Лизы есть кот и …Transcription: oo LEEzy yest kot i…Translation: Liza has a cat and…
- У Лизы есть кот, но …Transcription: oo LEEzy yest kot no…Translation: Liza has a cat but…
- У Лизы есть то ли кот, то ли …Transcription: oo LEEzy yest to li kot to li…Translation: Liza has either a cat or…
- У Лизы есть кот, потому что …Transcription: oo LEEzy yest kot pataMOO shtaTranslation: Liza has a cat because…
- У Лизы есть кот, поэтому …Transcription: oo LEEzy yest kot paEtamoo…Translation: Liza has a cat, that’s why…
- У Лизы есть кот, хотя …Transcription: oo LEEzy yest kot khaTYA…Translation: Liza has a cat, although…
Every time you had to complete the sentence in a different way, right? Why? Because the words in bold — the conjunctions — prompt a different logic for what comes next in a sentence. This post will serve as your hub for learning about different kinds of conjunctions in Russian. We’ll introduce you to the most important groups and direct you to places where you can learn more.
Now, let’s see how conjunctions work in the Russian language!
What are the types of conjunctions in Russian?
Russian conjunctions are usually sorted into two main groups, based on the role they play in the sentence. These are:
Coordinating conjunctions → These join “equal” elements, or elements that do the “same job” in a sentence. For example:
coordinating conjunctionОн любит шоколад и мороженое.Transcription: on LYUbit shakaLAT i maROzhinayeTranslation: He likes chocolate and ice cream.The шоколад and мороженое are both equal objects of the verb.Subordinating conjunctions → Introduce a clause that completes the main clause or adds more information about something in it.
coordinating conjunctionБлагодаря тому, что дом каменный, в нём всегда прохладно.Transcription: blagadaRYA taMOO shto dom KAminyi v nyom fsigDA praKHLADnaTranslation: Thanks to the fact that the house is made of stone, it’s always chilly inside.The clause that follows благодаря тому, что explains why it’s always chilly outside. Therefore, it is providing more information about the main message: в нём всегда прохладно.
Before we look at each category a little more carefully, let’s go through a couple of more general points that apply to both types of conjunctions:
Conjunctions in Russian do not change their forms in any way — yay!
Conjunctions also don’t trigger any particular case, like prepositions do — double yay!
The rules for using commas with Russian conjunctions are quite different from the rules in English. Look at the placement of the comma in the example of subordinating conjunctions above, for an example. To learn all the rules, check out our post on using commas in Russian.
Lots of Russian conjunctions sound like words that are not conjunctions, like particles or pronouns. You can download a list of such conjunctions at the bottom of this page.
Lots of Russian conjunctions sound like words that are not conjunctions, like particles or pronouns. You can download a list of such conjunctions at the bottom of this page.
How to use coordinating conjunctions in Russian?
In Russian, we use coordinating conjunctions to link two “equal” elements within a sentence. This means that they link two elements that do the “same job.” For example, coordinating conjunctions might link together…
two adjectives:
adjectivecoordinating conjunctionЭта машина хорошая, но дорогая.Transcription: Eta maSHYna khaROshaya no daraGAyaTranslation: This car is good but expensive.two prepositional phrases:
prepositional phrasecoordinating conjunctionМы хотим осенью поехать либо в Италию, либо в Испанию.Transcription: my khaTEEM Osinyu paYEkhat LEEba v iTAliyu LEEba v isPAniyuTranslation: We want to go either to Italy or to Spain in the fall.two equal (“independent”) clauses:
coordinating conjunctionЭто моя машина, а это мой дом.Transcription: Eta maYA maSHYna a Eta moy domTranslation: This is my car, and that's my house.
The most common coordinating conjunctions in Russian are:
и transcribed imeaning and
но transcribed nomeaning but
a transcribed ameaning but, and
или transcribed EELimeaning or
To learn more about how to use these words, and to learn some more advanced or specialized conjunctions like them, check out our post on the most important coordinating conjunctions in Russian!
What are the types of subordinating conjunctions in Russian?
Subordinating conjunctions in Russian can be classified by how the subordinate clause that they introduce is related to the rest of the sentence. Follow the links to learn more about each type of subordinate clause.
Complement conjunctions → introduce a clause that acts like the direct object of a verb.
object of the verbconjunctionЯ знаю, что ты хочешь найти новую работу.Transcription: ya ZNAyu shto ty KHOchesh nayTEE NOvooyu raBOtooTranslation: I know that you want to find a new job.Conjunctions of time → introduce clauses that say when something happened.
timeconjunctionПозвони мне, когда придёшь домой.Transcription: pazvaNEE mnye kagDA priDYOSH daMOYTranslation: Call me when you get home.Conjunctions of reason → introduce clauses that explain what caused something to happen.
reason / causeconjunctionЯ купил новый телефон, потому что старый сломался.Transcription: ya kooPEEL NOvyi tiliFON pataMOO shta STAryi slaMALsyaTranslation: I bought a new phone because the old one got broken.Conjunctions of purpose → introduce clauses that explain what the goal of an action was.
goal / purposeconjunctionМы взяли кредит, чтобы сын мог учиться.Transcription: my VZYAli kriDEET SHTOby syn mok ooCHEEtsaTranslation: We took out a loan so that our son could study.Conjunctions of result → introduce clauses that explain what the result of an action was.
resultconjunctionВ комнате было темно, поэтому я не видел лица людей.Transcription: f KOMNatye BYla timNO paEtamoo ya nye VEEdyel LEEtsa lyuDYEYTranslation: It was dark in the room, that's why I didn’t see people’s faces.Conjunctions of concession → introduce clauses that explain something that might have, but didn’t, stand in the way of an action.
concessionconjunctionОни поехали в горы, хотя погода была плохая.Transcription: aNEE paYEkhali v GOry khaTYA paGOda (i) byLA plaKHAyaTranslation: They went to the mountains, even though the weather was bad.Conjunctions of condition → introduce clauses that give the conditions under which something else will happen.
conditionconjunctionЕсли хочешь, я научу тебя плавать.Transcription: YESli KHOchesh (to) ya naooCHOO tiBYA PLAvatTranslation: If you want, I will teach you how to swim.Conjunctions of comparison → introduce clauses that let you compare something to something else.
object of comparisonconjunctionОн сделал это лучше, чем я мог себе представить.Transcription: on ZDYElal eta LUCHshe chem ya mok siBYE pritSTAvitTranslation: He did it better than I could possibly imagine.
Conclusion
In this post, we had a brief introduction to conjunctions in Russian. Here are your takeaways:
Conjunctions in Russian do not change their forms and do not trigger any particular case.
Russian conjunctions can be coordinating (e.g. “and,” “or,” “but”) or subordinating (e.g. “because,” “when,” “if”).
The rules for using commas with conjunctions are different in Russian and English.
Now, if you’re ready to learn more, we suggest you check out our posts on Russian coordinating conjunctions next, or you can download the study resources below!
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