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1. The preposition о (об)
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The preposition о (об) - "about", "of" followed by a
noun in the prepositional case is used to denote the object of speech or
thought.
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Study the following examples. Click each statement to listen, then say
it.
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1. Мы говорим о музыке.
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1. We are talking about music.
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2. Я думаю об отпуске.
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2. I'm thinking about/of vacation.
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3. Павел мечтает о машине.
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3. Pavel dreams of a car.
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Notes
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The preposition о is used before a word starting with a consonant
or the vowels я, ю, е, ё, for example: о музыке, о Франции, о России, о
Японии .
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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.
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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
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О чём ("about what") is used to ask about objects and things.
О ком ("about whom") is used to ask about people and
animals
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Study the following examples. Click each statement to listen, then say it.
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1. О чём ты говоришь?
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1. What are you talking about?
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2. О ком ты говоришь?
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2. Who are you talking about?
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3. The Prepositional Case of Personal Pronouns
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All personal pronouns change their form when used in the prepositional case.
Memorize the prepositional case of personal pronouns:
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Nominative: Кто? Что?
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Prepositional: О ком? О чём?
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я
ты
он, она, оно
мы
вы
они
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I
you
he, she, it
we
you
they
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обо мне
о тебе
о нём, ней
о нас
о вас
о них
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about me
about you
about him, her
about us
about you
about them
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о себе
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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.
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1. Они говорят обо мне.
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1. They are talking about me.
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2. Я думаю о тебе.
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2. I think about you.
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3. Мы часто говорим о нём.
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3. We often talk about him.
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4. Они говорят о нас.
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4. They are talking about us.
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5. Мои друзья часто говорят о вас.
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5. My friends often talk about you (pl.).
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6. Я говорю о них.
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6. I am talking about them.
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Notes
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The preposition о becomes обо before мне.
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"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.
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"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:
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7. Она часто говорит о себе.
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7. She often talks about herself.
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8. Они не думают о себе.
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8. They don't think about themselves.
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4.
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Verbs говорить, рассказывать, спрашивать
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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":
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1. Мы говорим о музыке.
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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":
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2. Он рассказывал о Париже.
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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":
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3. Студенты спрашивают о России.
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Students ask about Russia.
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Exercises Упражнения
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Fill in the blanks (о - об + nouns in the prepositional case)
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Fill in the blanks (о - об + nouns in the prepositional case)
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Verb practice (жить and рассказывать)
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Fill in the blanks with the personal pronouns in the prepositional case
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