Vocabulary: Question Words

Vocabulary: Question Words

Introduction to Russian Question Words

• Question words in Russian are used in inquiries to collect specific information.
• They are also known as interrogative pronouns and are often used at the beginning of the sentence.
• Learning and practicing these questions will help significantly in conversation fluency and comprehension.

Common Russian Question Words

• Что? (Shto) - what
• Где? (Gde) - where
• Когда? (Kogda) - when
• Почему? (Pachemu) - why
• Как? (Kak) - how
• Кто? (Kto) - who
• Сколько? (Skol’ko) - how many/how much
• Какой? (Kakoy) - which or what kind
• Чей? (Chey) - whose

Use of Question Words in Sentences

• How you use question words can change the meaning of the sentence. For instance, ‘Кто это?’ means ‘Who is this?’ but ‘Что это?’ means ‘What is this?’.
• The word ‘Не’ (ne) means ‘not’ and can be added to verbs to make a negative. For example, ‘Ты не видишь?’ means ‘Do you not see?’.

Question Words in Different Tenses

• Tenses in Russian play a crucial role in sentence construction and meaning.
• Watch out for the change in endings based on the past, present or future tense when questioning in Russian.

Idiomatic Usage of Question Words

• Similarly to colour words, question words often appear in idiomatic expressions and metaphors.
• For instance, ‘Что нового?’ which translates directly to ‘What new?’ actually means ‘What’s new?’. Make sure to familiarise yourself with such common idiomatic usage of question words.