English Grammar for Students of Russian: The Study Guide for Those Learning Russian

by Edwina J. Cruise

Second edition of this popular self-study guide for students of Russian. Each chapter covers a grammar point: i.e., a part of speech (noun, verb, pronoun, adjective), a word's function in a sentence (subject, direct object, indirect object), a grammatical term (tense, conjugation, declension, gender). Each chapter is divided into two sections: 1. In English: grammar is explained as it relates to English, anticipating concepts necessary for Russian. 2. In Russian: grammar is explained as it relates to Russian, with examples and explanations of the rules applied. Points out similarities, differences, and alerts students to pitfalls. Part of the O&H Study Guide series for students of foreign languages. Experience has shown that students using the O&H Russian Study Guide improve their performance in Russian grammar thanks to a better understanding of English grammar. Teachers can devote more class time to developing communicative skills.1993: by Edwina J. Cruise- An easy to use format: Step by step instructions.

Genres: Russia, Language, Reference, Nonfiction, Textbooks

171 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Neil Gussman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book #7 for 2016 is "English Grammar for Students of Russian." Isn't that exciting?
For me it is. Learning another language is a big review of the grammar of your own language, especially the small words. A good example is the word "that." In English, we can say that that that means that that is many parts of speech. In Russian each "that" is a different word: это, тот, который, так, и что. Part of learning the Russian is knowing that I need the correct that.
And Russian also has no article, neither "a" nor "the." think about that!
Great book that comes in Spanish, Latin, German, French and other languages.

[John P Gurski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently got a kick in my pants to start studying my Russian again. I never stopped but have been coasting for awhile. I read this book when I first started up on this quest (why o why did I choose to learn Russian?) and found it really helpful at the time. It's been a long time since my school days and grammar never was my strong suit. This book helped me review (learn for the first time?) some of the technical points of my native language which then allows a better understanding of Russian. It seems to me you never really learn your own language till you study another. Russian is my first attempt at this feat. I found it useful enough the first time through that I'm giving it another read through now as I'm considerably further along in my understanding of the Russian language. This was a very useful book for me and would recommend highly if your English grammar is a little rusty. Your mileage may vary.
удачи!

[Matt Dillard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting way to learn about Russian grammar, by giving a refresher on English grammar and then comparing it to Russian.

Most of my study so far has been through Duolingo. While that is nice for building vocabulary and slowly giving me an understanding of grammar through context clues, I felt a need to have more straightforward instruction around patterns of conjugation, plurals, adjective endings, etc. I didn’t memorize any tables or anything like that, but this book worked fine in giving an overview of the kinds of things I’ll encounter and start to think about as I learn more.

[Conlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great intro to Russian grammar. It teaches all the English grammar that I didn't have the attention span to learn in school, and relates all of it with Russian. My only issue is that there were a few minor mistakes, but every instance could be easily discerned from context.

[Brent L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Likely the best book I have for understanding the differences between my native language and the language I am determined to learn.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent book, but expected a little more depth.

[Rebecca Thomason]

Russian proverbs

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve had this book for twenty five years. I keep going back to it because it presents the subject in easy to understand detail.

[Mark A.]

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[Cheryl Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sure this is a good reference, but I was expecting something less basic. It's hard to believe that native English speakers/readers would not already know the parts of speech well enough to recognize them - or their absence or differences - in Russian (or any other language being studied). After all, any Russian grammar text written in English will delineate the parts of speech and compare them with English.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pierre hugged the bear.
Pierre hugged whom? Answer: The Bear.
Bear is the direct object.

(seriously, this is a great book in a series of language books. it teaches english grammar before it introduces the russian equivalent. i heartily recommend this book except i DON'T recommend taking russian because it is OBSCENELY HARD and makes NO sense.)

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, but the chapter on conjunctions was inadequate, and it could have used a chapter on differences in punctuation between Russian and English. I found the chapters on prepositions, indefinite/negative pronouns, subjunctive/conditional moods, and participles most helpful.

[Joe Martin]

English Grammar for Students of Russian (English grammar series) by Edwina Jannie Cruise (1993)

[Ty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a couch potato linguist. I loved the Russian people I met so I toyed with learning Russian. This is one of the books I liked enough to buy.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise and thorough. Highly Recommended.