Schaum's Outline of Russian Grammar [Paperback]

James Levine (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0070382387 | ISBN-13: 978-0070382381 | Publication Date: May 31, 1999 | Edition: 1

Each point of grammar and structure is explained simply, and illustrated with examples, in this powerful study guide. The next-best thing to a private tutor, this book makes even difficult topics like declensions clear. Students begin by mastering the Cyrillic alphabet and correct pronunciation. The many practice exercises start readers using this. language in everyday situations.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Master Russian Grammar with Schaum's--the high-performance study guide! It will help you learn correct pronunciation, cut study time, and achieve your personal best on exams.

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Students love Schaum's Outlines because they produce results. Each year hundreds of thousands of students improve their test scores and final grades with these indispendable study guides.

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If you don't have a lot of time but want to excel in class, this book helps you:

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• Brush up before tests.
• Find answers fast.
• Study quickly and more effectively.
• Get the big picture without spending hours poring over lengthy textbooks.

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Schaum's Outlines give you the information teachers expect you to know in a handy succinct format--without overwhelming you with unneccessary details. You get a complete overview of the subject. Plus, you get plenty of practice exercises to test your skill.

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Compatible with any classroom text, Schaum's let you study at your own pace and remind you of all the important facts you need to remember--fast! And Schaum's are so complete, they're perfect for preparing for graduate or professional exams!

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Inside, you will find:

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• Clear nontechnical explanations of Russian grammar with illustrative examples.
• 239 practice problems with answers explained.
• Handy verb charts.
• Keys to the Cyrillic alphabet and correct pronunciation.

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If you want top grades and a thorough understanding of Russian grammar, this powerful study tool is the best tutor you can have!

About the Author

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Product Details

• Paperback: 335 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (May 31, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070382387
• ISBN-13: 978-0070382381
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #632,178 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #98 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Russian

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good practice, September 12, 2005

By 

Mr Peter G George (Ellon, Aberdeenshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Schaum's Outline of Russian Grammar (Paperback)

I started using Schaum's Outline of Russian Grammar after I already knew the basics of Russian grammar and found it very useful. One of the difficulties with Russian grammar is remembering all the rules and applying them correctly. This book is ideal for practice as it contains hundreds of grammar exercises with answers. The author, James S. Levine, begins each section of the book with a clear explanation of the grammar point to be studied. The exercises then test the learner's understanding of this point. The key to using the book successfully is to do all the exercises. This requires a certain amount of discipline, as it has to be said, this is a fairly dull book. There are no stories and no pictures, just grammar and more grammar. It is for this reason that I would not recommend this book for someone who has no knowledge of Russian at all. Moreover, although all aspects of Russian grammar are covered thoroughly including the basics, Levine often assumes the reader already has a reasonable Russian vocabulary and has a fair grasp of Russian sentence structure. A complete beginner would find doing some of the exercises almost impossible.

The key to speaking Russian correctly and fluently is for the grammar rules to become automatic. If you constantly have to work out the case of the noun, the aspect of the verb and so on, you'll never get anywhere. With practice even the complexities of Russian grammar become a matter of routine. Any reasonably serious student of Russian will benefit from Levine's book and will also gain a good degree of satisfaction from completing the exercises. This book will definitely improve your Russian.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Teacher Resource, August 24, 2003

By 

Catherine P. Henry "C. Henry" (Falls Church, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Schaum's Outline of Russian Grammar (Paperback)

I teach Russian at the high school level.

The Schaum's Russian Grammar outline has the clearest explanation of the difficult subject of Russian motion verbs that I have ever seen.

The author, Dr. James Levine, divides the Russian subjunctive into The Conditional (260) and The Subjunctive (262). I think this approach is very helpful for students because it is less confusing.

The discussion and exercises of the difficult Russian Indefinite Pronouns (134-136) was well-organized and highlighted when the particles "to" or "nibud" should be used.

The text is careful to use a vocabulary that is remarkably consistent with what students are learning in their main text.

The explanations and the exercises in the text can be used as a supplement to a regular text. Many high school and university texts today have video and audio materials, but the grammar analysis is not as developed as it might be. This modestly-priced text is an excellent way to bridge this gap. The grammar explanations are clearer for an English-speaker than the Russian-published texts.

The rules for Russian grammar are very carefully and logically explained; the words are accented; and the exercises have an answer key that is helpful for students studying independently.

This is the best Russian grammar book on the market.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent just like the math outlines, November 12, 2003

By 

magellan (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Schaum's Outline of Russian Grammar (Paperback)

I'd used quite a few of Schaum's other Outline series titles in various math courses, ranging from statistics to calculus and differential equations, but this is the first one I've tried in a non-quanititative area, and I was pleased to see the quality shines through here also.

This is a great outline and review of Russian grammar. Russian has some major pitfalls for the English language speaker, such as the complex case system, which has six cases just like Latin; three genders, male, female, and neuter; and a verb classification system that is foreign to us. This is the concept of directed vs. non-directed motion.

For example, in Russian there are two words for walking. If you were just strolling aimlessly around, such as walking in a park, you would use one verb. But if you were walking with a specific goal in mind, such as you were heading somewhere and had a specific destination in mind, you'd use the other verb. Many Russian verbs have this dual feature, which means you have to learn two verbs to do what in English you'd do with one verb and an adverb.

The other major way the Russian verbal system differs from English and many other Indo-European languages is that it is built primarily on the concept of aspect rather than tense. This means Russian verbs are more concerned with whether the action was complete or is incomplete, rather than whether the action took place at a certain point in time, as in the familar past, present, and future tenses. In grammar this is known as the perfective-imperfective dimension, "perfective" referring to completed action, and "imperfective" referring to an action that is still going on or hasn't been completed yet. An example in English of the perfect indicative is "I spoke." An example of the imperfect indicative is "I was speaking."

In this context I'm reminded of the example of Japanese, which doesn't have a very detailed tense system either, and in fact lacks the future tense, and has to use the progressive present to express that, if I remember correctly. However, it has instead a complex system of moods or modal verbs, which express such notions as the probability of an action, doubt, the attitude of the speaker toward the subject or person, and so on. This book discusses these complex features of Russian grammar along with many others, and has some of the clearest explanations on these topics that I've seen.

I thought I'd mention one more aspect of Russian grammar, actually phonetics, that I didn't see in the book, since it's very interesting too. This is the phenomenon in Russian of a consonant tending to assimilate the sounds that come before it, as in the sentence, "Ya yedu va gorody," where the "g" sound affects the prononciation of "va" word in front of it. English has just the opposite tendency, as in word, "dogs," where the "s" sounds like a "z" instead of the normal "s" sound because of the affect of the voiced g. Hence, English has forward or anterograde assimilation of consonants, and Russian has the opposite, or regressive assimilation of consonants.

Overall this is another outstanding study outline from Schaum that I can recommend especially to first year Russian students, or anyone needing a quick review of this subject.