Using Russian: A Guide to Contemporary Usage (Paperback)

by Derek Offord (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
'One of the most exciting and useful books in the field of language that this reviewer has come across for a long time.' Helen O'Connor, East-West Journal

Product Description
This new, easy to follow guide to Russian usage has been developed for those who have acquired the basics of the language and wish to extend their knowledge. Unlike conventional grammars, it gives special attention to those areas of vocabulary and grammar that cause the most difficulty for English-speakers, and focuses on questions of style and register that are all too often ignored. Clear, readable and easy to consult, it will prove invaluable to those seeking to improve their fluency and confidence in Russian.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 437 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (November 28, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521457602
• ISBN-13: 978-0521457606
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #962,554 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding! The Key to Truly Mastering Russian, January 11, 2001

By	Aaron Jordan (Salt Lake City, Utah) - See all my reviews

This book is simply unbelievable in its scope and detail. It even surpasses Terrence Wade's "A Comprehensive Russian Grammar". Derek Offord starts out with an examination of the major levels of speech, i.e. register 1 (colloquial or common speech), register 2 (the polite speech of an educated person which is not formal), and register 3 (the advanced formal speech, such as scientific, official business, and publicistic speech). He also mentions a sub-level of speech which does not fall into the appropriate speech of the above registers, but includes slang and vulgar speech. He not only analyzes these levels of speech, but gives detailed examples of each. And that's just chapter one!

Chapter two deals with problems in meaning, such as homophones, homonyms, and words found only in the plural or only in the singular.

Chapter three deals with words that are hard to translate from English to Russian.

Chapter four deals with special vocabulary and idioms, including interjections and vulgar speech.

Chapter five delves into extrememly useful ways to use Russian for measurement, currency, fractions, time, telephone numbers, postal addresses, family relationships, public notices, abbreviations, acronyms, names of countries and nationalities, and names denoting inhabitants of Russian cities and towns.

Chapter six examines verbal etiquette in depth.

Chapter seven goes into word formation with all its variations, such as suffix and prefix, and augmentatives versus diminutives.

Chapter eight looks at inflection, chapter nine examines prepositions, and chapter ten goes deep into syntax for all the cases.

I agree with the previous reviewer who said that the word "awesome" would be an understatement to describe this book. This book is truly the key to mastery, well worth the money to buy it and the time to study it.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An invaluable addition to your Russian bookshelf!, November 22, 2002

By	CJ - See all my reviews

I don't want you to sit here and read the same words of high praise and book description that other reviewers have covered because I endorse all of it! Even with a degree in Russian I am finding a wealth of important and interesting information in "Using Russian". The level is truly advanced but would also be fitting for an intermediate learner. There is a new point I wish to add, however. If you have a grammar book already, such as "A Comprehensive Russian Grammar" by T.Wade, or a similar book, then don't be persuaded just to pass "Using Russian" off as just another grammar that you don't need because you have one already. You will, no doubt, find overlap and repetition of some of the information in your regular grammar, but "Using Russian" goes way beyond it too, believe me! It is about effective usage of the language as well as just looking at declensions and conjugations which is what you get in your regular grammar.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate reference book of the Russian language, July 14, 2005

By	Sator (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

As a speaker of several languages I tend to collect these sort of grammar text books. I have textbooks of Russian written in German for example - and very good they are given that for a substantial part of the German population it had been a compulsory language and a whole host of quality text were published to that end. However, in the couple of decades I have been studying languages this is still about as good a reference guide to the secret intricacies of any one language I have yet to come across, although books similar to this do exist for other languages.

All sorts of secrets are unveiled here but to give just one example I would mention the highly useful list of different forms of a person's first name - not just the usual informal but also a whole host of forms such as the hypocoristic informal - even the vocative forms appears in a table. It became clear to me why someone was calling out to catch her friend's attention saying 'Tan!' (the vocative form of the formal 'Tatiana') rather than the usual informal 'Tania'. Tania it turned out had majored at university in Slavonic languages and when I pointed out my new found discovery of a vocative case (the lost seventh case that exists in remnant form only in select instances) in Russian, even she was surprised. This is so typical of this insightful book which is crammed full of linguistic insider tips of a sort that have a grammatical basis but extend into the very heart and core of Russian culture and socio-linguistic etiquette. In short - these are all the sort of things that make learning a language so much fun and such a wonderful lifetime's adventure.

While I agree that even though a good basic grammar text with tables of cases endings, conjugations and so on will still be necessary along with a good dictionary, I nonetheless think anyone who has read this book would wholeheartedly agree that this is a textbook that you unconditionally MUST have if you are seriously considering learning Russian. I strongly recommend it even to absolute beginners in Russian as well as to the most advanced of learners. This book is a lifetime's investment for learners of Russian as a second language, so you might as well get it right at the beginning because it will serve you for a lifetime.

A classic and indispenable textbook. Don't hesitate - just buy it!