Estonian Basic-School Russian Language and Literature Exam cheat sheet

Skim the questions before reading: the task type (multiple choice, true/false, matching, gap-fill) determines whether you need gist, detail, or specific wording.

Gist questions (main idea, best title, author's purpose) are answered from the opening and closing paragraphs plus repeated vocabulary, not from a single detail sentence.

Detail questions map to one sentence in the text; locate the key noun or number, then read the whole sentence because negation and word order change meaning.

Scanning for numbers, dates, names and capitalised words is faster than linear reading when the task asks for factual data.

Unknown words: classify by root and word-formation affixes (e.g. -тель agent, при-/у-/пере- aspect and direction prefixes, -ость abstract noun) before guessing from context.

Reference questions (который, это, он, там) require finding the nearest preceding noun of matching gender and number, not the nearest word.

True/false items with absolute markers (всегда, никогда, только, все) are usually false unless the text states them explicitly.

Inference items must be supported by textual evidence; an answer that is true in real life but not stated in the text is wrong.

Unstressed vowels reduce (о→[а], е→[и]) and final voiced consonants devoice (друг [друк]), so match sounds to spelling, not spelling to sounds.

Аканье/иканье means the pretonic syllable is the key to recognising a word; listen for the stressed syllable first.

Numbers, times and prices are the highest-risk items: write digits immediately while listening, then check case endings after the audio ends.

Signal words mark discourse structure: но, однако, зато contrast; поэтому, значит, следовательно conclude; во-первых, кроме того add.

Task instructions state how many times the audio plays and whether notes may be taken; note-taking during the first listening, verification during the second.

Distractors are usually words heard in the audio but attached to the wrong speaker, time or place; match the answer to who said it and when.

Dates and clock times: в + accusative for clock time (в пять), в + prepositional for month/year (в мае, в 2024 году).

If a word is missed, keep listening: the same idea is normally repeated in paraphrase later in the recording.

Aspect pairs: imperfective for process, repetition and fact; perfective for a single completed result - сдавать/сдать, решать/решить, говорить/сказать.

Full lexical synonymy is rare; check government (case) before substituting: помогать кому (dat.) vs поддерживать кого (acc.).

Set expressions are fixed: играть роль (not делать), иметь значение, принимать участие, обращать внимание, нести ответственность.

Фразеологизмы are non-compositional: бить баклуши = to idle; водить за нос = to deceive; как две капли воды = exactly alike.

Prefix meanings: при- arrival/attachment, у- departure, вы- outward completion, пере- across/repetition, под- approach from below, от- separation.

Paronyms differ in one morpheme and never interchange: одеть (a person) / надеть (clothing); эффектный (striking) / эффективный (effective).

Collocations with the same noun differ by case and preposition: зависеть от (gen.), влиять на (acc.), влиять на (acc.) vs влиять чем (instr.).

Word families from a shared root give the meaning of an unknown word faster than a dictionary: -вод (водить), -пис (писать), -уч (учить).

Six cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, prepositional; the preposition determines the case, so learn prepositions with their cases.

Accusative vs genitive for masculine inanimate nouns is identical in form; animacy decides: вижу брата (gen. form) vs вижу стол (nom. form).

Verb conjugation: -ешь/-ишь and -ет/-ит depend on the infinitive - II conjugation takes -ишь, -ит, -ат/-ят (говорить, смотреть, but брить, стелить are I).

Past tense agrees in gender and number: он читал, она читала, оно читало, они читали.

Spelling rules: жи/ши, ча/ща, чу/щу; о after ж/ш/ц under stress in suffixes (дружок), е when unstressed (овражек).

Н and НН: full passive participles from perfective verbs take -нн- (прочитанная книга); verbal adjectives and short forms take -н- (читана, жареный).

Не with verbs and gerunds is separate; with participles it is separate unless there is no dependent word and no contrast (непрочитанная книга vs не прочитанная мной книга).

Compound sentences: comma before и when it joins independent clauses; no comma when и joins homogeneous predicates.

Functional formats and their obligatory elements: заявление (addressee, author, verb прошу + infinitive, date, signature); объявление (what, where, when, contact); поздравление (addressee, occasion, wishes).

Formal register: no colloquialisms, no contractions; use вы with capital in letters, and standard closings (С уважением, ...).

Composition structure: introduction stating the topic, body of 2–3 paragraphs each with one argument plus evidence from the text, conclusion restating the thesis.

Every claim needs textual support: quote or paraphrase with a short reference (в эпизоде, когда...; автор пишет, что...).

Cohesion devices: вначале, затем, кроме того, однако, таким образом, следовательно, в итоге - one per transition, not stacked.

Word count and format limits in the task are hard requirements; check length and required elements before polishing style.

Punctuation in direct speech: «П», - сказал он. / Он сказал: «П». / «П, - сказал он, - п».

Proofreading pass targets agreement (gender, number, case), verb aspect consistency, and comma placement before что, чтобы, потому что, который.

Genres: эпос (роман, повесть, рассказ), лирика (стихотворение, элегия, ода), лироэпика (поэма, баллада), драма (комедия, трагедия, драма).

A повесть is longer than a рассказ and has a single storyline; a роман has multiple storylines and a broad social canvas.

Classicism: three unities (time, place, action) and high/low genres; sentimentalism shifts to feeling and the ordinary person; romanticism to the exceptional hero and dual worlds.

Realism (19th century) depicts typical characters in typical circumstances with social causation; the 'superfluous man' and 'little man' are its recurring types.

Verse analysis uses стопа (ямб, хорей, дактиль, амфибрахий, анапест), рифма (парная, перекрёстная, кольцевая) and строфа.

Ямб = unstressed–stressed foot; хорей = stressed–unstressed; three-syllable feet are дактиль (1st stressed), амфибрахий (2nd), анапест (3rd).

Theme vs idea: тема is what the text is about; идея is the author's evaluative thought about it - exam answers must state both.

Know author–work–hero links precisely; mixing heroes between works of the same author is the most common factual error.

Analysis levels: composition (parts, framing, inserted texts), subject organisation (narrator vs author), chronotope (time and place), language (tropes, syntax).

Tropes: метафора (hidden comparison), метонимия (contiguity), синекдоха (part for whole), эпитет (figurative attribute), гипербола, литота, олицетворение, ирония.

Syntactic figures: инверсия, антитеза, анафора, эпифора, градация, риторический вопрос, повтор, параллелизм.

Characterisation is built from portrait, speech, action, author's comment and other characters' reactions - cite at least two channels per claim.

The narrator is not the author; a first-person skaz narrator's judgements must be attributed to the narrator.

Interpretation must be verifiable against the text: state the observation, quote the evidence, then name the device and its function.

Function questions ask what a device achieves (tension, emphasis, character revelation, theme), not merely what it is called.

Comparative tasks require a stated basis of comparison (theme, hero type, device) and one similarity plus one difference with evidence.