Estonian Basic-School Russian Language and Literature Exam flashcards

33 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Аканье

Pronunciation of unstressed о as [а] in Russian, so молоко sounds like [малако]. Explains why listening tasks require matching sounds to spelling rather than trusting the written vowel.

Final devoicing

Voiced consonants become voiceless at the end of a word: друг [друк], год [гот]. Relevant for spelling checks such as проверочное слово, where a vowel is inserted to reveal the underlying consonant.

Perfective vs imperfective

Imperfective verbs name a process, repetition or plain fact (решать, писать); perfective verbs name a single completed result (решить, написать). Aspect choice changes meaning more than tense does.

Accusative of animacy

Animate masculine nouns take the genitive form in the accusative (вижу брата, вижу студента); inanimate nouns take the nominative form (вижу стол). Feminine nouns change ending to -у/-ю either way.

Н and НН in participles

Full passive participles from perfective verbs take -нн- (прочитанная книга, решённая задача). Verbal adjectives and short participles take -н- (жареная рыба, книга прочитана).

Не with participles

Written separately when the participle has a dependent word or an explicit contrast (не прочитанная мной книга, не прочитанная, а просмотренная). Written together when none of these conditions applies (непрочитанная книга).

Фразеологизм

A fixed, non-compositional expression whose meaning cannot be derived from its parts: бить баклуши means to idle, водить за нос means to deceive. Substitution of components is not allowed.

Paronyms одеть and надеть

Одеть is used for a person (одеть ребёнка); надеть is used for clothing or an object placed on oneself (надеть пальто). They are never interchangeable, and mixing them is a classic vocabulary error.

Prefix при-

Marks arrival, approach or attachment: приехать, прийти, приклеить. Contrasted with у- for departure (уехать) and вы- for outward movement or completion (выехать).

Verb government

Verbs require specific cases: помогать кому (dative), зависеть от кого (genitive with от), влиять на кого (accusative with на). Synonyms may govern different cases, so check before substituting.

Gist question

A reading item asking for the main idea, best title or author's purpose. The answer is supported by the opening and closing parts and by repeated vocabulary, not by one isolated detail sentence.

Reference words in text

Pronouns and particles like он, это, который, там point back to a preceding noun. Correct resolution requires matching gender and number, not simply choosing the nearest word.

Absolute markers as distractors

Words such as всегда, никогда, только and все make a true/false statement absolute. Such items are false unless the text states the absolute claim explicitly; the text usually says обычно or часто instead.

Inference in reading tasks

A conclusion not stated word for word but logically supported by the text. An option that is true in real life but has no textual evidence is still marked wrong.

Signal words in listening

Connectors that reveal structure: но, однако, зато contrast; поэтому, значит, следовательно conclude; во-первых, кроме того add. They locate the answer before the full sentence is understood.

Clock time and date cases

Clock time uses в plus accusative (в пять часов); months and years use в plus prepositional (в мае, в 2024 году). Confusing the two is a frequent listening and writing error.

Two-pass listening strategy

First listening: note key facts, speakers and numbers. Second listening: verify answers against what was actually said, because distractors reuse heard words but attach them to the wrong person or time.

Заявление structure

A formal application contains the addressee in the dative, the applicant's name, the verb прошу with an infinitive, the request content, the date and a signature. Colloquial wording is excluded.

Composition thesis and evidence

A composition opens with a thesis, develops two or three arguments, each supported by a quotation or episode from the text, and closes by restating the thesis in the light of the evidence.

Cohesion devices in writing

Connectors such as вначале, затем, кроме того, однако, таким образом manage transitions between paragraphs. One connector per transition; stacking several in one sentence reads as padding.

Direct speech punctuation

«П», - сказал он. / Он сказал: «П». / «П, - сказал он, - п». The comma and dash placement depends on whether the author's words precede, follow or interrupt the quotation.

Genres of эпос

Epic genres are роман, повесть, рассказ. A повесть has one storyline and moderate length; a роман has several storylines and a broad social canvas; a рассказ is short and focused on one episode.

Lyric and lyric-epic genres

Lyric genres include стихотворение, элегия, ода; lyric-epic genres include поэма and баллада, which combine narrative plot with lyrical expression. Drama covers comedy, tragedy and drama proper.

Literary movements sequence

Classicism (three unities, high and low genres), sentimentalism (feeling, ordinary person), romanticism (exceptional hero, dual worlds), realism (typical characters in typical circumstances with social causation).

Superfluous man and little man

Two recurring realistic types: the superfluous man, gifted but socially useless, and the little man, an ordinary official or clerk whose dignity is crushed by hierarchy. Both recur across nineteenth-century prose.

Poetic metre identification

Ямб is unstressed–stressed; хорей is stressed–unstressed. Three-syllable feet stress the first (дактиль), second (амфибрахий) or third (анапест) syllable of each foot.

Theme versus idea

Тема is the subject matter the text is about; идея is the author's evaluative thought about that subject. Examination answers are expected to name both and to link the idea to textual evidence.

Метафора and метонимия

Метафора transfers meaning by similarity, a hidden comparison (золотые руки). Метонимия transfers by contiguity or association (читать Пушкина, зал аплодировал). Синекдоха is metonymy of part for whole.

Эпитет

A figurative attribute that adds an evaluative or emotional quality rather than a neutral fact: золотая осень, мёртвая тишина. Distinguished from a logical attribute such as деревянный стол.

Syntactic figures

Devices of word order and repetition: инверсия, антитеза, анафора, эпифора, градация, риторический вопрос, параллелизм. They create emphasis, rhythm and contrast rather than new imagery.

Narrator versus author

The narrator is the voice constructed by the text, which may be a character or a skaz storyteller. Judgements expressed by that voice belong to the narrator, not automatically to the author.

Device-function analysis

An analysis names the device, quotes the evidence, then states its function: creating tension, emphasising a theme, revealing character or structuring the composition. Naming the device alone earns little credit.

Comparative analysis basis

Comparison requires an explicit basis (shared theme, hero type or device), then one similarity and one difference, each supported by evidence from both texts. Parallel retelling without a basis is not comparison.