Russian Pronouns & the Missing "To Be"
With eight short words and one delightful rule — Russian has no "am/is/are" — you can already build dozens of correct sentences.
The Personal Pronouns
| Russian | Sounds like | English |
|---|---|---|
| я | ya | I |
| ты | ty | you (one friend) |
| он | on | he / it (masc.) |
| она | a-NA | she / it (fem.) |
| оно | a-NO | it (neuter) |
| мы | my | we |
| вы | vy | you (formal or plural) |
| они | a-NEE | they |
Two things to notice:
- он / она / оно match the gender of the noun, not just people. A table (стол) is он; a book (книга) is она. (The gender lesson covers how to tell.)
- они is for any group — no gender distinction in the plural.
The Missing "To Be"
Here is the best news a beginner can get: in the present tense, Russian simply omits the verb "to be."
Я студент.
I am a student. (literally: I student.)
Note: No word for 'am' — just pronoun + noun.
Она врач.
She is a doctor.
Note: Same pattern. Profession words like врач work for men and women.
Мы дома.
We are at home.
Note: Works with places too.
Это мой брат. Он инженер.
This is my brother. He is an engineer.
Note: Это = 'this is / that is' — the most useful little word for pointing at the world.
In writing you'll sometimes see a dash where English has "is": Москва — столица России (Moscow is the capital of Russia).
ты vs вы
Russian has two words for "you," and choosing correctly matters socially:
| Pronoun | Use with | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ты | friends, family, children, peers who agreed | Ты дома? — Are you home? |
| вы | strangers, officials, elders, groups of any kind | Вы дома? — Are you home? |
Rule of thumb: start with вы with any adult you don't know.
My, Your: First Possessives
| Owner | masc. (брат) | fem. (книга) | neut. (окно) |
|---|---|---|---|
| my | мой брат | моя книга | моё окно |
| your (ты) | твой брат | твоя книга | твоё окно |
| our | наш брат | наша книга | наше окно |
| your (вы) | ваш брат | ваша книга | ваше окно |
| his / her / their | его / её / их брат | его / её / их книга | его / её / их окно |
The first four rows change with the noun's gender. The last row — его, её, их — never changes. Small mercy!
Это моя сестра, а это её муж.
This is my sister, and this is her husband.
Note: а = 'and/while' when contrasting two things.
Hear the whole lesson come together in eight seconds:
💬 Showing a photo
Кто это?
Who is this?
Это моя семья. Это мой брат, он студент.
This is my family. This is my brother, he's a student.
А это твоя сестра?
And is this your sister?
Да, и её собака!
Yes, and her dog!
Common Mistakes
- Inserting "is". Don't hunt for a word for am/is/are — Я есть студент is wrong. Just Я студент.
- Using ты with strangers. It can read as rude. Default to вы.
- Forgetting pronoun gender for things. Где книга? — Она на столе. (Where's the book? — She is on the table.)
- Mixing up мой/моя. The possessive agrees with the owned thing's gender, not yours.
What You Can Do Now
You can say who you are, who people around you are, and what belongs to whom: Я студент. Это мой друг. Он инженер. Practice until the pronouns are automatic.