Book cover 535 pages with 200 topics

Learn Russian Grammar Step‑by‑step

Bootstrap
Russian
Grammar

A 535-page book and accompanying mobile app.
● Step-by-step introduction to Russian grammar in 200 topics.
● Over 3,000 annotated examples.
● High-quality audio pronunciations via the app.
● Targeted exercises to help learning and retention.

Purchase the Bootstrap Russian Grammar book and get the mobile app free! Send us an email at offer@declansoftware.com for details.

‘A new way to learn Russian Grammar’

Bootstrap Russian Grammar is a new way to learn Russian grammar. Starting from the beginning, the idea is to progress in small self-contained steps (called ‘topics’). Each topic builds on the last, by incrementally adding new grammatical patterns, new vocabulary and lots of useful examples.

In total there are 200 grammar topics and over 3000 example phrases.

Each topic includes a thorough explanation of the grammar and then lots of examples that illustrate the grammar. Each example includes an English translation, as well as notes highlighting how each example illustrates that topic's grammar, as well as the meanings of new Russian words.

The companion mobile application is now available also called "Bootstrap Russian Grammar". The app contains all the content contained in this book - including 200 grammar topics and over 3000 example phrases. And in addition, there is high quality Russian native-speaker audio for every example. More details here.

“Not your typical Russian grammar app”

‘At the time of writing I have 2060 consecutive days on Duolingo. During that time I’ve appreciated Duo for the vocabulary but found it very difficult to learn grammar. I’ve got a couple of grammar books (that I don’t have the time to properly study) and I’ve tried several grammar apps (that are characteristically poorly written, poorly explained and generally very unhelpful). I’ve learned more Russian grammar from this app in three days than I have in the past five years. If you’re serious about understanding Russian, this is the best £25 you’ll spend.’

Review by user JezDavis – Aug 26, 2023

“I think it is fantastic!”

‘I recently purchased a copy of your Bootstrap Russian Grammar and just want to let you know that I think it is fantastic! I have actually been studying the language for years but have only recently had time to spend a lot of time on it and your book is invaluable. The rules are stated concisely and clearly and the examples are a marvellous help. Comparative Adjectives, for example, have always been a bit of a minefield but with the aid of your book I am finally getting to grips with them. I could go on with other examples but won't waste your time. Suffice to say I am delighted with my purchase and thank you very much to you and your team. I can't attach a gold star but the thought is there!’

Review by user Liz Calvert – Sep 25, 2024

Take a look inside the book

Drag or tap the page corners to flip through sample pages of the book.

 

All 200 topics

The book and the app follow the same 200 topics, in this order. Tap a section to see every topic in it.

Topics 1–9 First sentences‘To be’, pronouns, это, questions and negation, ты and вы, gender
  1. The verb 'to be'
  2. Personal pronouns
  3. Это : this, that, it
  4. Simple negation
  5. Asking and answering questions
  6. Formality in Russian: вы and ты
  7. Who and what – кто and что
  8. Gender and adjectives
  9. The conjunctions и, но and а
Topics 10–26 Nouns and adjectivesThe nominative case, plurals, possessives, comparatives and your first verb
  1. Plurals
  2. Plurals – exceptions and irregulars
  3. Demonstrative Pronouns – this, that, these and those
  4. Soft adjectives
  5. Adjectives – attributive or predicative
  6. The Nominative Case
  7. Plural adjectives
  8. Possessive pronouns
  9. Whose? – чей?
  10. Predicative comparative adjectives
  11. Comparisons with чем
  12. Irregular predicative comparative adjectives
  13. Attributive comparative adjectives
  14. One-word attributive comparative adjectives
  15. The verb делать (to do) in the Present Tense
  16. Adverbs of manner
  17. Why and because – почему & потому что
Topics 27–44 The prepositional caseWhere things are and what they’re about (в, на, о), plus everyday verbs
  1. Prepositional Case
  2. Prepositional Case – Plural
  3. Prepositional Case with на and дом
  4. The verb есть – presence or existence
  5. Demonstrative pronouns in the prepositional case
  6. The verb говорить – to talk; and the preposition о
  7. The verb писать – to write
  8. Questions in the prepositional case
  9. Personal pronouns in the prepositional case
  10. Adjectives in the prepositional case
  11. The verb думать – to think
  12. Possessive pronouns in the prepositional case
  13. Reflexive possessive pronouns in the prepositional case
  14. The verb жить – to live, to reside
  15. The Superlative using самый
  16. The conjunctions 'or' and 'either'
  17. Common irregular plurals
  18. The verbs смотреть and видеть
Topics 45–65 The accusative case and the past tenseDirect objects, wanting and understanding, days of the week, который
  1. The Accusative Case – Singular
  2. Accusative questions
  3. The Accusative Case – Plural
  4. The verb хотеть
  5. Adjectives in the Accusative Case
  6. Interrogative pronoun какой – which, what kind of
  7. The days of the week
  8. The verb понимать – to understand
  9. The accusative case of personal pronouns
  10. The conjunction а
  11. Short-form adjectives
  12. The short form adjectives велик and мал
  13. Resembles, looks like – похож на
  14. Possessive pronouns in the accusative
  15. More Russian verbs
  16. Negative pronouns – никто and ничто
  17. The Past Tense – быть
  18. Irregular past tenses: есть and сесть
  19. Adverbs of time
  20. Again – снова, ещё раз & опять
  21. Which, who and that – который
Topics 66–88 The genitive casePossession and absence, prepositions, quantities, numbers and months
  1. The Genitive Case and Ownership
  2. The Genitive Case – Relation to or part of the whole
  3. The Genitive Case – Possession
  4. The Genitive Case – Pronouns
  5. The Genitive Case – Denying possession with нет
  6. Presence and absence – 'there is' and 'there isn't'
  7. Some and the Partitive Genitive
  8. The verb стоять – to stand
  9. Prepositions that take the Genitive
  10. More prepositions that take the Genitive
  11. Yet more prepositions that take the Genitive
  12. Months – Месяцы года
  13. Spans of time
  14. The Genitive case – Plurals
  15. How many? Or how much? сколько
  16. The Genitive Case – Quantity words
  17. The Genitive Case – Possessive pronouns
  18. Nobody and nothing – никто and ничто
  19. The Genitive – Adjectives
  20. The Genitive – Demonstrative pronouns
  21. Comparisons using the Genitive
  22. Numbers and the Genitive Case
  23. Color, size and length with the Genitive Case
Topics 89–99 Verb aspect and verbs of motionPerfective and imperfective, мочь and уметь, идти and пойти, to and from
  1. Introducing verb aspects: говорить / сказать
  2. The verb мочь – to be able to
  3. Ability or know how – мочь & уметь
  4. As a consequence of – из-за
  5. Genitive and names of people
  6. Then – затем, потом & тогда
  7. The verb идти
  8. Prepositions of movement – в and из
  9. The verb aspect pair идти / пойти
  10. To where and from where
  11. More accusative movement prepositions
Topics 100–112 Conjugation and numbersSuch, same and different, the two verb conjugations, declining numbers
  1. Such, such like, such kind – такой
  2. The same as, similar – такой же
  3. The same thing – тот же
  4. Another and different – другой & разный
  5. Verb Conjugations: Type I
  6. Verb Conjugations: Type II
  7. Verb Conjugations: Consonant mutation
  8. Declension of один (the number one)
  9. Declension of два (the number two)
  10. Declension of три (the number three)
  11. Declension of the numbers 5 to 20 and 30
  12. Declension of семь (the number seven)
  13. Just and its derivatives
Topics 113–127 The imperative and linking wordsCommands and ‘let’s’, ходить and ездить, because, so and in order to
  1. The Imperative – Part 1
  2. The Imperative – Part 2
  3. The Imperative: Irregular verbs
  4. The Imperatives давайте and смотрите
  5. The first person imperative – Let's
  6. The multidirectional verb ходить
  7. Movement by transport – uni-directional: ехать/поехать
  8. Movement by transport – multi-directional: ездить/поездить
  9. Verbs of motion and prefixes: приходить and прийти
  10. Nowhere
  11. For what purpose? So as to – зачем & чтобы
  12. Due to, since, because of – поскольку & так как
  13. So and therefore – так что & поэтому
  14. The third-person imperatives пусть and пускай
  15. When – the difference between когда & пока
Topics 128–133 Reflexive verbs-ся verbs, находиться, emphasis with же, to carry and to bring
  1. Reflexive Verbs – Introduction
  2. находиться / найтись
  3. Reflexive Verbs – Lots of new verbs
  4. Emphasis with the particle же
  5. Catenative verbs
  6. The verb 'to carry' and 'to bring'
Topics 134–151 The dative caseTo and for someone, нравиться, feelings, -то and -нибудь, можно and нельзя
  1. The Dative Case
  2. Verbs that take the Dative
  3. Personal pronouns in the dative case
  4. Expressing emotional or physical states
  5. The prepositions к and по with the dative
  6. Ready for – к + dative
  7. Dative Case Plurals
  8. The dative and demonstrative pronouns
  9. To like: нравиться and the Dative Case
  10. Three ways 'to ask'
  11. Reflexive verbs in the past tense – introduction
  12. More past tense reflexive verbs
  13. Possessive pronouns in the dative case
  14. Adjectives in the dative case
  15. The preposition по and the dative case
  16. The interrogative particle ли
  17. Something and anything: -то and -нибудь
  18. Possibility and permission with можно and нельзя
Topics 152–162 Time, age and obligationOrdinal numbers, telling the time, durations, должен, надо and нужно
  1. Ordinal Numbers
  2. Telling the time
  3. Telling the time – advanced
  4. At a particular time
  5. More prepositions of time
  6. Talking about durations of time
  7. Talking about age
  8. Obligation with должен and обязан
  9. Saying 'need to' with надо and нужно
  10. It seems – кажется
  11. More uses of the Dative Case
Topics 163–172 The instrumental caseWith and by, describing a state, seasons and times of day
  1. The Instrumental Case
  2. Personal pronouns in the Instrumental case
  3. You with someone
  4. Expressing a state with the instrumental case
  5. The Instrumental Case – Plurals
  6. The Instrumental Case – Adjectives
  7. Possessive pronouns in the instrumental case
  8. The Instrumental Case – Demonstrative Pronouns
  9. Short adjectives that take the instrumental
  10. Seasons and Times of the Day
Topics 173–186 The future tensePerfective and imperfective future, becoming (стать), себя, весь, dates
  1. Future tense – perfective future
  2. The future tense of быть (to be)
  3. Instrumental case with быть and стать
  4. Ordinal numbers as adjectives and adverbs
  5. Future tense – imperfective future
  6. The reflexive personal pronoun себя
  7. Verbs that take the Instrumental case
  8. Prepositions that take the instrumental case
  9. Imperative with reflexive verbs
  10. What or which – какой (continued)
  11. All, the whole and everyone – весь
  12. The relative pronoun который – continued
  13. Dates – days and months
  14. Both – оба & обе
Topics 187–200 Conditionals and advanced grammarPrefixed verbs of motion, если and если бы, бы + ни, the passive voice
  1. Prefixing verbs of motion
  2. Conditional with если
  3. The Conditional with если бы
  4. Requests, desires and advice with бы
  5. To get used to – привыкать / привыкнуть
  6. It's time – пора
  7. May be, it may be that – может быть
  8. The Prefix 'по'
  9. Conjunctions: before, just before, after and since
  10. Irregular verbs: to grow and to die
  11. Putting or placing objects
  12. Conjugation of -ыть verbs
  13. Whatever, whoever: бы + ни
  14. Passive Voice

What will you learn from this book?

Bootstrap Russian Grammar App

The companion mobile app

All the content in the book PLUS audio!

  • All 200 grammar topics - step-by-step
  • All 3,000 plus example phrases
  • Annotated examples and English translations
  • AND high quality native-speaker audio pronunciations for each and every example.
  • In-app QR code synchronization with the book
  • NEW! Hands-off voice-controlled example phrases review
  • Available for both iPhone/iPad and Android.

A word from the book's Editor

Peter Vujanovic photo

Peter Vujanovic

Hello and Привет! My name is Peter and I'm the CEO and Chief Editor at Declan Software. I had the great pleasure of managing the writing and production of Bootstrap Russian Grammar - both the book and the companion app. It was my job to put together the great team of Russian language experts who contributed to the compilation of this book.

I'd like to give a special thank you to the main contributors:

  • Marina Gorlach for proofreading the Russian and the English translations, as well as for invaluable advice on aspects of the grammar.
  • Tatiana Moiseeva for always being at hand to answer the team’s questions about colloquial Russian.
  • Nadezhda Gordeeva for doing a superb job recording the Russian examples for the companion mobile application.

Our team at Declan Software is always striving to make the best language learning material - both books and apps - and we look forward to further releases of the Bootstrap Grammar series. Next up French, Spanish and Korean!

Reach us on Twitter or email.

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