Questions
Change nothing.
Вы говори́те по-ру́сски. → Вы говори́те по-ру́сски?
No inversion, no auxiliary, no particle. Intonation alone — and the Russian question intonation is a sharp rise on the stressed syllable of the word being asked about, then a fall. Move the rise and you change the question.
Question words
| кто | who |
| что | what — said /ʂto/ |
| где | where (being) |
| куда́ | where (going to) |
| отку́да | where from |
| когда́ | when |
| почему́ | why (cause) |
| заче́м | why (purpose) |
| как | how |
| ско́лько | how much |
| како́й | which, what kind |
| чей | whose |
Three of these do the work of English where. And почему́ vs заче́м splits why into cause and purpose, which English leaves ambiguous.
They decline
Even question words take cases: кто, кого́, кому́, кем, о ком. чей and како́й are adjectives and agree with gender and number too.
ли
For an indirect question, or a formal direct one, ли goes after the word being questioned:
Не зна́ете ли вы, где метро́? — Would you happen to know where the metro is?
It is formal in speech, and there is no English equivalent — it simply marks that a question is being asked.
The polite openers
Two frames do most of the work with strangers, and both are negative:
- Не подска́жете… — literally "won't you prompt"
- Не могли́ бы вы… — "could you not"
Asking whether somebody would NOT do a thing is politer than asking whether they would. That is the reverse of the English instinct and worth learning early.
The tag
да? covers every English tag question. не пра́вда ли? exists, is formal, and sounds it.
Same chapter in: English · French · Spanish · Portuguese · German · Italian · Georgian · Hindi · Mandarin Chinese · Cantonese · Vietnamese · Korean · Japanese · Malay · Turkish