Word order

Free — and that is not the same as unimportant.

Cases mark who does what, so the words can go in any order without confusing anyone:

All three mean mum loves dad, because па́пу is accusative wherever it stands. English cannot do this; it has only position to work with.

What the order is for

Given information first, new information last. This is what carries the definiteness English marks with articles.


На столе́ кни́га.	There's a book on the table.
Кни́га на столе́.	The book is on the table.

Same words. The one at the end is the news.

Subject–verb–object, when nothing is being emphasised. Adjectives come before their noun; adverbs are flexible.

не immediately before what it negates
бы near the verb, usually right after it
же, ли, -то and -нибудь attach to a specific word and cannot be moved off it

Where the missing verb to be would go, between two nouns:

Москва́ — столи́ца Росси́и.

Only between nouns, and never before an adjective.

Russian prepositions each demand particular cases, and some take two with different meanings:

Location versus direction, marked by the case rather than the preposition. на and за do the same.