Russian articles for English speakers

Both «отчего» and «почему» translate to “why?” in English, but they differ in style, usage, and grammatical behavior . Here's a clear breakdown: 🔹 1. Meaning & Core Difference Word Literal Meaning Common Use Почему “For what reason?” Neutral, standard way to ask “why?” in modern Russian. Used in all contexts (spoken, written, formal, informal). Отчего “From what?” / “Due to what?” More literary, old-fashioned, or poetic . Often implies cause or origin (like “what caused this?”). Rare in everyday speech. ✅ In 99% of everyday situations , use почему . 📚 Отчего appears in literature, poetry, proverbs, or for stylistic effect. 🔹 2. Grammatical Behavior Both introduce why-questions , but they govern different cases in the answer (though this is often invisible in simple sentences): Почему → usually answered with prepositional phrases or clauses ...

In Russian, there is no grammatical possessive case like the English ’s (e.g., John’s book ). Instead, possession is expressed using possessive pronouns, adjectives, or the genitive case of nouns. Below is a detailed explanation with examples. 1. Possessive Pronouns These agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify (not the possessor). Person Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural My мой моя моё мои Your (sg.) твой твоя твоё твои His его его его его Her её её её её Our наш наша наше наши Your (pl./formal) ваш ваша ваше ваши Their их их их их Examples: Это моя книга. – This is my book. Где тв...