я, ты, ён, яна, яно, мы, вы, яны and their case forms. The third person begins with the sound [j] in Belarusian, and the pronoun is often left out because the verb ending already carries it.
I can refer to myself and to other people, choose between ты and Вы, and use the case forms needed for having and being asked about.
Schau dir diese Beispiele an. Kannst du das grammatische Muster erkennen?
Я студэнт. Я з Мінска.
I am a student. I am from Minsk.
Ён настаўнік, а яна лекар.
He is a teacher and she is a doctor.
Мы беларусы. Яны таксама беларусы.
We are Belarusians. They are Belarusians too.
Вы з Беларусі? Так, мы з Гродна.
Are you from Belarus? Yes, we are from Hrodna.
Achte auf die hervorgehobenen Teile. Was haben sie gemeinsam?
| Belarusian | English | Russian equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| я | I | я |
| ты | you (one person, informal) | ты |
| ён | he, it (masculine) | он |
| яна | she, it (feminine) | она |
| яно | it (neuter) | оно |
| мы | we | мы |
| вы / Вы | you (plural, or polite singular) | вы / Вы |
| яны | they | они |
Because Belarusian has grammatical gender, ён and яна refer to objects as readily as to people: a table is ён, a book is яна, a window is яно. English it covers all three.
| Case | я | ты | ён / яно | яна | мы | вы | яны |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | я | ты | ён | яна | мы | вы | яны |
| genitive | мяне | цябе | яго | яе | нас | вас | іх |
| dative | мне | табе | яму | ёй | нам | вам | ім |
| accusative | мяне | цябе | яго | яе | нас | вас | іх |
| instrumental | мной | табой | ім | ёй | намі | вамі | імі |
| locative | (па) мне | (па) табе | (пра) яго | (пра) яе | (пра) нас | (пра) вас | (пра) іх |
The genitive is what you need first, because it builds the possessive construction: У мяне ёсць (I have), У яго ёсць (he has), У нас ёсць (we have).
The verb ending already names the person, so Чытаю кнігу and Ідзем разам are complete sentences. Keep the pronoun when you are contrasting people (Я чытаю, а ён піша) and drop it otherwise; a pronoun in front of every verb sounds insistent.
Вы is both the plural and the polite singular, and in writing the polite one is capitalised. The verb stays plural either way: Вы гаворыце.
English lost its singular/plural distinction in the second person and its gender distinction in the third for objects. Belarusian keeps both, so two decisions have to be made that English never asks for: how well you know the person, and what gender the thing is.
Wende diese Grammatik in den Übungen des Kurses A1 an
ÜbungsaufgabenTypical errors: using it for every object instead of the gender-appropriate ён, яна or яно; and putting a pronoun before every verb, which the endings make unnecessary.
Using Russian он/она/они instead of ён/яна/яны
3rd person in Belarusian starts with Я: ён, яна, яно, яны.
Not using formal Вы with strangers
Use Вы (capitalized) for formal address — essential in Belarusian culture.
Я студэнт. Я з Мінска.
I am a student. I am from Minsk.
No verb <em>to be</em> in the present. <em>Мінска</em> is genitive after <em>з</em>.
Ён настаўнік, а яна лекар.
He is a teacher and she is a doctor.
<em>Ён</em> and <em>яна</em>, both with the initial я- that Russian lacks. <em>Лекар</em> is the everyday Belarusian word for a doctor.
Мы беларусы. Яны таксама беларусы.
We are Belarusians. They are Belarusians too.
<em>Яны</em>, not <em>они</em>. <em>Таксама</em> is the Belarusian word for also.
Вы з Беларусі? Так, мы з Гродна.
Are you from Belarus? Yes, we are from Hrodna.
The polite <em>вы</em>, and <em>так</em> meaning yes. Hrodna sits on the Nioman close to the Polish and Lithuanian borders.
У мяне ёсць пытанне да цябе.
I have a question for you.
Two case forms at once: genitive <em>мяне</em> in the have-construction and genitive <em>цябе</em> after <em>да</em>.
Im Kurs üben
Wende diese Grammatik in den Übungen des Kurses A1 an