How to sound right rather than merely correct - and what тарашкевіца is, so that an unfamiliar spelling in a book does not read as a mistake.
I can choose a register appropriate to the situation and recognise a text written in the classical orthography.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Хадзем, зараз буду гатовы!
Come on, I will be ready in a minute!
Мы плануем прыехаць у сераду.
We plan to arrive on Wednesday.
Разгледзеўшы ваш зварот, паведамляем наступнае.
Having considered your application, we inform you of the following.
Ён піша ня так, як мы: сьнег, сымбаль.
He writes differently from us: снег, сімвал spelled the classical way.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
| Register | Marks | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday speech | short forms, dropped pronouns, diminutives | Хадзем! Зараз буду. |
| Neutral written | full clauses, no slang | Мы плануем прыехаць у сераду. |
| Formal | gerunds, passives, спадар | Разгледзеўшы зварот, паведамляем... |
| Literary | older vocabulary, folk turns | - |
Three things separate a well-written text from a merely grammatical one, and all three have come up already:
You will meet two spelling systems, and neither is a mistake:
| Наркамаўка (official) | Тарашкевіца (classical) | |
|---|---|---|
| the negative particle | не быў | ня быў |
| assimilative softness | снег | сьнег |
| loanwords | сімвал | сымбаль |
| plosive g | - | ґ available |
Наркамаўка is the state norm, codified in the 2008 orthography law, and it is what this course teaches. Тарашкевіца was re-codified in 2005 and is used in parts of independent publishing and by many writers. The alphabet is the same 32 letters; what differs is how much of the pronunciation gets written down.
Write one consistently. Recognise both. Do not treat a тарашкевіца text as an error - it is a deliberate choice with its own rules.
Mixed Belarusian-Russian speech is called трасянка. It is a real sociolinguistic fact and very widely heard, but it is not a register to aim for: the whole point of learning the language properly is to have the choice.
Apply this grammar in B1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesTypical errors: mixing the two orthographies within one text, and writing in a uniformly formal register because that is the safest-sounding option.
Mixing наркамаўка and тарашкевіца in one text
Choose one and keep to it; recognise both when reading.
Using a Russian word where a Belarusian one exists
Гарбата, цягнік, ровар, крама, рахунак.
Writing everything in the formal register
Gerunds and passives belong to official writing, not to a message to a friend.
Treating classical spelling as a mistake
It is a codified system with its own rules, re-codified in 2005.
Хадзем, зараз буду гатовы!
Come on, I will be ready in a minute!
Everyday speech: a short imperative and no pronouns.
Мы плануем прыехаць у сераду.
We plan to arrive on Wednesday.
Neutral written register - full clause, no colouring either way.
Разгледзеўшы ваш зварот, паведамляем наступнае.
Having considered your application, we inform you of the following.
Formal register: a gerund and a subjectless plural, both typical of official writing.
Ён піша ня так, як мы: сьнег, сымбаль.
He writes differently from us: снег, сімвал spelled the classical way.
A тарашкевіца text - a deliberate system, not a set of mistakes.
Не чай, а гарбата; не поезд, а цягнік.
Not чай but гарбата; not поезд but цягнік.
Choosing the native word where one exists is what keeps a text from drifting.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in B1 course exercises