Personal pronouns: я, ты, он, она́, оно́, мы, вы, они́
The seven subject pronouns, why Russian keeps them more often than Italian or Spanish, and the н- that appears after a preposition.
The set is small and you already know half of it: я (I), ты (you, informal singular), он (he), она́ (she), оно́ (it, neuter), мы (we), вы (you — plural, or singular formal), они́ (they). Вы does double duty, and that doubleness is a social fact, not a grammatical one; it is covered in full under register-ty-vy. Оно́ exists but is rare as a spoken subject — Russians usually just name the thing instead of pointing at it with a neuter pronoun.
Unlike Italian or Spanish, Russian does not freely drop the subject. The verb ending does show the person, so Ра́ботаю is grammatical, but it reads as contrastive or clipped — 'I'm the one working'. The neutral sentence keeps the pronoun: Я рабо́таю. Get into the habit of saying it, and drop it only when you mean the emphasis.
Pronouns are the most irregular words in the language and they decline through all six cases: я → меня́, мне, меня́, мной, обо мне́. The full paradigm is under pronoun-declension. One rule needs stating here because it catches everyone out: after a preposition, the third-person pronouns grow an н-. Он becomes у него́, к нему́, о нём; она́ becomes у неё, к ней, о ней; они́ becomes у них, к ним, о них. Without a preposition there is no н: Я его́ зна́ю. A handful of bookish prepositions that govern the dative — благодаря́, согла́сно, вопреки́, навстре́чу, подо́бно — keep the plain form: благодаря́ ему́.
Two fixed chunks are worth learning whole rather than analysing. Меня́ зову́т А́нна — literally 'they call me Anna' — uses the accusative of я. And Мне нра́вится — 'I like it' — uses the dative, because in Russian the person who likes is grammatically the recipient, not the subject.
Examples
- Я чита́ю, а ты слуша́ешь. I am reading, and you are listening. Listen in Russian: Slow in Russian: Я чита́ю, а ты слуша́ешь.
- Она́ живёт в Москве́, а он — в Лондо́не. She lives in Moscow, and he lives in London. Listen in Russian: Slow in Russian: Она́ живёт в Москве́, а он — в Лондо́не.
- У него́ есть маши́на. He has a car. — the н- appears after the preposition у Listen in Russian: Slow in Russian: У него́ есть маши́на.
- Я зна́ю их. I know them. — no н- when there is no preposition Listen in Russian: Slow in Russian: Я зна́ю их.
- Мы идём к ним в го́сти. We are going to their place. Listen in Russian: Slow in Russian: Мы идём к ним в го́сти.
- Меня́ зову́т А́нна. My name is Anna. — literally: they call me Anna Listen in Russian: Slow in Russian: Меня́ зову́т А́нна.