Language/Russian/Grammar/А-vs-Но

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Hello everybody,

In today's lesson you will learn when to use A or HO in Russian.

Feel free to edit this wiki page if needed.

Happy learning! 😃

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There are many conjunctions in the Russian language but the most difficult ones for foreigners to use are following: "А", "Но".

They are difficult because it’s very hard to decide which one to use in the appropriate situation, it depends on what speaker wants to say or express.

Despite the fact that there’s a big difference between these two, Russian learners always face a great deal of problems when picking up which one to use.

This is why we’ve made this wiki-lesson. 

Let’s talk about "A" and "Но" as the most difficult and meaningful conjunctions.

"Но"

When choosing a conjunction remember the following statements:

‘Но’ means something that has occurred is different from the things we expected to happen.  

Examples:

• Я позвонил ему, но он не ответил

I called him, but he didn't answer

So you expected that he would respond, but he did not. In English they use "but" to express this meaning. The Russian use ‘Но’ to express contradiction as in example:

• Моя машина очень старая, но хорошая.

My car is very old, but good

So despite the fact that it’s old, it’s still good. When we say that a car is old we expect it to be bad, but it’s still good, so we use ‘Но’ in this case.  In the next example:

• У меня есть машина, но нет компьютера

I have a car, but not a computer

Again, this is contradiction: I have THIS, but not THAT.

Another example:

• У неё маленькая зарплата, но она любит свою работу.

Her salary is low but she likes her job

So her salary is low and we expect her to hate her job due to the fact but she does not hate it, but loves it!  

➡ To sum it up, the main meaning of "Но" is a contradiction to expectations.

Now, we use the "А" conjunction in the comparison constructions like Я изучаю русский, а ты английский

• Меня зовут Борис, а тебя Саша.

I study Russian and you study English

• Меня зовут Борис, а тебя Саша.

My name is Boris and your name is Sasha

• Меня зовут Борис, а тебя?

My name is Boris, and what’s your name?

"A"

The "A" conjunction always tells us some new or something different from the things were mentioned before.

Another way of using ‘A’ is to add some new information, let’s say in purpose to change the subject:

• А, кстати, сколько сейчас времени? Я опаздываю!

Oh, by the way, what time is it, I am late!

Remember also that in negative constructions like:

• Это дом, а не машина

This is a house, not a car

➡ We have to use "A" conjunction.

So the main difference between ‘A’ and ‘Ho’ is that ‘A’ is not a contradiction, it simply adds some new information into the conversation, whereas ‘Ho’ is a contradiction to expectations.

Exercises

Great. Now let’s have a look at some exercises to train our skills. Let’s do a small quiz.

А или НО

1. У меня есть машина, (1) нет дома
2. Это мой друг, (2) это мой враг.
3. У меня высокая зарплата, (3) я не люблю свою работу
4. У тебя есть брат, (4) у меня есть сестра
5. Я позвонил президенту, (5)  он сказал, что он больше не президент.
6. Я хотел купить учебник, (6) забыл деньги дома.
7. Эта машина очень старая, (7) ездит прекрасно
8. Этот поезд выезжает в 10, (8) тот в 12.
9. У меня нет учебника, (9) у тебя есть.
10. Этот кинотеатр хороший, (10) очень дорогой.

So, in this small lesson we’ve discussed two very important conjunctions in the Russian Language.  Complete the exercise above and leave your comments if you have any questions about that or any other topic. Thank you for your attention!

Examples of use

ENGLISH	PRONUNCIATION ENGLISH	RUSSIAN	PORTUGUESE
I CALLED HIM, BUT HE DIDN´T ANSWER	yah pahs vah nihl ih mou, noh ohn nyeh aht vyeh tihl	Я ПОЗВОНИЛ ЕМУ, НО ОН НЕ ОТВЕТИЛ	EU LIGUEI PRA ELE MAS ELE NÃO RESPONDEU
MY CAR IS VERY OLD, BUT GOOD	mah yah mah shih nah oh chihn stah rah yah, noh hah roh shah yah	МОЯ МАШИНА ОЧЕНЬ СТАРАЯ, НО ХОРОШАЯ	MEU CARRO É MUITO VELHO, PORÉM BOM
I HAVE A CAR, BUT NOT A COMPUTER	ou mih nyah yehst mah shih nah, noh nyeht kahm pih you tih rah	У МЕНЯ ЕСТЬ МАШИНА, НО НЕТ КОМПЬЮТЕРА	EU TENHO UM CARRO, NÃO UM COMPUTADOR
HER SALARY IS LOW BUT SHE LIKES HER JOB	ou nee yoh mah lyeh kah yah zahr plah tah, noh ah nah lih you beet svah you rah boh tou	У НЕЁ МАЛЕНЬКАЯ ЗАРПЛАТА, НО ОНА ЛЮБИТ СВОЮ РАБОТУ	O SALÁRIO DELA É POUCO MAS ELA GOSTA DO TRABALHO
I STUDY RUSSIAN AND YOU STUDY ENGLISH	yah ih zou chah you roos kee, ah tuh ahn glees kee	Я ИЗУЧАЮ РУССКИЙ, А ТЫ АНГЛИЙСКИЙ	EU ESTUDO RUSSO E VOCÊ ESTUDA INGLÊS
MY NAME IS BORIS AND YOUR NAME IS SASHA	mih nyah zah voot boh rihs, ah tih byah sah shah	МЕНЯ ЗОВУТ БОРИС, А ТЕБЯ САША	ME CHAMO BORIS E VOCÊ SE CHAMA SASHA
MY NAME IS BORIS, AND WHAT´S YOUR NAME ?	mih nyah zah voot boh rihs, ah tih byah ?	МЕНЯ ЗОВУТ БОРИС, А ТЕБЯ ?	ME CHAMO BORIS, E VOCÊ ?
OH, BY THE WAY, WHAT TIME IS IT ? I´M LATE	ah kihs tah tih, skohl kah sih chahs vrih mih nih ? yah ah pahs duh vah you	А, КСТАТИ, СКОЛЬКО СЕЙЧАС ВРЕМЕНИ ? Я ОПАЗДЫВАЮ	E, A PROPÓSITO, QUE HORAS SÃO ? EU TÔ ATRASADO
THIS IS A HOUSE, NOT A CAR	eh tah dohm, ah nyeh mah shih nah	ЭТО ДОМ, А НЕ МАШИНА	ISSO É UMA CASA. NÃO UM CARRO