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Punctuation

Russian punctuation is rule-based rather than stylistic. Three rules cover most of what English speakers get wrong.

Quick answer

A comma before что is compulsory. A dash replaces the missing verb “is”. Quotation marks are «ёлочки».

The comma before что

Every subordinate clause is separated by a comma, with no exceptions and no stylistic choice: Я ду́маю, что он прав. The same applies before кото́рый, когда́, е́сли, потому́ что, что́бы and to ли clauses. English allows “I think he is right”; Russian does not.

Я зна́ю, что ты прав.I know you’re right.
Скажи́, когда́ бу́дешь гото́в.Tell me when you’re ready.
Я не зна́ю, придёт ли он.I don’t know whether he’ll come.

The dash for “is”

Where Russian has no present-tense verb “to be” and both sides are nouns, a dash takes its place: Москва́ — столи́ца Росси́и. With a pronoun subject it is usually omitted: Он врач. The dash is also used before э́то: Чте́ние — э́то удово́льствие.

Москва́ — столи́ца Росси́и.Moscow is the capital of Russia.
Мой брат — врач.My brother is a doctor.
Он врач.He is a doctor. — no dash with a pronoun

Quotation marks and the rest

Russian uses «ёлочки» — guillemets — as the standard quotation marks, with „ла́пки“ for a quote inside a quote. Titles go in guillemets rather than italics: фильм «Ирония судьбы». Direct speech uses a dash: — Приве́т, — сказа́л он.

No Oxford comma, no comma before и

Russian does not put a comma before и in a simple list: хлеб, молоко́ и сыр. But it does put one before а and но, always: Я чита́ю, а он спит.

Typical mistakes

Я ду́маю что он прав.

Я ду́маю, что он прав.

The comma before что is compulsory.

хлеб, молоко́, и сыр

хлеб, молоко́ и сыр

No comma before и in a list.

Check yourself

Which is correct?

The comma is required.

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