Quick answer
Pick the subject (nominative), pick the verb (agree with the person), pick the object (accusative), add the extras (each preposition brings its case). No “is”, no articles.
Step by step
1. Subject in the nominative: Я. 2. Verb for that person: чита́ю. 3. Object in the accusative: кни́гу. 4. Extras with their prepositions: в па́рке. 5. Put the new information last.
What Russian leaves out
No articles (кни́га is “a book” and “the book”), no “is” in the present (Он врач), and often no pronoun when it is obvious from the verb ending.
Two sentence types to start with
| Pattern | Example | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Это + noun | Э́то кни́га. | naming things |
| Subject + verb + object | Я чита́ю кни́гу. | doing things |
| У меня́ есть + noun | У меня́ есть брат. | having things |
| Мне + adverb | Мне хо́лодно. | how you feel |
The fastest progress
Take one pattern, swap only the vocabulary, and say twenty versions out loud. That converts grammar you have read into grammar you can use.
Typical mistakes
Я есть чита́ю кни́га.
Я чита́ю кни́гу.
No auxiliary, and the object takes the accusative.
Это есть моя́ кни́га.
Э́то моя́ кни́га.
No “is” in the present tense.
Check yourself
Which sentence is correct?