Question 1

Why do we use по-русски here instead of just the word for Russian, like русский?

Accepted Answer

In English, you say I speak Russian using a noun. In Russian, when you talk about speaking, reading, or understanding a language, you use a special adverb form that starts with по-. По-русски literally translates to in a Russian way or Russian-style.

Question 2

Why is it хорошо and not another form of the word good?

Accepted Answer

Хорошо is the adverb meaning well. Since you are describing an action (the verb говорю, I speak), you have to use an adverb rather than an adjective like хороший (good). This is just like English: you say I speak very well, not I speak very good.

Question 3

Can I put очень хорошо somewhere else in the sentence?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Russian word order is very flexible. Placing очень хорошо at the end puts the strongest emphasis on how well you speak. You could also say Я очень хорошо говорю по-русски, which is very common and sounds completely natural.

Question 4

I see говорю ends in -ю. Why did it change from говорить?

Accepted Answer

Говорить is the dictionary form (the infinitive) meaning to speak. Because the person doing the action is я (I), you drop the ending and add -ю to make it я говорю (I speak). This is a standard rule for matching the verb to the subject I in Russian.

Я говорю по-русски очень хорошо.

Breakdown of Я говорю по-русски очень хорошо.

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