ABSTRACT
This chapter covers basic information on Russian sentence structure, types of sentence, word order and punctuation. All Russian sentences fall into one of the following categories: simple sentences; compound sentences; complex sentences; compound-complex sentences. Unlike English, Russian sentences may only have one core element, either a subject or a predicate. The Russian equivalent of English indefinite-personal sentences does not have a subject. In Russian sentences, word order is flexible owing to the concepts of declension and agreement between different elements of a sentence. However, word order plays an important role in determining the style of spoken or written speech, such as formal style, informal style or slang. In Russian, the use of full stop, question and exclamation marks corresponds to their use in English. However, the use of the comma in Russian is highly formalised.
