Negation with не and asking yes/no questions
Putting не before a word negates it. To turn a sentence into a yes/no question, just raise your voice on the word in question — no word order change needed.
Yes and no
Да = yes. Нет = no. Easy. Note that нет is also used for 'there isn't' or 'I don't have', but you'll learn that later — for now just remember it as 'no'.
Negation: не + word
Не goes immediately before whatever you're negating. Я не студент = I'm not a student. Это не книга = This is not a book. Не очень = not very. The не is unstressed and pronounced 'ni'.
не vs нет
Don't confuse them. Нет stands alone — it's the answer 'no'. Не attaches to a word inside a sentence — it's the negator. Нет, я не студент. = No, I'm not a student.
Yes/no questions
Word order in a Russian yes/no question is the same as a statement. The difference is intonation: your voice rises sharply on the word being asked about. Ты студент? (Are you a student?) — same words as Ты студент. (You are a student.) The question mark and rising voice carry the meaning.
Asking with full sentence vs single word
You can also ask with just the relevant word: Студент? = (You're a) student? — perfectly natural in conversation.
