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1. Is there a set way to form nouns like 'running' or 'talking' from their respective verbs, or do they just have to be memorized?
Ex. "Running is difficult."
2. Also, along the same lines as the above question, how would you say "It is difficult to run"? Would you use это?
Is there a set way to form nouns like 'running' or 'talking' from their respective verbs, or do they just have to be memorized?
Well, yes, there are several patterns, but neither they apply to all possible verbs, nor they preserve verb's "universal" meaning. For example, there is noun "беганье" (by the way it follows a very common pattern in Russian), but you can't use it in this particular case ("Running is difficult").
how would you say "It is difficult to run"? Would you use это?
That highly depends on context and stylistics. But remember that Russian "это" isn't essential part of syntax as English "it". So you rarely put it in the first place. More usual way of saying should be "Бегать - это трудно" or just "Бегать трудно".
the thing to memorize is that the role of nouns of these 2 particular verbs play simple nouns 'running' and 'talk', that is бег and разговор
following the above explanation it can be said
Бег - дело трудное
OR
Бег - это трудно
but usage of an infinitive instead of a noun to express this idea is more normative
This type of construction with “it” doesn’t exist in many languages. Usually just the infinitive is used. (To run is difficult, etc.) So in Russian: “To run difficult” (since “is” is not stated in the present tense in Russian.) I’m just learning Russian though so correct me if I’m wrong. In English we do also use this word order with the gerund: Running is difficult. Nouns made from verbs exist in Russian too (ie “Running” as the name of an activity) but I haven’t learned those yet. 😂 My impression is for the basic meaning of “it’s difficult to run / running is difficult” you can safely use the infinitive form of the verb (бегать/писать/читать/говорить, etc. + your adverb (трудно/легко/весело etc.) Excuse my errors.
