NICHOLAS J. BROWNSenior Lecturer in Russian School of Slavonic and East European Studies University College London

THE NEW PENGUIN

RUSSIAN COURSE

PENGUIN BOOKS

CONTENTS

Introduction Acknowledgements LEARNING TO READ RUSSIAN Alphabet and Pronunciation; Transliteration; Street Signs 2 RUSSIAN HANDWRITING; MORE ON PRONUNCIATION

xi xiv

I 12 24

3 EVERYDAY PHRASES; BASIC GRAMMAR Naming Things; Basic Grammar; Gender; Map of Russia4 DOING THINGS - VERBS; PERSONAL PRONOUNS Present Tense; Conjugations; Word Stress; Nouns and Cases; Conversation in the Metro

36 46 56

5 ASKING QUESTIONS; THE PREPOSITIONAL CASE Indeclinable Nouns; Dialogues67

POSSESSION; GOING PLACES; THE ACCUSATIVE CASE Russian Personal Names; Dialogues DESCRIBING THINGS: ADJECTIVES Masculine, Feminine and Neuter Adjectives; 'What kind of ... ?'; 'This' and 'That'; Prepositional and Accusative Cases of Adjectives; Adverbs; Moscow Street Map

68 81

8 PLURALS; SPELLING RULES; BUYING THINGS Spelling Rule I; 'Is There ... ?'; Spelling Rule 2; Map of Europe 9 NUMBERS; THE GENITIVE CASE l-5,000; Genitive Singular and Plural; Quantities; Roubles and Dollars; Buying Things; Street Market

92

10

'TO HAVE'; MORE ON THE GENITIVE Genitive Pronouns; 'There Isn't'; Prepositions Taking the Genitive; Genitive of Adjectives; 'Whether'; Dialogues 107

Vll

CONTENTS

11 12

THE PAST; REFLEXIVE VERBS St Petersburg

The Founding of

THE FUTURE; ASPECT; THE DATIVE CASE Imperfective and Perfective; 'To Want'; Dative; 'To Give'; 'To Please'; Spelling Rules 3 and 4; Prepositional Plural; In the Restaurant; Visiting Friends ASPECT IN THE PAST; USE OF TENSES Aspect of the Infinitive; Reported Speech; More about 'Whether'; Dialogue ASPECT IN THE FUTURE; IMPERSONAL CONSTRUCTIONS Dialogue REQUESTS AND THE IMPERATIVE Summary of Aspect Use; Two Lost Tourists; Phoning a Bureaucrat

13 14

15

16 THE INSTRUMENTAL CASE 3TOT and TilT; Declension of Surnames; A Family at Home; Volodia and the KGB17

TIME, DATE, AGE; ORDINAL NUMBERS Months; Years; The Daily Life ofChaikovskii (Tchaikovsky) THE COMPARATIVE; SUPERLATIVES; RELATIVE CLAUSES WITH KOTOPLlA ('Who', 'Which'); Victor Wants to Meet Mary; Siberian Superlatives; Map of Siberia PREFIXESMary Seeks an Absent-Minded Professor

18

19 THE CONDITIONAL; OBLIGATION (,ZJ;OJDKEH);20 21

VERBS OF MOTION: GOING, RUNNING, BRINGING Travelling Around; Tania in Motion POSSESSION (CBOA); PURPOSE (qT6JiLI) Mr Thornthwaite Doesn't Like His Hotel; Was Turgenev a Revolutionary? FUN WITH NUMBERS Declension of Numbers; 'Both'; Collective Numerals; Fractions; Soviet Divorce Statistics TIME EXPRESSIONS 'When?', 'How Long?'; Vadim and Eva; Mr Kuznetsov and Mr Pope NEGATION; PLACE OF HE Nothing, Nobody, Never; HHKaKoii, aeKoro, ue'lero; A Pineapple, but No Bananas DIMINUTIVES; PROPER NAMES; POLITENESS 'The Fox and the Rolling-Pin' INDEFINITE PRONOUNS; WORD ORDER; WRITING LETTERS A Letter to Mrs Pope PARTICIPLES: TYPES AND STRESSA Classic Film

22

23

2425

26

27

viii

CONTENTS

28 VERBAL ADVERBSMushroom Solianka

Peter the Great; A Recipe for

343

29

'BOOKISH' STYLE; ACTIVE PARTICIPLES; PUNCTUATION; SHORT-FORM ADJECTIVESVladivostok; The Winter Palace

355

30 ABBREVIATIONS; NAMES OF RUSSIAN LETTERS; PARTICLES A Complete Chekhov Story: Tlmcn.di H T6HKRii (Fat and Thin)Grammatical Tables The Four Spelling Rules Russian-English Vocabulary English-Russian Vocabulary Key to Exercises and Translation of Texts Glossary of Grammatical Terms Index

368 378 387 388428453

503 508

ix

Notes on Russian Prices. Since the fall of Communism, Russia has been afflicted by serious inflation. Rouble prices have risen a thousandfold in the last few years and continue to rise at an alarming rate. In the sections of this book which deal with money and shopping (Lessons 9 and 10), we have decided to leave the stable pre-inflation prices. These provide better practice for beginners, since they do not involve large numbers in the hundreds and thousands; they are also very much part of Russian folk memory (for example, the price of the standard loaf of bread did not change for thirty years). Some of the dialogues give prices in US dollars, which Russians have used since Communist times as a parallel 'hard' currency for trade, the tourist industry, and 'black market' deals, and as a sensible way to store savings 'under the mattress' (or, as Russians say, a '4ynKlt 'in a stocking'). If/when Russia returns to financial stability, the author hopes that Russia's central bank will remove several zeros from its hopelessly inflated currency, restore the old rouble-dollar exchange rate which was (officially) about one to one, and enable a grateful population to return to the days of three-rouble notes and two-kopeck coins.

X

INTRODUCTION

Like its Penguin predecessor, the New Penguin Russian Course is a grammar of Russian for adults which aims to take the reader to the equivalent of A-level standard. It is designed primarily as a self-tutor for all those who intend to study this important language without a teacher. This means that there is plenty of explanation, a concern for completeness, a key to all exercises and English translations of all the Russian texts. It can thus also serve as a reference work for students and others who are following a more communicatively based classroom course but want to know the grammar in detail. It includes all the basic structures of the language, a fairly large vocabulary of over 1,500 words, a variety of exercises, and a good number of texts (including conversations) intended both to illustrate the use of the language and also to give information about life in Russia. Unlike its predecessor, the NPRC emphasizes functional and communicative aspects of language learning, in tune with current developments in language teaching. Exercises involving translation from English into Russian include only things the learner might actually need to say (or write) in Russian. Furthermore, the lessons try to distinguish material which is essential for basic competence in Russian from less important points (marked EXTRA), which can safely be ignored by those in a hurry. The grammar is presented in an order which, in the author's experience, works well with university students. The overall intention is that all the basic grammar of Russian should be covered, but the main concern is usefulness for the foreign learner. The examples and exercises concentrate on the kind and level of Russian which can reasonably be attained by serious students who wish to make themselves understood and to speak correctly but who are not necessarily aiming to become master spies or pass themselves off as Russians. The Russian in the texts, which has all been written xi

INTRODUCTION

and/or carefully checked by native speakers, is in some cases more complicated than the Russian which learners will be able to produce themselves, but one's ability to understand a foreign language is always greater than one's ability to speak or write it. Each lesson begins with examples of expressions which the learner is likely to need in dealing with Russians and which contain grammar points to be dealt with in the lesson. If you, the student, begin each study period by trying to memorize these expressions, you will have a good functional basis with which you can begin to communicate. The explanations then give you a basic understanding of how the grammar works, with further examples and reading texts. The theoretical basis of the book as a teaching aid is the notion that traditional structure-based grammar (e.g. 'present tense', 'genitive singular of nouns') and communicative grammar (e.g. 'how to address Russians', 'how to complain about something') should as far as possible be combined. Thus the functional usefulness of each structure is made the main reason for learning it, and the examples which the student is asked to memorize are clearly relevant to the needs of a foreigner.

Exercises. Each lesson contains one or two grammar exercises to let you check that you have understood the main points; some sentences for translation into Russian concentrating on things you might need or want to say or write in Russian - so the sentences are functional and short; and a comprehension exercise which asks you to find particular information in a text. For those who find Russian-English translation a useful exercise, all the Russian texts in the lessons are translated in the key at the end of the book. There are revision exercises at five-lesson intervals. Vocabulary. Russian grammar is interesting and fairly easy to follow. Your most demanding task will be the vocabulary. At first, you will feel you are forgetting words as fast as you learn them - but persevere, and the task gets easier. The number of new words is lower in the early lessons (350 in the first ten) and then increases to give you a good working vocabulary of around I ,500 by the end of Lesson 30. A Note on Modern Russian. Despite all the changes which have taken place in Russia this century, the essentials of the language have beenxii

INTRODUCTION

almost unaffected. The spelling reform of 1917-18, whose main effect was the abolition of a number of redundant letters (notably the replacement ofo by e), is probably the only major example of government interference - and it is worth noting that the plans for the spelling reform were put forward before the 1917 socialist revolution. Under the Communists, many new vocabulary items were introduced, particularly political and industrial terms, but there was no attempt to alter the grammar of the language. The standard remained that of the educated Moscow classes, not the workers or the peasants. Indeed, in contrast to their economic and socio-political failures, it can be argued that Russia's Communist rulers had considerable linguistic success. They managed to maintain linguistic continuity with the past while spreading literacy throughout the population, turning Russian into a world language and making it a lingua franca for a sixth of the land surface of the globe. This important language is in all essentials the one used so richly by Tolstoi and Chekhov a hundred years ago; it remains, and will remain, the key to a rich culture, a world-class literature and communication with 150 million native speakers. In the new post-Cold War Europe, we must recognize that Russian is both an important part of the European cultural heritage and also the first language of more Europeans than any other. SSEES,London, 1996NJB

xiii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to thank the School of Slavonic and East European Studies of the University of London which granted me a year's leave from teaching and other duties in order to complete this book. I am particularly grateful to Dr Lyudmila Ivanovna Matthews, who read and discussed two separate drafts and made many valuable suggestions. Thanks are also due to Aleksei Il'ich Prokhnevskii and Tat'iana Aleksandrovna Golova, who checked all the Russian, and to Shirley Adams, Joan Fernald, John Garrett and Sarah Hurst, who commented on the manuscript from the learner's point of view.

xiv

1PYCCKASI A35YKALEARNING TO READ RUSSIAN

Before you finish this lesson you'll be able to pronounce the Russian heading above, which means 'the Russian alphabet'.

1. 1 The Russian Cyrillic Alphabet

Russian Cyrillic is based on an alphabet invented around AD 863 by a Macedonian monk, who spoke a South Slavonic language closely related to Russian and also knew Greek; the inventor was later canonized as Saint Cyril, hence the name Cyrillic. This original Slavonic alphabet was based on the Greek one, so some of the letters will be familiar, e.g. n, the Russian p, which you may recognize as the Greek pi, used in mathematics. The alphabet is the first hurdle when you tackle Russian, but it is not a daunting one. Once you know the sounds of the thirty-three letters, you can read Russian words comprehensibly; unlike English, it is generally true to say that Russian words are pronounced as they are written. In this lesson, you will learn the essentials for reading and pronouncing Russian. In Lesson 2, you will find details of the regular minor differences between Russian spelling and pronunciation.

1.2 Learning the Russian AlphabetTo make thirty-three letters easier to learn, we'll divide them into four groups.

LESSON 1

(a) The first group contains five letters which are easy to learn:Capital A Small a K M0

Pronunciation[a] as in father [k) as in kangaroo [m] as in man [o] as in bottle- but note that in unstressed" syllables (i.e. with no stress mark ') standard Moscow pronunciation of o is closer to [a]. For 'stress', see 2.2.

KM

0

T

T

[t] as in tan

So now you can read Russian words such as:TOT KOT TaK TaM KT6-TO [tot] [kot] [tak] [tam] [kto-ta]'that' 'cat' 'so' 'there' 'someone' (second o pronounced [a) because it is unstressed). This word has the same rhythm as English 'totter', which is stressed on the o.

(b) The second group contains seven letters which look like English ones but have different sounds:CapitalB

SmallB

Pronunciation[v) as in vet [ye] as in yes [n) as in never [r] as in error (rolled as in Scottish English)

E H p

eH

p

1 Words marked are technical terms which are explained in the lessons and/or in the glossary on page 503. The is inserted when a term is first used and occasionally thereafter as a reminder that the term is defined in the glossary. Syllables' (a syllable is a vowel plus preceding consonants) are separated by hyphens (-) in the [bracketed] English transcriptions.

2

LEARNING TO READ RUSSIAN

cy

cyX

[s] as in sit [oo] as in boot [h] pronounced like the ch in Scots loch or German Bach

X

Words for practice:HeT MocKaa MeTp6 6H oHa cecTp8 pecTopaH [nyet] [mask-va] [mye-tr6] [on] [a-na] [sye-stra) [rye-sta-ran)'no' 'Moscow' 'metro', 'underground railway' 'he' 'she' 'sister' 'restaurant'

Now try these ones, covering the pronunciation on the right with a piece of paper:Translation caxap BaMBepa

jrpo Heaa Kacca KSpTa MSpKa

'sugar' 'to you' 'Vera' 'morning' 'Neva' 'cash desk' 'map' 'postage stamp'

Pronunciation [sa-har] [vam)[vy8-ra) [o'o-tra]

[nye-va] (river in St Petersburg)[k8-ssa)

[kar-ta] {mar-ka)

It is worth going through these lists twice, since you will meet all these useful words again. (c) The third group contains thirteen letters which look unfamiliar but have familiar sounds:Capital 5 Small 6 r Pronunciation [b] as in bet [g] as in get[ d] as in debt [yo] as in yonder. (Note: Russians normally omit the two dots, so in books, newspapers etc. this letter

rA E

A

e

looks the same as e [ye]; however, the dots are printed in dictionaries and books for foreigners)

3

LESSON 1

3M

3M

[z] as in zoo [ee] as in eel [y] as in boy; i forms diphthongs, so 6i sounds like [oy] in boy, ai sounds like the igh in sigh, yi [ooi] sounds like oui in the name Louis

li1

i

n n

n n ctJ310H

[I] as in people

[p] as in pet[f] as in fat [e] as in fed [yoo] as in universe [ya] as in yak

3 10ft

Examples:MMp A8~Jyro6n

cnac.t6o AOCBMA{IHMH JOrocnaaMH AneKCSHAP CnyYHMK Bn&AMBOCT6K POCCMH TonCT6M 3MMS &enctJ&CT H 3HSIOA3po~Jn6T

[meer] [da] [foot-bol] [spa-se'e-ba] ' [da svee-da-nee-ya) [yoo-ga-sla-vee-ya] [a-lye-ksandr] [spo'ot-neek] [vla-dee-va-st6k] [ra-sse e-ya] [tal-st6y] [zee-ma] [byel-fast] [ya zna-yoo] [a-e-ra-fl6t] [lee-kyor]

'peace', 'world' 'yes' 'football' 'thank you' 'goodbye' (AO has no stress, so is pronounced [da]) 'Yugoslavia' 'Alexander' 'sputnik', 'travelling companion' 'Vladivostok' 'Russia' 'Tolstoi' (author of War and Peace) 'winter' 'Belfast' 'I know' 'Aeroflot' (the Russian airline) 'liqueur' (i always carries the stress, so there is no need to print the mark on i)

nMKip

C8MOniT 6oMK6T napK

[sa-ma-lyot] [bay-kot] [park]

'aeroplane' 'boycott' 'park'

4

LEARNING TO READ RUSSIAN

KM6cK

&aiKllnTeneci6H npaaAB

[kee-osk] [bay-kaiJ [tye-lye-fon] [prav-da]

'kiosk' 'Baikal' (lake in Siberia) 'telephone' 'Pravda'(= truth)

(d) The last group contains eight letters which take longer to learn:Capital)I(

Small)I(

Pronunciation[zh] pronounced like the [s] in pleasure [ts] as in its [ch] as in church [sh] as in shut [shsh] as in Welsh sheep 'hard sign' -this letter has no sound of its own but represents a very short pause

Ll

'f wlq'b

blb

bl

[i] as in bit, but with the tongue tip further back 'soft sign'- [y] as in yet, but pronounced simultaneously with the letter before it - so Hb sounds like the [ny] in canyon. Try not to separate the [y] from the preceding letter, particularly at the ends of words; to remind you of this, we shall show the b as a small raised v in our transcriptions, e.g. conb 'salt' [sol]

b

Examples:JKYPHBn

4BpeBM'frocntHM48

'fai,qpjJK6alqM

66paq

[zhoor-n81] [tsa-ry8-veech] [ga-ste e-nee-tsa] [chay] [droozh-ba] [shshee] [borshsh]

'magazine' 'son of the tsar' 'hotel' 'tea' 'friendship' 'cabbage soup' 'beetroot soup'

5

LESSON 1

waMnSHCK08 WoTnSHAMA WOCTaK6BM'4 o6'biiKT CbiH peCTOpSHbl KpbiM K6cle 6onbw6l4

[sham-pan-ska-ye] [shat-lan-dee-ya] [sha-sta-k6-veech] [ab-yekt] [sin] [rye-sta-ra-nl] [krlm) [k6-fye] [bal-sh6y]

'champagne', 'sparkling wine' 'Scotland' 'Shostakovich' 'object' (the 'hard sign' simply separates the [b) from the [y)) 'son' 'restaurants' 'Crimea' 'coffee' 'big' (I' is l+y pronounced simultaneously, likely in the name Lyuba) 'the Kremlin' 'tsar' (pb = r+y pronounced together, one of the most difficult of Russian sounds)

KpeMnb LI8Pb

[kryemiY) [tsarY)

If you learn the values of the thirty-three letters given above, you will be understood when you read any Russian word. Read them by the syllables', as in the transcriptions above: [VIa-dee-va-st6k]. A syllable' is a vowel plus any preceding consonants; consonants at the end of a word go with the last vowel; if a word contains a large or awkward group of consonants, split the consonants so that some go with the preceding vowel and some with the following one, e.g. MocKaa 'Moscow' can be read [Mask-va]. While you are learning to read Cyrillic, use that slow pronunciation, syllable by syllable.

Now try this practice exercise. Cover the transcription (and the translation) on the right.Bn&AMMMp yYaneT M8Tp6 Tponnel46yc K8n8HASPb nepecTp6l4Ka rnaCHOCTb YKpaMHa Pronunciation [VIa-de 8-meer] [too-a-lyet] [mye-tr6] [tra-llyey-boos] [ka-lyen-darY) [pye-rye-str6y-ka] [glas-nastY) [oo-kra-e 8-na] Translation 'Vladimir' 'toilet' 'metro', 'underground' 'trolleybus' 'calendar' 'perestroika', 'reorganization' 'openness' 'Ukraine'

6

LEARNING TO READ RUSSIAN

CM6Mpb Bonra M6H'I8CT8P &MpMIIIHr8M n111aepnjnb A68PAMH nopTCMyt' CDMn&A8nbCIIMJI MaiJiaMM ronyaiJi Ay6nMH Menb6ypH nepy A6'1a xopow6 A66poejTpo

[see-be'er][vol-ga) [man-chye-styer] [beer-meen-gyem] [lee-vyerpo 'ol'] [a-byer-de en] [part-smoot] [fee-la-dy81r.fee-ya) [ma-ya-mae] [go-loo-ey] [do 'ob-leer.] [my81r-boorn] [pyert] [da-cha] [ha-ra-sho] [d6-bra-ye o '0-tra]

'Siberia' 'the Volga river' 'Manchester' 'Birmingham' 'Liverpool' 'Aberdeen' 'Portsmouth' 'Philadelphia' 'Miami' 'Galway' 'Dublin' 'Melbourne' 'Perth' 'country cottage' 'good', 'well', 'OK' 'good morning'

1.3 The Russian Alphabet in Dictionary Order Here is the Russian (Cyrillic) alphabet in its nonnal dictionary order. Cover the transcription on the right and check your pronunciation of the thirty-three letters again. To help you learn the order of the letters, notice that it is similar to the Latin alphabet as far as letter no. 21 (y), so you should concentrate on the letters from ~~ 1 2 3 4

Aa &6 Ba rr AA Ee~~

56 7 8 9 10

[a] (b] [v] [g] [d] [ye] [yo] [zh] [z] [ee] [y]

12

KK

1314 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

nnMM HH Oo nn Pp Cc TT Yy CDei

[k] [I] [m] [n] [o] [p][r] (s] [t] [oo] [f] 7

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

Xx~4

"4'1 Ww lQJq "b'b bl bl bb 33

>KJK 33M111 AiJi

1010fiJI

11

[h] as in loch [ts] [ch] as in church [sh] [shsh] hard sign - brief pause [i] [y] as in canyon [e] [yoo] [ya]

LESSON 1

1.4 Russian Italics

T

NOTE: In Russian italic printing, r is z, A is o, M is u, iii is u, n is A, n is n, ism. You will see in Lesson 2 that most of these resemble the handwritten forms.

EXERCISE 1/1

Read the following words. Can you translate them? The pronunciation and translations are in the key at the end of the book. I 5oplilc ....................................................... . 2 A8 ........................................................... . 3 H8T .......................................................... . 4 6onbW6M .................................................... . 5 cnaclil6o ..................................................... .6 pjCCK8R a36yKa (the heading Of the lesson) ...................... .

7 66paq ........................................................ .

8

~aiil .......................................................... . 9 caxap ........................................................ .

l 0 *YPHSn ...................................................... .

EXERCISE 1/2

Here are some common signs. Check your pronunciation in the key at the back of the book. I A3POn0PT 2 5YcJ)ET 3 rOCTMHM4AAIRPORT SNACK BAR HOTEL MANAGER, DIRECTOR CLOSED FORBIDDEN INTOURIST CASH DESK!TICKET OFFICE PULL

4 5 6 7 8

AMPEKTOP 3AKPbiTO3AnPE~EH0

MHTYPMCT KACCA

9 KCE5E

8

LEARNING TO READ RUSSIAN

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

HE KYPMTb OTCE&II nAPMKMAXEPCKASI n6'4TA PEM6HT PECTOPAH TYAnET

NO SMOKING PUSH HAIRDRESSER/BARBER POST OFFICE CLOSED FOR REPAIRS RESTAURANT TOILET

A3POnOPT

EXERCISE 1/3

What do these say?1 &AP

2 nPAB,qA

3 TAKCM6 nOC AHA*EnEC

4 CTOn 7 nM'-'i.V' XAT10 HbiOMOPK 13 &MTn3

5 MOCKBA8 BnAAMMMP nEHMH 11 rnACHOCTb 14 WEKCnMP 9

9

M3BECTMSI

12 Ponnc-Polilc 15 XEnbCMHKM

nPfiiAfl

In addition to the main material of the lesson, this book will also give you extra information which is not essential to a basic competence in Russian. If you choose to skip these parts, marked EXTRA, or to return to them later, your progress through the lessons will not be hindered.

1.5 EXTRA(1) The names of the Russian letters

Above we gave only the pronunciation of the letters. You need the names of the letters only when you read abbreviations (see Lesson 30), just as in English the letters pronounced [1], [b), [m] are read [ay-bee-em] in the abbreviation IBM.a [a], 6 [be], B [ve], r [ge], A [de], e [ye], i [yo], [zhe], 3 [ze], M [ee], it [ee knit-ka-ye ('short ee')], K [ka], n [el], M [em], H [en], o [o], n [pe], p [er], c [es], T [te], y [oo], CIJ [ef], x [ha], ~ [tse], '4 [che], w [sha], 114 [shsha], 'b [tvy6r-di znak ('hard sign')], bl [yerf], b [mya.h~kee znak ('soft sign')], a [e], 10 [yoo], R [ya]

So CCCP, the name of the country, is pronounced [es-es-es-er]. KrS (=the KGB) is pronounced [ka-ge-be].(2) Transliteration of Russian In English letters

Transliteration is the representation of Russian letters by English ones, for example when spelling the names of Russian people and places in English 10

LEARNING TO READ RUSSIAN

newspapers. Transcription (or 'phonetic transcription') is the representation of Russian sounds, for example to help foreigners learn to pronounce correctly. Since there are a number of differences between Russian spelling and Russian pronunciation (see Lesson 2), transliteration and transcription can never be the same thing. There are various standard ways of transliterating Russian into English letters. The American Library of Congress system is now generally preferred by those professionals, e.g. co.mpilers of library catalogues, who need to worry about such things as how to spell Russian names consistently in English. Most of the equivalents in the list below are obvious from the pronunciation; those which are not, or which are transliterated differently in other systems, are marked with an asterisk (*):a = a, 6 = b, a = v, r = g, A = d, e = e,'t

e = e, = zh, a= z, *M = i, *iii = i, K = k,

11 = I, M = m, H = n, o = o, n = p, p = r, c = s, T = t, y = u, c1J = f, x = kh, 1.1 = ts,

= ch, w = sh, aq = shch, *'b = ", *bl = y, *b = ', 3 = e, *10 = iu, *R = ia.

Example of transliteration' (a woman's name):HaTanbR

EareHbeB& Xpyaqeaa = Natal'ia Evgen'eva Khrushcheva

This system is used in this book for proper names (i.e. 'Vania' rather than 'Vanya' for BaHR), except where traditional spellings are likely to be much more familiar, e.g. 'Yalta' (rather than 'Ialta') for the town of SI11Ta in the Crimea.

' For comparison, in the phonetic transcription used in this book, this name would be [na-ta-lya yev-gye-nrye-va hroo-shshy6-va].

11

2YP6K H6MEP ABARUSSIAN HANDWRITING; MORE ON PRONUNCIATION

(If your aim is not to speak or write Russian but only to be able to read Russian books and periodicals, you can skip the whole of Lesson 2 - or skim through it now and come back to it later.)

2.1 Russian Handwriting (Even if you decide not to copy out the examples written here, this section Will give you some useful alphabet revision and reading practice.) Russians all learn the same rather florid handwriting style at school. You should form the letters as indicated here, though you will not be misunderstood if you choose not to join the letters or if you make fewer loops. Here are the handwritten forms of the letters in alphabetical order:Aa[a]

..If: a

6 6 [b) .}) cf

})a&;.,8B

686a [baba] 'Peasant woman'

(v]

J3 .8

r r [g)

Tp

z9A8 [da] 'yes'

AA[d] J)

12

RUSSIAN HANDWRITING; MORE ON PRONUNCIATION

There is also an old-fashioned form of small A:E e [ye]

a

clJK,

K [zh]

~ AB-e [da-zhe] 'even'33 [z]MM [ee]

3

u ?4alJ('

t

11MAMI [ee-dee] 'Go!'

Mi

[y]

11 u.lJa.UfAail [day] 'Give!';c

K K (k]nn[IJ

Jl "'-

The initial short downstroke is an integral part of this

letter and must be present, whatever the preceding letter. Look at these examples:[ee-lee] 'or'

ga:z

3an [zal] 'hall', 'large room' U.{W

r.tnM

M M [m]

M

dl.

As in the case of n, the initial short downstroke must

be present;

Jl:p:U

"AiM 'Adam'

:R:wtt

KnMM 'Clement' (if

the downstrokes on n and M are omitted, the letters become indistinguishable: H H [n]Oo[o]

JCt.uu )

JC0~M.

11

0

6H 'He' If the following letter is n or M, do not try to join them:A6M 'house' MOdOk.O MOnOK6 'milk'

n n [p]p p [r]

J!

n

j'J .p13

LESSON 2

c c [s)T T [t]

e

-cCnacr.t6o [spa-se8-ba] 'Thank you'

Cna.c-u.Oa

JJl mfonns.

Note the difference between the printed and handwritten

JJ/om ToT 'That' Jya] MOCKBS 'Moscow'

27

LESSON 3

(c) Neuter nouns end -o or-e:OKH6 'window' BMH6 'wine' ynpa*HeHMe 'exercise' [oo-prazh-ny8-nee-ye]

So you can normally tell the gender of a noun just by looking at it. However, there are awkward cases: (d) Most nouns ending b (soft sign) are feminine, but there are many masculine ones too, so you have to learn the gender of soft-sign nouns. Feminine examples:CM6Iilpb 'Siberia' [see-be"er"] MaTb 'mother' [mat'] AB8pb 'door' [dvyer"]

Masculine examples:py6nb 'rouble' [roobl'] lilropb 'Igor' [e'e-gar"] A8Hb 'day' [dyen']

(e) Nouns ending -a or R which denote males are masculine: nllna 'father', 'dad' Bon6AR 'Volodia' (a familiar form of Vladimir)

ARAfl 'uncle'(f) If a noun ends to be neuter:M or

-y or -10, it is likely to be a foreign borrowing and

TaKCM 'taxi' MeHIO 'menu'

(g) Foreign words denoting females are feminine, whatever their endings:neAM (f) 'lady' M3pM (f) 'Mary' MllprapeT (f) 'Margaret'

28

EVERYDAY PHRASES: BASIC GRAMMAR

But if they do not end -a, -R or-b, they are indeclinable' (see 5.10).

3.9 It When you're talking about something which has already been named, 'it' will be 6H/oHa/oH6, depending on the gender' of the noun to which 'it' refers.A: B: A: B:

rAe'laM? B6T6H. rAe BMH6? B6TOH6.

Where is the tea? There it ('he') is. Where is the wine? There it is.

3.10 Vocabulary

Here is the essential vocabulary for this lesson. These are words which you should try to learn:

NOUNS

8HrnM'IBHK8 66paq 6paT BaHR (m) BMHO BOAK8 Bon6Af1 ra36Ta AB8Pb(f} A8Hb (m) AOM AHAR (m) M8Tb (f) MeHib (n) MOCKBB

[an-glee-chlin-ka] [borshsh] [brat] [va-nya] [vee-n6] [v6t-ka] [va-16-dya] [ga-zye-ta] [dvyer] [dyen] [dom] [dya-dya] [matY) [mye-nyo'o] [mask-va]

Englishwoman beetroot soup brother Vania (familiar form of Ivan) wine vodka Volodia (familiar form of Vladimir) newspaper door day house uncle mother menu Moscow

29

LESSON 3

OKHO nana (m) py6nb(m) CM6Mpb(f) CM8Ti1Ha TBKcM (n) ynpa:IKH6HM8

[ak-n6] [p&-pa] [roobl'] [see-beer] [smye-ta-na] (tak-see] [o"o-tra] [chay) [sha-ka-lat]

window father, dad rouble Siberia sour cream taxi morning tea chocolate

[oo-prazh-ny&-nee-ye] exercise

j'rpottai WOKOnSA

QUESTION WORDS

rAf!'tTO

[gdye] [shto]

where what

PRONOUNSOH OHB OHO :iTO [on] [a-na] [a-n6) [8-ta] he she it (referring to neuter nouns) this/that/it

OTHER WORDSa BOT Aa A06pbiM A8Hb AO CBMASHMJI :fAP8aCTayMT8 H8T no:IK&nyMcT8 [a] [vot] [da] [d6-brl dyen'] [da svee-da-nee-ya) [zdrast-vooy-tye] [nyet] [pa-zhal-staJ and/but (indicating a slight contrast) here/there (when pointing) yes good day goodbye hello no please/don't mention it/ here you are

30

EVERYDAY PHRASES; BASIC GRAMMAR

npOCTiotTe cnaq.t6o

[pra-ste e-tye] [spa-se'e-ba]

excuse me/l'm sorry thank you

The main problem in learning Russian is making all these unfamiliar words stick in your memory. Unlike French or Spanish, the basic vocabulary of Russian looks quite different from that of English. YTpo does not look or sound like 'morning', and 3APilBCTBYMTe looks like nothing on earth. For many of the words, as well as listening to them being spoken, repeating them, writing them down, you will have to make up deliberate links. Some links are easy: a word like AOM 'house' can easily be connected to its English equivalent by a link word such as 'domestic'; ra3eTa [gazye-ta] can be linked to its meaning 'newspaper' by the word 'gazette'. But a wvrd like cnac.t6o [spa-se'e-ba] 'thank you' takes a little longer, because a link has to be invented. For example, think of thanking Sarah for passing the butter.

3.11 Dialogues. (Cover the translation on the right and test yourself.)

A: npoCTMTe. l.fTO 3TO?B: 3To BMHO.

Excuse me. What is this? lt's!That's wine. And this? That's vodka. And what about this? Pepsi-Cola. Thank you. Don't mention it.

A: A3To? B: 3TOBOAK8. A: A3To?B: nenCMK6na.

A: Cnac.t6o. B: noJIUinyMCT8.

A: npocntTe, noilnyitcTa, 'tTO 3To? Excuse me, please, what's this? B: 3To woKonilA. It's chocolate.

A: TpM, noilnyitcTa. B: noilnyMCT8. A: Cnac.t6o. B: noanyitCTa. A: fA8T8KCM? B: B6TOHO.31

Three, please. Here you are. Thank you. Don't mention it. Where's the taxi? There it (neuter) is.

LESSON 3

B: B: B:

A: rAeM3pM? BOTOHS. A: rAe ~AH BaHR? 86T6H. A: rAeCM6Mpb? BOTOHS.

Where's Mary? There she is. Where's Uncle Vanya? There he is. Where's Siberia? There it (feminine) is.

3.12 EXTRA: Different Equivalents of 'It'In identifying sentences (e.g. 'What is this/it?' 'It's a rouble'), 'it' is translated as 3To. In such English sentences 'it' can be replaced by 'this' or 'that' ('lt{fhis(fhat is a rouble'); 'this' and 'that' are also 3To in Russian. So if the predicate' (the verb and the part after the verb, e.g. 'is a rouble') contains a noun, 'it' is always 3To. If you're saying something about a noun which has already been identified, then you refer to it as OH, OHS or OHO, depending on the gender:

A: rAeBMH6? B: B6TOHO.

Where is the wine? There it is.

Remember always to translate 'it' as 3To in identifying sentences in which the predicate' is a noun (e.g. 'It's wine'): A: "fT63To? B: 3To a6AJ'

0 0

500Km

1

r

._... ..,_.r-..--

)500 MilesPOCC~SI (POCC~HCKASI CIIEAEPA41-1SI) (RUSSIA)

)

1.

/ /

/ /

---I II ..

cee!ll~~----

~1\ol\_/

e'\// (}0:/ ~c~".-/ - -9'i~- / 9-Q~>d-!- / ne11a

Ox6rCKoe ,_6pe (Sea of Okhotsk)

Klo1TA~ (CHINA)

MOHfOJll-1~ (MONGOLIA)

4YPOK HOMEP "'ETbiPEDOING THINGS- VERBS; PERSONAL PRONOUNS

4. 1 Useful phrasesCKalKii'ITe, no>K&nyitCTa . Sl He nOHMMiliO. Bbl MeHR noHMMllere? Bbl roaopli'ITe no-pyccKtt? OH He roaopli'IT no-pyccKM. rlpoCTMTe, KBK BBC 30BjT? MeHR 30BjT Bon6Af1. Oo!eHb npMRTHO. Bbl 3HlleTe, rp.e Eaa? Sl He 3HSIO. rp.e Bbl lKMBiTe? Sl lKMBY B 5pllMTOHe. HeKypli'ITblTell me, please ... Could you tell me ... I don't understand. Do you understand me? Do you speak Russian? He doesn't speak Russian. Excuse me, what's your name? My name is Volodia. Pleased ('Very pleasant') to meet you. Do you know where Eva is? I don't know. Where do you live? I live in Brighton. No smoking!

4.2 The Eight Personal Pronouns' ('1', 'you' etc.)R

Tbl you (when speaking to a friend, relative or child). This is called the 'familiar' (tam) you.

36

6H oHa oH6Mbl Bbl

OHM

he you met she those in it Lesson 3 we you (when speaking to someone you do not know well or to more than one person). This pronoun is the polite or plural (pol/pi) you. they

l

DOING THINGS - VERBS; PERSONAL PRONOUNS

4.3 Verbs

To do things, you need verbs. A verb' is a word expressing an action or state, the kind of word which would fit in the gap in the sentence 'She - - - i n New York', e.g. works, worked, was, lives, drives. In Russian dictionaries, verbs are listed in their infinitive' form (this corresponds to 'to drive', 'to be' etc. in English). Russian infinitive forms normally end -Tb (e.g. KYPMTb 'to smoke', 3H8Tb 'to know').

4.4 Conjugation' of Verbs in the Present Tense. Type 1: 3H8'Tb 'to know'

The present tense' describes actions taking place at the moment of speech ('I work in Moscow', 'She is walking to school'). In Russian there is only one present tense, corresponding to both 'I do' and 'I am doing' in English. The list of verb forms which go with the eight personal pronouns is known as the conjugation' of the verb. The form to which the personal endings are attached is called the stem' of the verb. Most (not all) 3H8Tbtype verbs have a stem which is simply the infinitive form minus the -Tb. So 3HSTb has the stem 3Ha-. The endings are underlined.fl 3HSJ2

[zna-yoo] [zna-yesh] [zna-yet] [zna-yet] [zna-yet] [zna-yem] [zna-ye-tye]

Tbi3HS8Wb 6H 3HS8T OHS3HSII OH6 3HSII

I know you (familiar) know he knows she knows it knows these three forms are always the same in the present tense

l

Mbi3HSDt Bbi3HSiffil

of .all verbs we know you (polite/plural) know

37

LESSON 4

[zna-yoot]

they know

Note: In colloquial (infonnal) Russian, the pronoun can be omitted, so that 'I know' can be siinply 3H{uo. But remember that this is infonnal usage and rare in stylistically neutral' Russian.

EXAMPLES

Mba 3HileM, rAe BaHR. Bbl 3HileTe MeHil?

We know where Vanya is. Do you know me?

The majority of Russian verbs have this type of conjugation, and we shall call it the 3H&Tb type or Type 1.

4.5 Type 2: roaopriiTb 'to speak'

The standard example of the second type of present-tense conjugation is roaopMTb 'to speak'. The stem' is roaop-:R roaopm Tbl TOBOpMWb 6H roaopMT oHa roaop.tb: oH6 roaop.!U Mbl TOBOPHM BbiTOBOplflg OHM roaopillI speak/am speaking you (familiar) speak he speaks she speaks it speaks we speak you (polite/familiar) speak they speak

Note the ending RT of the OHMfonn.

EXAMPLES~ roaoplb no-pyccKM. OHM roaopiiT no-cllp&HL!Y3CKM. Bbl roaopMTe no-aHrnMiiiCKM?

I speak Russian. They speak French. Do you speak English?

38

DOING THINGS - VERBS; PERSONAL PRONOUNS

4.6 Type 18: exaTb 'to go (by transport)', >KMTb 'to live'The third (and last) type is a variant of the 3H8Tb type. These verbs have much the same endings as the 3H&Tb type, but the problem is to predict the stem' from the infinitive'. Our first example is the verb exaTb 'to go (by transport), to ride'. The stem happens to be 8A- (you just have to learn that, you couldn't guess it) and the conjugation' is:

Jlf!AxTbl 6Ae.!lll! 6Hc!MI oHa eruu

I go/am going You (familiar) go he goes she goes

oH6eruu Mb18MJ!4 Bbi8At."m oHM eA)!!

it goes we go you (polite/plural) go they go

You can see that the fl and OHM forms have -y where the 3H&Tb type has -10 but otherwise the endings are the same. Here is another example, the verb )I(MTb 'to live' (despite its -MTb ending, it is a exaTb-type verb). The unguessable stem is )I(MB- [zhiv] (2.7) and the conjugation is:fl )I(MBX

Tbl )I(MB~ OH)I(MBfn OHS )I(MB]:

I live/am living you (familiar) live he lives she lives

OH6 )I(MBH Mbl )I(MBif! Bbi)I(Mam OHM )I(MBfi

it lives we live you (polite/plural) live they live

EXAMPLES6H 8AeT AOMOM.

Sl

)I(MBY B n6HAOHe.

He's going home. I live in London.

The endings are the same as the endings of ex&Tb except for the change of

e to e. This change is conditioned by the place of the stress: if the letter ein a verb ending is stressed, it always turns into e (though remember that Russians don't normally write the dots- see l.2c). Another useful example of the exaTb type is the verb 3BBTb 'to call', whose stem is aoa-. The first two forms are a fl aoay, Tbl aoaiwb, but the one to remember is (OHM) aoajT '(they) call', which turns up in the idiomatic question:KaK aac aoajT?

'How you (they) call?'(= What's your name?).

39

LESSON 4

Bac is the accusative' case' of Bbl 'you'; the details of the accusative are in Lesson 6.

These three sets of similar endings in 4.4-4.6 give the present tense of nearly all Russian verbs. These endings don't take long to learn; the main problem is remembering the stem (and the stress pattern) of verbs like ex&Tb, lKMTb and 3B&Tb. Although most verbs are like 3H&Tb or rosopliiTb, there are many irregular infinitives like lKMTb. In the vocabularies, we give the Hand the Tbl form of each verb (since you can work out the other forms from these two).

4. 7 Verb Summary TableInfinitive StemJl

3H8Tb (1) 3H8-10

rosopliiTb (2) rosop-

lKMTb (1 B) lKMB

eX&Tb (18) eA-y

-10MWb MT MM MTe AT

-y-ewb -i!T -i!M -eTe

Tbl Mbl Bbl OHM

-ewb -eM -eTe lOT

-ewb -eT -eM -eTe

6HIOH8/0HO -eT

-'IT

YT

Stress notes. (l) A few 3H&Tb-type verbs are stressed on the.end, so each e turns into e. An example is ASBBTb 'to give' (12.4), which has the stem AS The stressed endings are: ASlQ, ASeWb, ASH, ASiM, ASi!Te, A&!Sl!. (2) Many rosopliiTb-type verbs are stressed on the stem (see 4.9). but the spelling is not affected.

4.8 Negation ('not')

To make a verb negative ('I don't know') simply put He 'not' in front of the verb:s:l He 3HSIO.OH He noHMMaeT.

I don't know. He doesn't understand.

40

DOING THINGS -VERBS; PERSONAL PRONOUNS

4.9 EXTRA: Stress Patterns

As you have probably noticed by now, stress is a very tricky subject in Russian, because of the difficulty of predicting where to put it in any word - and to make things even more awkward (or interesting, depending on your point of view) Russians often disagree about the correct place of the stress. As a comparison, English speakers argue about 'controversy' versus 'controversy', but there are hundreds of such debatable cases in Russian. Even at this early stage, a few general rules may help: (a) if the word contains e, the stress always falls on thee, e.g. )I(MBeT 'lives', so we don't need to put a stress mark on words with e; (b) if the infinitive of a verb is stressed on any syllable except the last one, e.g. exaTb 'to travel', the stress is fixed (i.e. always in the same place in all of the forms of the conjugation- ep,y, ep,ewb etc.); (c) if the infinitive is stressed on the last syllable, e.g. roaopMTb 'to speak', KypMTb 'to smoke', the fl form is stressed on the ending (fl roaop!O, fl Kyp!O); the other five forms will either all have the stress on the ending (Tbl roaopMWb, OH roaopMT etc.) or all have the stress on the stem (Tbl KYPMWb, 6H KypMT etc.).

4.1 o A Brief Survey of Russian Grammar: Nouns and Cases'

Russian is an inflected language, which means that the endings of words change according to the grammar of the sentence. For example, the name lllaaH (nominative' form) becomes lllaaHB if you mean 'of Ivan'; it becomes IIIBiiHX if you mean 'to Ivan'; l/laaH becomes IIIBiiHB in a sentence such as 'I (S1) know (3HBIO) Ivan (lllaaHa)'. Nouns and adjectives each have six different endings, called cases' (nominative', accusative', genitive', dative', instrumental', prepositional'). English has a genitive case ending's, used with people, e.g. 'Ivan's house'(= 'the house of Ivan') and pronouns have accusative forms (he/him, she/her, they/them), but there are very few such changes in comparison with Russian. Like English, Russian also distinguishes singular and plural (as in 'book'/'books'). Verbs (words like 'to do', [she] 'wants', [they] 'know') have different endings depending41

LESSON 4

on who is doing, wanting, knowing etc. and on the tense. All this means that to a speaker of English, Russian seems to have a 'lot of grammar'. However, although learning all the endings is a burden at first, the system is not difficult to understand; you will find that learning vocabulary is a much bigger task. To make the sets of endings more digestible, we shall take them in small doses. However, if you want to tackle the whole system in one go, you will find grammar tables on pages 378-86.

4.11 Prepositional' Case

As an example of the way nouns change their form, look at these sentences:Sl )IOtBy B 5pSMTOH. 6H )I(MBeT B MOCKBj. Sl 8AY H8 8BT66ycg.I live in Brighton. He lives in Moscow. I'm going on a bus (by bus).

After the prepositions a 'in' and Ha 'on', most masculine nouns add -e and most feminine nouns change their last -a or-R to -e.MocKaa 'Moscow' &paiiToH 'Brighton' aaT66yc 'bus' B MOCKB 'in Moscow' a &paiiToHg 'in Brighton' Ha aaT66ycg 'on a bus'

There are more details of these case endings in Lesson 5.

4.12 Vocabulary (In alphabetical order)aaT66yc [af-t6-boos] bus )I(MTb [zhlt'] to live Jl )I(MBy, Tbl )I(MHwb388Tb to callJ1

a inaac you (accusative' - explained inLesson 6)

30By, Tbl 30HWb

Bbl you (polite or plural 4.2) roaopMTb [ga-va-re et'] to speak R roaoplb, Tbl roaoplilwb TOCTMHMI.l8 hotel AOM6ii home, to one's home ltxaTb [ylt-hat'] to go (by transport) Jl fJAY Tbl fJA8Wb

3A8Cb [zdyes'] here3APBaCTayii [zdra-stvooy] hello (to someone you call Tbl see 4.13,note)

3H&Tb to know Jl 3HSIO, Tbl 3HB8WbM and

42

DOING THINGS -VERBS; PERSONAL PRONOUNS

M3'f'I8Tb to study f. M3Y'I{ll0, Tbl M3Y'I{lewbKSK

how

no'leMy [pa-chye-mo'o] why npMiiTHO pleasant npocneKT avenue, prospekt(wide street)

KYA8 (to) where (whither) KYPMTb to smoke Jl Kyplb, Tbl KjpMWb n6HAOH London MeHil me (accusative' -explainedin Lesson 6)

npocneKT MMpa Peace Avenue(Avenue of Peace)

MeTp6 (n indeclinable 5.1 0) metro,underground

Mbl we (4.2) Ha on H6 but He not OHM they 6'1eHb very no-aHrnMMCKM in English [pa-an-gle e-skee]' noApyra (female) friend noHMM8Tb to understand Jl nOHMMaiO, Tbl nOHMM88Wb no-pyccKM in Russian no-c1Jp8HLIY3CKM in French [pa-fran-tso o-nee)

pa66T8Tb to work H pa66Tal0, Tbl pa66Taewb POCCMJI Russia pyccKMM J13b1K Russian language [ro o-skee ee-zfk]' CK81KMTe [ska-zhf-tye] tell/say(imperative' form)

Tenepb now T61Ke [to-zhe]' too Tponnei46yc trolleybus Tbl you (familiar 4.2) ynMLIB street ynMLI8 B6nrMHa Volgin Street(Street of Volgin)

xopow6 [ha-ra-sh6] well J1 I (4.2) J13biK [ee-zfk]' language

4.:13 AMan6rM Dialogues. (See Key for Translations.)( 1) BoT BnSAMMMP CMMpH6a111 M3pM P66MHCOH. OHM a MocKae, a roCTMHML18 POCCMJI. OHM roaopiiT no-pyccKM. BC: 3Ap8acTayi4Te, MeHil3oajT Bon6AJ1. A KaK aac 3oajT?

I. Pronunciation notes: in MM and biM the M is inaudible; Jl [ya] before the stress sounds like [ee] (2.10); for Wb, JK8 and JKM see 2.7.

43

LESSON 4

MP:BC:

MP:BC:

MP:BC:

M3pM. Sl aHrnM"'BHKa. Bbl xopow6 roaop.tTe no-pyccKM. Sl M3Y'JBIO PYCCKMM R3biK :fAeCb B MOCKB&. A roaop.tTe no-aHrn.tMCKM? Sl noHMMBIO, H6 He roaoplb. rAe Bbl )I(MBiiTe, M3pM? Ha yn1o14e B6nrMHa. A Bbl? Ha npocneKTe M.tpa. 3ApaacTayM', HaTawa. Tbl liAeWb AOM6M Ha aaT66yce? 3ApaacTayM, BllHR. HeT, R iiAY Ha TponneM6yce. no"'eMy M3pM &AeT Ha TponneM6yce, a He Ha MeTpo? Sl He 3HBIO. KaK aac 30ByY? MeHJ1 30BYT Eaa. A KaK aac 30ByY? BaAMM. 3To HaTawa. 6"1eHb npMRTHO. MeHJ1 30BYT BaAMM. 6'teHb npMRTHO.

Bbl

(2) B:H:

(3) A:

5:

(4)

B:

E:B:

(5) E:B:

H:

EXERCISE 4/1

Put on the correct endings and translate:I Sl He 3Hil( ). 2 6H He roaop( ) no-pyccKM. 3 Bbl xopow6 roaop( ) no-aHrnMMCKM. 4 rAe Bbl )I(MB( ) ? 5 Sl )I(MB( ) B n6HAOH( ). 6 Mbl M3Y"'B( ) PYCCKMM R3biK. 7 M3pM )I(MB( ) B MOCKB( ). 8 liiBBH iiA( ) Ha aBT66yc( ), a M3pM iiA( ) Ha TponneM6yc( ). 9 OHM EIA( ) AOM6M.

I. 3APBBCTBYM 'Hello', to someone you call Tbl. 3APiiBCTBYMD is for people you call Bbl. 3APBBCTByiiiTe is literally an imperative (a command) meaning 'Be healthy'. All imperative forms, such as npocTMII 'Excuse me', drop the -Te (npocTM) when you're speaking to someone you call Tbl (Lesson 15).

44

DOING THINGS- VERBS; PERSONAL PRONOUNS

EXERCISE 4/2 Say in Russian: I Excuse me. English? 2 I don't know. 3 I don't understand. 6 What is your name? 4 Do you speak

5 Where do you live?

COMPREHENSION EXERCISE 4/3 (Translation in key) See if you can find the answers to the following three questions in the text below. The text contains some points you won't meet until Lessons 5-7, but these should not prevent you finding the information you need. What are the names of A, 6 and B? 2 Where do A and 6 live and where does B study? 3 What are we told about B's knowledge of languages? Pa3roa6p a MeTp6 (Conversation in the metro) A bumps into his fellow student 6, who has a companion B. A: 3Ap8acTayi4, BaHR. KyAa Tbl 8Aewb? AoM6i4, Ha ymt4Y B6nntHa. A Tbl 8AeWb a yHMaepcMTeT? HeT, R TOlKe 6AY AOM6i4. R Tenepb lKMBy Ha ynM4e Baarilnoaa. no3H8KOMbT8Cbt. 3To MORt nOApyra Mapril, OHS aHrnM'ISHKa. 0Ha M3Y'IS8T pyCCKMM R3biK 3A8Cb B MOCKBe. Mapril, 3TO Mrilwa. B: A: B: 3Ap8aCTayi4Te, Mrilwa. npocTriiTe, aac 30BYT M3pM? HeT, Maplf. 3To c1JpaH4Y3CKoet MMR. H6 R He roaoplb noc1Jp&H4Y3CKM. t Extra vocabulary for Exercise 4/3 no3HaK6MbTBCb Let me introduce you ('Become acquainted'). MORmy ciJp&H4Y3CKoe MMR French name

I>: A:

1>:

45

5YPOK HOMEP nfiTbASKING QUESTIONS; THE PREPOSITIONAL CASE

5.1 PhrasesrAe BOK3lln? KorAfl pa66T&eT My3ili? no'leMy pecTopllH He pa66TaeT? KT6 3To? 3To BOAK&? npRMO M Hanpllao. OHM B CM6r.tpM. Ha T&Kclil.Where's the station? When is the museum open (When works the museum)? Why is the restaurant closed? Who is that? Is this vodka? Straight on and turn right. They're in Siberia.By taxi.

5.2 Asking Wh-Questions

Wh-questions are questions with question words such as 'what', 'who' 'when', 'why', 'how'. You already know rAe 'where', 'ITO 'what'no'leMy 'why'. KorAfl is 'when'. KorAfl pa66TaeT pecTopllH? KT6 is 'who'. KT6 3HlleT?When is the restaurant open?

Who knows?

Often the emphatic particle e is added after the question word:

46

ASKING QUESTIONS; THE PREPOSITIONAL CASE

Where is she?

>Ke emphasizes the previous word, so the effect is like pronouncing 'Where~ she?' with extra emphasis on 'is' (or on 'where').

5.3 Yes-No Questions'These are questions which expect the answer 'yes' or 'no'. In Russian they look the same as statements, apart from the question mark:3TOBOAK8? 3To a6AKB.

Is this vodka? This is vodka.

In the spoken language, it is intonation which distinguishes 3To BOAK&? (yes-no question') from 3To B6AK8 (statement). 3To BOAK&? is pronounced with a sharp rise-fall on a6- like saying in English 'Oh, this is vodka, is it?', with a sharp rise and fall on the vod. This intonation pattern sounds surprised or indignant in English, but in Russian it is the normal way of asking such questions. Practise the intonation, making sure that your voice goes up and down on the stressed syllable of the word you are asking about:

Bbl~eTe?3To~cj)e?6H &Hrmt~HMH? OHa aHrnM~Ka? OHi aHrnM'tSHKa?

Do you know? Is this coffee? Is he English? Is she English? Is she English?

Notice the voice does not go up at the end of the question, unless the key stressed syllable happens to be the last thing in the sentence:3To 't~M?

Is this tea?

In this case the Russian and English sentences sound very similar in their intonation.

5.4 Prepositional CaseIn Lesson 4 we met the question 'Where do you live' rAe (Where)Bbl

47

LESSON 5

(you) JKMBire (live)? [Gdye vi zhi-vyo-tye?]. And we met answers such as a &piiiToHe 'in Brighton', a MocKa6 'in Moscow', a rocn1HM48 POCcMR 'in the Hotel Russia'. The Russian for 'in' is a (the same as the third letter of the alphabet), but after B meaning 'in', following nouns have an ending (usually e) called the prepositional case. This case.ending does not mean anything; it is simply a grammatical ending which must be added after certain prepositions if you want to speak correctly. These prepositions are:B

H80

npM (fairly rare)

in on about, concerning attached to; in the presence of

So neTep6ypr 'St Petersburg' with a becomes a neTep6ypre [fpye-tyer bo'or-gye)' 'in St Petersburg'. 8 plus MocKBi becomes a MocK&6 [vmask-vye]' (a changes into e). 'In Bristol' is a &plo1cTon. 'On a trolleybus' is Ha Tponn6ii6yctt.

DETAILS OF THE PREPOSITIONAL (PREP.)

Nouns which end with a consonant add -e; nouns which end -iii, -a or -o change the vowel to -e.n6HAOH London Mya6ii museum MOCKBi Moscow nMCbMO letter B n6HAOH8 in London a Myaee [vmoo-zy6-ye] in the museum B MOCKB6 in Moscow a nMCbM6 in a/the letter

The awkward category is nouns which end b; if the noun is masculine the b changes to -e. but if it's feminine the b changes to M.&pMCTOnb (m) Bristol CM6Mpb (f) Siberia qapb (m) tsar

a &pMCTone in Bristol a CM6MpM in Siberiao qap6 [a-tsa-ry6] about the tsar

I Pronunciation note. Russian prepositions are read as if they are joined to the following word. So B [v] sounds like [f) before unvoiced consonants. See 2.3 and 2.8.

48

ASKING QUESTIONS; THE PREPOSITIONAL CASE

Nouns which end JI or-e also have the prepositional ending -e unless the letter before the JI or-e is M, in which case the ending is a second M:Mope sea BaHJI Vania AHrnMJI England ynpa>KHeHMe exercise a MOpe in the sea npM BaHe in Vania's presence a AHrnMM in England a ynpa>KHeHMM in the exercise

5.5 EXTRA

Those few nouns, mainly male names, which end MM in the nominative have the prepositional ending M, e.g. IOpMM: o IOpMM 'about lurii';BaclilnMi4: Ha BaclilnMM 'on Vasilii'

5.6 Exceptions (Russian Grammar Has Many)

A few masculine nouns, usually short ones, have -y (always stressed) instead of -e in the prepositional case after B 'in' and H& 'on'.KpbiM Crimea C&A garden, orchard nee wood, forest AOH the Don River KnMH Klin (town NW of Moscow) a KpbiMj [fkrl-mo'o] in the Crimea B c&Aj [fsa-do'o] in the garden a necj [vlye-so'o] in the forest PocTOBHa-AoHj Rostov-on-Don a KnMHj in Klin

But after o 'about', these nouns have the normal -e ending:Mbl roaopliiM o c&M.

We're talking about the garden.

The two nouns M&Tb 'mother' and AOKMTb 'to live':R MAY Tbl MAiiWb 6HIOHS MAiiT Mbl MAiM Bbl MAiiTe OHM MAYT

As mentioned in 6.8 (3) above, to describe motion to some destination, you use the same two prepositions a and Ha which you met in Lesson 4, but in this meaning of motion from place to place, you use them with the accusative instead of the prepositional. So a MocKaj (ace.) means 'to Moscow', while a MocKaj (prep.) means 'in Moscow'.

st MAY B 48HTp.M3pM MA6T a rocTMHM4Y Bbl MA6Te Ha pa66yY?

I am going (on foot) to the centre. Mary is going to the hotel. Are you going to work?

60

POSSESSION; GOING PLACES; THE ACCUSATIVE CASE

EXERCISE 6/1

Put the possessives in the correct forrn:I (My) __ CbiH. 2 (Our) _ _ AO.. b. 3 (His) _ _ MBTb. 4 (Your) _ _ rocntHMLIB. 5 (Her) _ _ MY*

EXERCISE 6/2

Where necessary, change the endings of the nouns:1 s:1 mo6mo (Mj3b1Ka) - - 2 0Hit mb6MT (MYlK) __ ?

3 4 5 6

no308MTe, nolKitnyMCTB, (Jlto60Bb) __ (Bn&AMMMPOBHB) - - noAO*AMTe (MMHyYB) - - Cnaclil6o 38 ('fBM) - - Cnaclil6o 38 (BOAKB) - -

6.10 Russian Names and How to be Polite (or Familiar)FIRST NAMES FIRST

The first Russians you meet socially are likely to give you their names as HaTltwa 'Natasha', BonOAJI 'Volod!a', TilHH 'Tania' and so on, all ending in the sound [a]. These are short or 'intimate' forms of their 'official' first names. On her birth certificate HaTitwa is HaTitnbH (f), Bon6AJ1 is Bn&AMMMp (m), TaHil is TaTbRHB (f). Here are some of the commonest Russian first names: Females 'Official' EneHa HaTitnbH (or -MH) T8TbRH8 On bra MapliiH MpMHB CaeTnaHa ranMHB 'Intimate' JleHa HaTitwa TitHH OnH Mawa Hpa CaeTa ranH

61

LESSON 6

Males

AneKCBHAP 5oplo1c ElnBAMMMp Iii BaH MMX8MI1 HMKOI1BM nllBen Ceprelii

Cawa 56pH Boi16AH BllHH Mloiwa K611H nawa CepibKa

Strictly speaking, these 'intimate' forms are only to be used when you are on Tbl terms with your new acquaintance, but Russians (for example tour guides or street traders) will often introduce themselves to you with their intimate names because these forms are easier for foreigners.

6.11 Patronymics

However, in more formal circumstances a new Russian acquaintance will be introduced with his or her full first name and middle name, which is formed from the father's official first name and is called a 'patronymic' (in Russian OT'feCTBO from the word OT(U.j 'father'). Male patronymics end OBM'f or -eBM'f (meaning 'son of'), female ones end OBHa or -eaHa ('daughter of'). The ending OBM'fiOBHa follows hard consonants (IIIBaHlflaiiHOBM'IMBiiHOBHa); -eBM'f/-eaHa is the corresponding 'soft' ending, replacing the Iii or b of names such as lltropb (MropeaM'fiMropeaHa) or AHApeM (AHAPHBM'fiAHApeesHa). Note that if the name ends MM (BaCMI1MM), theM is replaced by a soft sign (BacMI1ReBM'f/Bacl.imzeBHa). So you may hear:- no3HaK6MbTecb, nolKanyliicTa, 3To BnaAMMMP SoploicoaM'f. 'Let me introduce you (become acquainted), please, this is Vladimir Borisovich ('son of Boris').' lflsaH IIIBiiHOBM'f Ivan lvanovich (son of Ivan) Soploic CepreeBM'f Boris son of Sergei (-eBM'f for names ending b or Iii) BcesonoA BnBAMMMposM'f Vsevolod son of Vladimir HaTill1bH lflaaHOBHa Natalia daughter of Ivan MapMH CepreesHa Maria daughter of Sergei (-eaHa for names ending b or Iii)

62

POSSESSION; GOING PLACES; THE ACCUSATIVE CASE

These long double names are in such common use between people who call each other Bbl that patronymics are usually shortened in speech, dropping the -oa- or -ea- (unless stressed). So CepreeBM"' is normally pronounced CepreM"', lllaaHOBHa is pronounced lllaaHHa. However, a patronymic such as neTp6BM"', stressed on the -6a-, cannot be shortened in that way. Russians do not expect you as a foreigner to have a patronymic, though there is nothing to stop you creating one - (PliAJKMH&nbAOBM"'/AJ!t6HOBHa/ A8P3HOBM"'/AJ!t6pAJKeBH8 or whatever). If you do not want to leave a blank against 6T"'ecrao on Russian forms, you can put in your middle name(s), if you have any.

6.12 EXTRA: Exceptional Patronymics

A small number of male official first names (i.e. not intimate forms) end -a e.g. HMKMTa. Such names are rare. They form patronymics as follows:lllnbH (Elias): lllnbM"'!IIInbMHM"'H8 Ky3bMa:Ky3bM.t...nKeHMI.IbiH), and -oaa, -eaa, -MHa, -biH& for women (6pelKHeaa, rop6aoteaa, KapeHMHa). The commonest Russian surnames are 111BBHOB/111BaH6Ba, non6a/non6aa, CMMpH6BICMMpH6Ba (though in Russian jokes the equivalent of 'Smith, Jones and Brown' is 111aaH6B, neTp6a M CMAOPOB). Some surnames, for example AocToeacKMM, are adjectives, so the feminine form ends -aR (AocToeacKaR- see 7.3). Surnames with other endings, e.g. naCTepHliK, r6ronb (the writer Gogel'), WMMAT (Schmidt), 6pllyH (Brown), noyn (Pope) do not have feminine forms. As you might expect (5.10), they decline for males, but as female names are indeclinable: Bbl 3HlleTe PM'tBPA@. n6yna? 'Do you know Richard Pope (ace.)?'; Bbi3HlleTe 6llp6apx noyn? 'Do you know Barbara Pope?'

6.15 EtiquetteAcquaintances who call each other Bbl will normally use the first name and patronymic. So if 111aliH 111aiiHOBM't CMMpH6B meets his acquaintance 111pliiHa neTp6aHa non6aa, the conversation may begin:111.111.: 3ApiiBCTBYMTe, 111pMHB neTpOBHS. 111.n.: 3ApiiBCTBYMTe, 111BliH 111BiiHOBM't.

Children use Bbl to adults and call their teachers by their MMR-6T'teCTBO. Adults reply with Tbl, and use the intimate form of the first name. So if little Tat'iana meets her friend's mother Klara Aleksandrovna, the conversation may start:64

POSSESSION; GOING PLACES; THE ACCUSATIVE CASE

T.: 3ApaacTayiTe, Knapa AneKCBHAPOBHa. K.A.: 3APBBCTBYM, TBHR.Although you, as a foreigner, may not be expected to handle the long double names, your politeness will be appreciated if you make the effort. When you meet someone you are likely to have to deal with again, ask npocn4Te, K8K aawe MMR M OT'IeCTBO? 'Excuse me, what ('how') are your name and patronymic?' If you address MaaH MaaHOBM't CMMpH6B as MaaH MBBHOBM't, that is the equivalent of calling him Mr Smirnov in English. Although every Russian has a surname, there are no generally used equivalents of Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms. When talking to or about foreigners, Russians usually use Russified versions of foreign titles: MMCTep CMMT, MMCCMC/MMCC Y6nKep for 'Mr Smith' and 'Mrs/Miss Walker', MOCbll for 'monsieur', c~Jpay for German 'Frau', and so on.

6.16 Vocabulary (in Alphabetical Order)aaw your (pol/pl. 6.2) r6A [got] year prep. a rOAY [vga-do'o] in a year A6AYWKa (m) grandfather AO'tb (f) prep. AO'tepM (5.6) daughter er6 [ye-l6] his; its (6.2) ei [ye-y6] her (6.2) JKeHa wife 38 +ace. for (in return for) cnaclil6o 38 +ace. thank you for (sth) ailaTpa [zaf-tra] tomorrow MATM [eet-te'e] to go (on foot) R MAY Tbl MAiWb MMR (neuter!) forename, first name MX their (6.2) mo61i'1Tb to love, be fond of R nl06l!lb, 1 Tbl nlb6MWb Mara3li'IH shop MMHjTa minute MOM (6.2) my MYJK [moosh] husband MY3b1Ka music Haw (6.2) our HeAenR week Hennoxo not bad, not badly OTe4 (ace OT48) father 6T'IecTao [6-chye-stva] patronymic

I. Every roaopli'ITb-type (type 2) verb whose stem ends 6 B M n or cjJ (all labial [lip) consonants) has this extra -n- in the 'I' (R) form.

65

LESSON 6

nOAO*AMTe (nOAO*AM with Tbl) wait (imper') nolKMBBTb to live. get along KaK nolKMa&er ... ? How is . . . ? no3AJ)aansnol congratulations! (=I congratulate) no3H&K6MbTecb meet (become acquainted) (imper') [pa-zna-k6m'-tyes'] n030BMTe (n030BM with Tbl) call (imperative form)

pa66Ta work Ha pa66Te H& pa66-ry CbiH son T8KSO

at work to work

celiiotac now, at the moment

TB6iii your (fam 6.2) ylKe [oo-zhe] already~aMMnMJI

surname

otac hour otepe3 + ace. through; across; after (a period of time)

6.17 Dialogues (Translation in Key)B&AMM: Bbl ntb6MT8 MY3b1Ky? Eaa: Eaa: KM: Mn: KM: Mn: KM: Mn: KM: Mn: KM: Mn: 6oteHb. Jl nao6ntb rnMHKY M &opOAMHa. He 6oteHb. 3APSaCTBYMT8, MMX&Mn neTpOBM't, K8K Bbl )I(MBiTe? Henn6xo, KOHCT8HTMH MMxBMnOBM't. A Bbl? T6lKe Henn6xo. KyA8 aba MAiTe? Ha pa66-ry. A Bbl? B&AMM: A npoK6~beB8?

Jl MAY a Mara3MH. A K&K nolKMaaeT aawa lKeHa, HaTanbJI 50pMCOBH8? Xopow6. 3aaTpa oHa 8AeT a MocKay. Hawa AO'tb H.tHalKMBiT TaM ylKe r6A. Bbl 3HB8T8

ee MYlK8 AHAP8A?

Aa, J1 er6 3HSIO.A MX CbiHa 30BYT M.twa. CbaHa?! TaK aba ylKe A8AYWKa, KoHcTaHTMH MMxilliinoaMot. no3ApaanS.ao aac!

66

POSSESSION; GOING PLACES; THE ACCUSATIVE CASE

EXERCISE 6/3

Using n030BMT8 'call' and the accusative fonn of the name, call the following 1o the telephone:I 2 3 4 Call MB8H, please ( =May I speak to Ivan, please?). Calllilropb neTpOBM'f. Please call HaTawa. Please call HaTlu1bA AneKcSHAPOBHa.

EXERCISE 6/4

Say in Russian:I 2 3 4 5 Good morning, Ivan Petrovich. Where is our hotel? Thank you for the wine. Please wait a minute. Is that your (pol) wife?

EXERCISE 6/5

What are the nominative fonns of the names of the five people mentioned in these two dialogues?A: no30BMT8, no:JKanyliiCTa, MMxailna Cepr8eBM'f8 MniOAMMny AHAJ)HBHy. &: Celil'fBC. A: Bbl m06MTe MilpKa TaeHa? &: HeT. .A n106mo C~nMHA'f'&pa MArayY KpMCTM.

67

7YP6K H6MEP CEMbDESCRIBING THINGS: ADJECTIVES

7.1 Phrases with Adjectives6onbWOM TeaTp pyCCKMM R3b1K ,Q66pbiM A8Hb TaepcK8R ynMLIS ,Q66poejTpo B 60nbWOM TeaTpe Ha KpacHoiii nn6aq&AM

Bolshoi (Big) Theatre Russian language Good day Tver' Street (Moscow's main street) Good morning in the Bolshoi Theatre in (on) Red Square

Pronunciation note: the iii in the endings biM and -Miii is inaudible, so there's no need to make an effort to pronounce it.

7.2 AdjectivesAn adjective is a word such as 'good', 'interesting', 'Soviet' which can describe a noun, that is, any word which fits in the gap in a sentence such as 'It's a ___ thing'. In Russian, adjectives have endings which must agree with the noun, that is, if the noun is neuter (jTpo 'morning'), then the adjective must have a neuter ending too (the ending -oe on A66poe in ,Q66poe jTpo 'Good morning'). If you look in a dictionary, you will find adjectives in their masculine nominative' form. There are three possible masculine endings: biM (the commonest), -Miii and -6iii. These endings are all related: bliii is the

68

DESCRIBING THINGS: ADJECTIVES

commonest one, -Miii is the ending if the last consonant of the adjective is soft (7 .5) or one of the spelling rule consonants (8.3), and -6iii replaces bliii and -Miii if the adjective is stressed on the ending. Three standard examples are:H6Bbliii pyCCKMiii BTOp6iii

newRussian second

Russian adjectives are much simpler than nouns. First, once you know the basic endings, you find that there are really no exceptions. Second, once you have learnt the stress on the masculine form, the stress is on the same syllable in all other forms of the adjective.

7.3 Feminine Adjective Ending: -aAHere are the feminine forms of our three typical adjectives:H6B8R pyccKBR BTOpBR H6auynM48 pyCCKIB ra36Ta BTOpja AB8Pbnew street Russian newspaper the second door

7.4 Neuter Adjectives: -oeH6aoe pyccKoe &Top6e H6aa MMR pjccKa MMR BTopa ynpaJKH6HMenew name Russian name second exercise

EXERCISE 7/1

Put on the required endings:l 36n&AH(bliii)_ CM6Mipb (f) Western Siberia. 2 pYccK(Miii)_ ~taiiiRussian tea. 3 H6a(bliii) __ rocTMHM48 new hotel. 4 KpacH(bliii) __

nn6aq&Ab Red Square. 5 &onbw(6iii)__ K&apdpa large flat.

69

LESSON 7

6 MiuleHbK(MM) __ OKH6 small window: 7 nywKMHCK(MM) __ nn6~q&Ab Pushkin Square. 8 EipMTltHCK(MM) __ noc6nbCTBO The British Embassy.

7.5 Soft Adjectives (HMM)

There are a few 'soft' adjectives ending -HMM. These have MM where HOBbiM has biM, fiJI where HOBbiM has -aH, -ee where HOBbiM has -oe. Most 'soft' adjectives have a time meaning, e.g. the parts of the day and the seasons. Here is a list of the commonest: mnocneAHMM jTpeHHMM B8'1epHMM aeceHHMM 3MMHMM lleTHMM OCeHHMM B8'1epHJIJI ra3eT8 aeceHHMM A8Hb 3MMHee n&llbTO lliiTHJIJI HO'Ib oceHHHH nor6A&

n last morning evening spring winter summer autumnnocneAHJIJI jTpeHHJIJI ae'lepHHH B8CeHHJIJI 3MMHJIJI lleTHJIJI OCeHHJIJI nocneAHee jTpeHHee ae"'epHee B8CeHH88 3MMHee lliiTHee OCeHHee

evening newspaper spring day winter overcoat summer night autumn weather

For xop6WMM 'good' see 8.1 0.

7.6 An Exception: the Tplmtlit ('Third') TypeThe only important exception is TpeTMM 'third', whose endings do not fit in any of our categories above. This adjective has the ending bJI in the feminine and -be in the neuter:TpeTMM AeHb TpeTbJI HO'IbTpeT~jTpo

third day third night third morning

70

DESCRIBING THINGS: ADJECTIVES

7. 7 EXTRA: More Examples of the Tplmtlil Type

The other (rare) adjectives of the Tplmdi type are nearly all derived from the names of living things, particularly animals, e.g. co6ii'IMiii 'dog's' (co6il'lbSI :IKM3Hb 'dog's life'), KOWii'IMiii 'eat's' (Kowil'lbSI wepcTb 'cat fur'). One to note is 66:1KMiii from 6or 'god' (66:1KbSI MMnOCTb 'God's mercy').

EXERCISE 7/2Put on the required endings: I nocn6AH__ MMHjTa The last minute. 2 3MMH__ jTpo Winter morning. 3 TpeT__ yp6K The third lesson. 4 TpeT__ ynM4a The third street.

7.8 KaK6M 'What (kind of) ... '?

If you want to ask what something is like, use the adjective K&K61ii (same endings as aTopolii):KaKiiSI 3To Mawi~Ha? KaKiiSI nof'6Aa a MocKae? KaK6e 3To BMH6?

What kind of car is it? What's the weather like in Moscow? What wine is this?

7.9 'This' and 'That': 3TOT and ToT

When used in noun phrases ('this house', 'that woman'), 'this' and 'that' are translated by 3TOT, which agrees' with its noun like this:m 3TOTAOM this house

3Ta KH!otra this book

n 3TO nMCbMO

this letter This house is old. This book is mine.

3TOT AOM CTilpbiM. 3Ta KHMra MOR.

71

LESSON 7

If you wish to contrast 'this' (i.e. near me) with 'that' (i.e. not near me), you can translate 'that' with the word TOT, which has the same endings as 3-roT:TOTAOMthat house

TB KHrilrathat book

To mtCbMOthat letter

3Ta KHrilra Moil, a Ta KHrilra aawa. This book is mine and that one is yours.

7.10 EXTRA: 3Ta KHiilra MOR versus 3To KHiilra Note the difference between 3ToT/3Ta in sentences such as 'This book is mine' 3Ta KHrilra MOR and indeclinable 3To in sentences such as 'This is my book' 3-rQ Moil KHrilra (Lesson 3). In 3Ta KHrilra Moil, 'this' and 'book' are part of the same noun phrase and therefore agree. In 3To MOR KHrilra 'This is my book', 3To and KHrilra belong to different parts of the sentence. Note also that because 3To, the neuter form of 3TOT,looks and sounds the same as indeclinable 3To, 3To nMCbMO has two meanings: it means both 'This letter' and 'This is a letter'.

7.11 Prepositional Case of AdjectivesIf the noun is in the prepositional case, the adjective must agree', i.e. be in the same case as the noun. The endings are:m and n (always the same): -oM for the HOBbiMipyccKMMIAPyroiil types

-eM for soft adjectives (with -HMil) and adjectives like xopowMiil 'good' (see 8.1 0)a HOBO ropoAe!Kacl' a pyccKU r6PQAe/Kacl' a APvru ropoAefKacl' a aMMHBt ropoAefnanbTO l"p8TMiil 'third' has -b8M a Tp6TJ18M AOMelnMCbMein a new town/cafe in a Russian town/cafe in another town/cafe in a wintry town/winter overcoat

in the third house/letter

72

DESCRIBING THINGS: ADJECTIVES

The f equivalent of OM is -olii; the f equivalent of -eM is -elii:B H6BQB KHMre B pyccKQB KHMre B APYr2H KHMre B 3MMHU wanKe a TpeTt.elii KHMrein a new book in a Russian book in another book in a winter hat in the third book

7.12 Accusative of AdjectivesMasculine (m) and neuter (n)

If the noun doesn't change, the adjective doesn't change:PjCCKMiii HabiK (m nom.) KpacMBbllii. s:I3HSIO pyccKMiii H3biK (mace.). 3To Hawe H6aoe MeTp6 (n nom.). s:ln106.niOttluueH6aoeMEnp6(nacc.).Russian is beautiful. I know Russian. This is our new metro. I love our new metro.

With masculine animate' nouns (people and animals), adjectives of the H6BbrliilpyccKMiiiiBTOp61ii types end -oro (note that r in this ending is pronounced [v]):Bbr aHaeTe H6Boro pyccKoro COCeAS? 0HS nr06MT BTOp6rO MjlKa?Do you know the new Russian neighbour? Does she love her second husband?

Adjectives of the nocniiAHMiii and TpeTMiii types have -ero (r again pronounced [v]):Mbi3HSeM nocnt~AHero 48PH. Bbl aHaeTe ei TpeTt.ero Mj:IKa?We know the last tsar. Do you know her third husband?

This alternation of o and e in the endings -oro and -ero is part of a pattern in adjective endings. Compare the endings OM and -eM of the prepositions in 7.11 above.Feminine (f)

-u becomes -y10 HH becomes -1010 TpeTbH becomes TpiiTbiO

73

LESSON 7

nom.: xon6AH&H 3MMHHH nor6A& cold winter weather

Bbl ni06MTe xon6AHnQ 3MMH.!Q!2 nor6Ay? Do you like cold winter weather?

7.13 Accusative of MOM, TBOM, Haw, saw, 3ToT, TOTm inanimate and n: same as nominative

Bbl 3HaeTe M6M!Haw/T6T r6poA? Do you know my/our/that town? OH mb6MT Hawe/3To BMH6. He loves our/this wine.m animate

Bbl 3HaeTe Moer6/Hawero APvra? Do you know my/our friend? 0Ha nlb6MT 3Toro/ She loves this/that Englishman. TOr6 &HrnM'IBHMH&.

Bbl 3H8eTe Molb/Hawy A6'1b?

Do you know my/our daughter? I know this/that woman.

s:l 3HBIO 3yY/Ty )l(eH&qMHy.

7.14 Prepositional of Possessives (MoM etc.), 3TOT and TOTmandn

B MOiM/TBoif! A6Me/nMCbMe(note the dots)

in my/your house/letter in our/your house/letter in this/that house/letter

a HaweMiaaweM A6Me/nMcbMe a 3ToMfrm.t_ A6Me/nMcbMe

B MOii/TBOU KHMre B HBWU/BBWD KHMfil a 3T2i!/Tmt KHr.tre

in my/your book in our/your book in this/that book

7.15 Example Phrases3-ra KHMra H& pyccKm.! H3b1Ke.This book is in Russian (Russians say 'on' a language, not 'in').

74

DESCRIBING THINGS: ADJECTIVES

Ha KpacH2!i nn6aq&AM

on Red Square at the Bolshoi Theatre in flat number three (the third flat) in the evening paper in the summer cafe (street cafe)

6onbWmot TeBTpe B Tp6Tbd. KB&pntpe B B8'f6pHgj r&38Te B n6THel!t K&cl6B

7.16 Adverbs

Adverbs' are words which can fill the gap in a sentence such as 'She speaks Russian ___ ', e.g. quickly, well, often, impressively. English adverbs are often formed from adjectives by adding -ly (nicely, cleverly, coldly etc.). The commonest adverb ending in Russian is o, replacing the -biMIMM/6M adjective ending. Adverbs are always indeclinable'. Examples:Kp&CMBbiM beautiful MHTepecHbiM interesting xon6AHbiM cold xop6wMM good (see Lesson 8.10) OHa roaoplliT xopow6. Kpacloiao beautifully MHTepecHo interestingly x6nOAHO coldly (NB stress) xopow6 well (NB stress)She speaks well.

7.17 Vocabulary (with Pronunciation Check)

aMepMKBHCKMM American (adj) [a-mye-ree-kan-skee] 6onbw611t [bai'Sh6y] large 6pMTBHCKMM [bree-tan-skee] British BBHH&JI (f adj) [vil-nna-ya] bathroom ae'fepHMM [vye-chyer-nee]evening (adj)

3MMHMM [zeem-nee] winter 3H&MeHMTbiM [zna-mye-ne e-tl]famous

MHTep8cHbiM [een-tye-ry6-snl]interesting

K&K6M [ka-k6y] what kind of KB&pTioipa [kvar-te 8-ra] flat,apartment

BTop611t [fta-r6y] second rniiBHbiM (glav-nl] main r6poA [g6-rat] town, city A66pbiM [d6-brl) good, kind A6Ma [d6-ma] at home ecTb [yest'] is/are (8.9) 38n&AHbiM [za-pad-nl] western

KH!oira [kne'e-ga] book KpacloiBbiM [kra-se'e-vl] beautiful,attractive

KpilCHbiM [kra-snl] red KpeMnb (m) [kryeml'] the Kremlin(fortress)

75

LESSON 7

KYXHfl [ko "oh-nya] kitchen B or Ha KYXHe in the kitchen neTHMM [lyet-nee] summer MilneHbKMM [ma-lyen'-kee] small MOCT [most] bridge

pyccKMM [ro o-skee-] Russianp~oM

[rya-dam] nearby, alongside

cer6AHfl [NB: sye-vod-nya] today cnilnbHfl [spal'-nya) bedroom cTilH4Mfl [stan-tsl-ya] station

prep. Ha MocTj [na-ma-sto"o) on a bridgeHOBbiM [n6-vl] new nanbTO (n indeclinable) [pal't6]

(on metro or in country)Ha cTilH4MM [na-stan-tsi-ee] at

a stationcTilpbiM [sta-ri] old TilK>Ke [tag-zhe] also, in addition TeilTp [tye-atr] theatre TennbiM [ty6-pli] warm TOT [tot] that (7.9) TpeTMil [trye-tee] third (7.6) xon6AHbiM [ha-16d-ni] cold wK6na [shk6-la] school 3Til>K [e-tash] floor, storey Ha 3Ta>K [na-e-ta-zhe] on

overcoatnepBbiM [pyer-vi) first nnaH [plan] plan, street map nor6AS [pa-g6-da] weather noK83biBaTb (+ace.) [pa-ka-zi-vat']

to show (something)fl nOKS3biB810, Tbl nOKS3biBa8Wb nocneAHMM [pa-slyed-nee) last noc6nbCTBO [pa-s61'-stva] embassy peKil ace. peKy [rye-ka rye-koo]

a floor3TOT [8-tat) this (7.9)

river

7.18 TeKCTbl Texts (Translations in Key)A: MocKBil- 6onbw6il ropoA. B MocKBe KpacliiBafl peKe, 3HaMeHMTbiM yHMBepcMT8T. Bbl y>Ke 3HileTe KpilcHyiO nn6tq&Ab, 6onbw6il TeiiTp, TBepcKyiO ynM4Y 6: 3H810. TBepcKilfl ynM48- 3To rnilBH&fl ynM4a. A: (noKil3biBaeT Ha nniiHe) BoT TBepcKilfl, BOT H6BbiM Ap68T, a BOT CTSpbiM Ap68T, O'f8Hb CTapafl ynM48. 3-ro rOCTMHM48 ccPOCCMfl, O'f8Hb 6onbWilfl rocTMHM48. 3A8Cb KpeMnb, PRAOM Sonbw6il KSM8HHbiM 1 MOCT, a 3TO 6pMTSHCK08 noc6nbCTBO, Ha Ha6epe>KHoil 1 BoT aMepMKilHcKoe noc6nbcTBo, a BOT KaHSACKOe*.

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DESCRIBING THINGS: ADJECTIVES

A: 6: A: 6:

Ao6poe jTpo. Ao6pbiM A8Hb. no'feMy Bbl B 3MMHeM nanbTO? noroAB cerOAHR TennaR. 3-ro He 3MMHee nanbTO, a neTHee.

*Mbl lKMBeM B MOCKBe. Mbl - 3TO R, naBen naBnOBM'f neTpOB, MOil :IKeHa CBemaHa AneKCBHAPOBHa M Hilwa AO'fb EneHa. B WKOne ee 30ByY neHa, a AOMa Mbl ee 30BeM neHywa. Moil MaTb, 3MHaMAB EropoBHa, TOlKe lKMBeT B MocKBe. OHa lKMBeT B cTapoM AOMe B 4eHTpe, a Mbl lKMBeM B HOBOM KBapTilpe B HOBOM AOMe Ha lbro38n&Ae'. HaWAOM Ha npocneKTe BepHSACKoro. Bbi3HileTe CTBH4MIO t0ro-38naAHaR'? Mbl lKMBeM Ha TpeTbeM 3Ta:IKe. 8 HBW8M KBapTMpe ecTb npMXO:IKaR", 6onbwilR KOMHaTB, cnanbHR. EcTb TilKlKe ManeHbKaR KYXHR, BBHHaR " TyaneT.1

Extra Vocabulary for Texts lbro-38n&A [yo o-ga-za-pat] thesouth-west

KiiMeHHbiM [kfl-mye-ni] stone (adj) KaHBAcKMM [ka-nat-skee] Canadian Ha6epe:IKHaR (f adj) embankment [na-bye-ryezh-na-ya] npMXOlKaR (f adj) [pree-ho-zha-ya]entrance hall

Ha lbro-38n&Ae in the south-west tOro-38n&AHaR (f adj) 'SouthWestern' (metro station)

[yo o-ga-za-pad-na-ya]

EXERCISE 7/3

Put on the required endings and translate:1 6H lKMBeT B 3iln&AH __ CM6Mp __ 2 Bbl 3HaeTe HOB __ rOCTMHM4 __? 3 OHM "A--Ha KpilcH __ nnOaq&Ab. 4 0Ha B 3MMH __ nanbTO. 5 Bbl 3HBeTe MO __ BTOp __ lK8H __ ? 6 8 3T__ _ Mara3MH __ pa6oTaeT Mo __ AO'fb. 7 OHa noK83biBaeT HOB __ 3MMH __ nanbT6. 8- KaK __ cer6AHR nor6A&?- Tenn __

77

nnaH IIIIH.,..... -""bi!Oii 'IScTII r{)poAa (Map of the city centre)

MOCKBA (MOSCOW)

LESSON 7

EXERCISE 7/4

Say in Russian:I Where is Red Square?2 She is in (on) Red Square. 3 We're going to Red Square. 4 Is this book yours?

COMPREHENSION EXERCISE 7/51 What is the most direct route from GUM to Miasnitskaia Street? 2 On which square does the Natsional' Hotel stand? 3 Tell an English visitor who knows enough Russian to read the street names how to get from Great Stone Bridge to Pushkin Square.

80

8YP6K H0MEP B6CEMbPLURALS; SPELLING RULES; BUYING THINGS

8.1 Key PhrasesrAe HilwM MeeT&? Where are our seats (places)? Aflihe, noJKiulyMCTS, anenbCMHbl. Give (me) (some) oranges, please. rAe MOM APY3bR? Where are my friends? Are there (any) American newspapers? ECTb 8M8pMKSHCKM8 ra3eTbl? (Some) pies, please. nMpO>KKM, no>KanyMCT8. ECTb 6nMHbl? Are there pancakes? Here is the money. B6TAeHbrM.

8.2 Nominative Plural of Masculine and Feminine NounsAll the phrases in 8.1 contain nouns in the fonn of the nominative plural ('seats', 'oranges', 'friends' etc.). To make nouns plural, the basic ending for both masculine and feminine nouns is bl. Masculine nouns add bl, feminine nouns replace their -a with bl. So:6nMH 'pancake' becomes 6nMHtli'pancakes' ra38Ta 'newspaper' becomes ra38TI!J. 'newspapers'

The ending bl has the variant -M, depending on the last consonant of the noun. If the masculine noun ends with a soft sign (b) or M, then the plural ending replaces the soft sign or Mwith -M. If the feminine noun ends b or 11, then the ending replacing the b or 11 is also M:

81

LESSON 8

ABepb door HeAenR week

AB8P.!!t doors HeAenM weeks

8.3 Spelling Rule 1In addition, you have to know the so-called 'spelling rules', which affect the spelling of endings right through the grammar. The first spelling rule, which we need to form plurals correctly, is as follows: After the following seven letters, where you would expect -bl, for example in the plural, you always find -M instead.

rKX)I(

)} }

these three letters are all pronounced in the same place, at the back of the mouth these are two of the three consonants which are always hard (see 2.7) these are the two consonants which are always soft (2.6).

w'4

U4

This rule has no particular logic to it. It is simply a result of sound and spelling changes in the history of Russian. But it is worth learning, since you will need it frequently. Because of this rule, the plural of AlbiK 'language' is AlbiKM (not RlbiKbl), the plural of KHiilra 'book' is KHiilrM 'books' (not KHMrbl). (This rule also explains why the ending of the adjectives pyccKMIIii 'Russian' and xop6WMM 'good' is -Mil and not -biM as in HOBbiM 'new'- see 7.2.)

8.4 Nominative Plural of Neuter Nouns

Replace the ending -o with -a and (usually) change the place of the stress. Nouns ending -e replace the ending -e with -R.MecTo 'place'OKHO 'window' BMHO 'wine' ynpa>KHeHMe 'exercise'

MeeT& 'places'OKHB 'windows' BrotH& 'wines' ynpa>KHeHMA 'exercises'

82

PLURALS; SPELLING RULES; BUYING THINGS

8.5 Plural Exceptions (Nouns We've Met So Far)&HrnM'faHMH AOM 6paT r6pOA AO'fb APYr MMR M8Tb MY>K CbiH R6nOKO

Englishman house brother town daughter friend name mother husband son apple

&HrnM'faHtl AOMB 6paTbfl ropoAI AO'fmll! APY3bR MM8HA MaTRMMY>K~

Cb1H21l.!J!. t16nOKM

Englishmen houses brothers towns daughters (that extra -ep-) friends names mothers (extra -ep-) husbands sons apples

These are unpredictable. The biggest category of exceptions is short masculine nouns ending in a consonant and stressed on the stem in the singular, many of which end in -a in the plural. A6M 'house' AOMa 'houses' is a good example. Many names of professions and jobs also end -a, for example npoKeHepbl, but many engineers call themselves MH>KeHepa. Irregular plural forms will be shown in the vocabularies.

8.6 Mobile' or 'Fill' Vowels: oT(e)4 pl. OTI.4bl

Some masculine nouns which end consonant+ e (oro)+ consonant, e.g. oTe4 'father', drop the e or o whenever an ending is added. So the plural of oTe4 is not OT84bl but OT4bl. These disappearing vowels are called 'mobile' or 'fill' vowels and they are shown in parentheses in the vocabularies like this: oT(e)4 Other examples:8MepMKSH(8)4 npoA&a(e)4 nMpO>K(O)K

American sales assistant pie

pl. 8MepMKBH4bl pl. npoA&B4bl pl. nMpO>KKM

83

LESSON 8

A(e)Hb(m) pbiH(O)K

day market

pi.AHM

Ha pbiHKe (prep.) at

the market The ending -ell. common with names of nationalities, nearly always has a mobile e, e.g. sm6H(e)ll 'Japanese' pl. sm6Hybl. The endings -eell [ye-yets], -&ell. -6ell. e.g. in eapone(e)ll 'a European', also have a mobile e, but when the e drops out it leaves the consonantal (y) sound in the form of the letter M. So the plural of eapone(e)ll 'European' is eaponeMllbl. Other examples:KMTa(e)ll Chinese pl. KMT8Mllbl aannr.t(e)ll Welshman pl. aannMMllbl

8. 7 Nominative Plural of Adjectives

All adjectives in the nom. plural end ble (or Me for soft adjectives and those whose stem ends with one of the seven 'spelling rule' letters r, K, x, >K, " w, ~-see 8.3 above).H6B~KHMTM

CTSP~l!il APY3bR

6onbw!Ul AiiHbrM nocneAH.!Hl AHM pyccK.o 6nMHbl

new books old friends big money (a lot of money) last days Russian pancakes

8.8 Nominative Plurals of Possessives and DemonstrativesM6MJMOR/Moi TB6Miraoillraoi H&w/Hawa/Hawe aaw/aawa/aawe 3TOT/3Ta/3TO T6Thah6 Mo.!! [ma-e' e) TBOJ! (tva-e'e) HSW.I! [na-shl] aaw.l! [va-shl] 3T.I! (e-tee] T~ [tye]

my your (lam) our your (pol/pl.) these those

Er6, ei and MX are indeclinable, so do not change in the plural.

84

PLURALS; SPELLING RULES; BUYING THINGS

Examples:MOMAPY3bR HSWM A8HbrM 3TM R6noKM er6 cnoaamy friends our money these apples his/its words

EXERCISE 8/1

Make the nouns plural and translate: Regular examples: 1 ynM48. 2 Tponnei116yc. 3 yHMaepcMTeT. 4 WKOna. 5 My38M. 6 npOA&B(e)L\. 7 nMCbMO. 8 nn61J48Ab. 9 MMHp8. 10 HeAenR. 11 ~aMMnMR. Spelling-rule examples: 12 KHMra. 13 R3biK. 14 nMpo>K(6)K. Irregular examples: 15 AO'tb. 16 AOM. 17 aHrnM'tSHMH. 18 nee. 19 T&KCM. 20 CbiH. 21 MMR. 22 R6noKo. 23 APYr.

EXERCISE 8/2

Make the adjectives and possessives nominative plural and translate:I pyccKaR KHMra. 2 3TOT R3biK. 3 neTHMM A8Hb. 4 H8W CbiH. 5 CTSpbiMropoA. 6 M6iil APYr. 7 6onbw6iil Mara3MH. 8 TOT r6A. 9 aawe MecTo.

l 0 3TO ynpa>KHeHMe. The nominative plural forms you met above are also the endings of the accusative plural except for all phrases involving animate nouns.AliiiiTe 3TM R6noKM, no>KiinyiiiCTa. Please give (me) these apples. s:l n106mo pyccKMe 6nMHbl. I love Russian pancakes.

Animate accusatives, e.g. 'I love Russian girls', are in Lesson 10.

8.9 EcTb 'is', 'are'

If you want to ask if something is available, use ecTb, with the rise-fall intonation you met in 5.3:

85

LESSON 8

~aM

eCTb? or ECTb t.taM? 6nMHbl eCTb? or ECTb 6nMHbl? Kocj)e eCTb? ECTb.

Is there tea? Are there pancakes? Is there coffee? There is. Are there pies? There are pies. (Pies are available.)

nMpOlKKM eCTb? nMpOlKKM ecTb.

Although Russian does not nonnally require an equivalent of 'am', 'is', 'are' (6H pyccKMM 'He (is) Russian'), ecTb is used for all fonns of the present tense of 'to be' when 'to be' means 'to exist' or 'to be present'.~aM

66reCTb. eCTb.

God is. (God exists.) There is tea.

8.10 Spelling Rule 2

Spelling Rule 1 (8.3) concerns the occurrence of M where you would otherwise expect bl. So the nonnal nominative adjective ending is biM (HOBbiM 'new'), but 'Russian' is pyccK.ttM and 'good' is xop6w.ttM. Rule 2 accounts for the occurrence of e where you would expect o. It affects xop6WMM and all adjectives ending lKMM, WMM, t.tMM, lqMM, e.g. CB6lKMM 'fresh', ropilt.tMM 'hot', cn6AYtolqMM 'next'. After lK, t.t, w, 114 and 4 (the last four of the letters in Rule 1 plus 4), you find e where adjectives like HOBbiM have o. So the nominative neuter ending of xop6wMM is xopowee (not -oe), and the prepositional endings are -eM and -eM (7 .11 ), not -oM and -oM.xop6wte pyccKoe BMH6 CBelKte RM40 B ropilt.tgM BOA6 B XOpOWM pjCCKOM peCTOpiiHe

good Russian wine a fresh egg in hot water in a good Russian restaurant

This rule also explains why Haw 'our' and aaw 'your' never have o after thew:a HBWtlM HOBOM A6Me

in our new house

Rule 2 also applies to 4, as we shall see when we meet the rule again in grammatical endings involving nouns (16.2). There are almost no

86

PLURALS; SPELLING RULES; BUYING

THING~

adjectives ending l4biM, but should you ever meet KYl4biM 'tailless' or KpacHOnMl4biM 'red-faced', the neuter forms will be Kj4ee and KpaCHOflMl4ee. Note. Rule 2 does not apply to stressed 6, so 6onbi&I2M 'big' has o, not e, after w. However, 6onbw6MI is unique. There are no other adjectives ending -w6MI, and none ending )I(OM, -'tOM, lqOM or l40M.

8.11 VocabularyanenbCMH orange 6enbiM white 6mtH pancake pl. 6mtHbl 6yTep6p6A [boo-tyer-brot] open sandwich BKjCHbiM (fko o-snl] tasty BOAS ace. BOAY water acerAS [fsyeg-ds] always ropjutMI hot A8MITe give (imperative') A8naTb to do; to make fl Aena10, Tbl A8naewb A8HbrM (pl.) [dyen'-gee] money AOpor6M dear, expensive APYr [drook] friend pl. APY3bR ecnM if ecTb [yest'] (there) is, (there) are KapT6ciJenb (m) (no plural) potatoes Kecj)ilp fermented milk drink KMn6 (n indeclinable) kilo(gram) KMnorp8MM kilogram Kon6acs salami Mscno butter, oil MecTo pl. MeeTs place, seat MOflOKO milk MOflO'fHbiM milk, dairy (adj) Milco meat OTAltn [ad-dye!] section (of a shop) nMPO*(o)K [pee-ra-zh6k] pie nnox6MI bad noKynsTb to buy fl noKynsiO, Tbl noKynsewb npOA&BSTb to sell (3H8Tb -type, stem npoA&-. stressed on the end- 4.7) fl npOA&IO, Tbl npOA&iWb npOA&B(8)l4 sales assistant npoAjKTbl (m pl.) groceries, food pbiH(O)K market Ha pbiHKe in/at the market caxap sugar cae*MM (8.10) (svy&-zhl] fresh cn&AyiOiqMM (8.10) following, next cnoao word Cblp cheese T6nbKO only cj)pyKT a piece of fruit xne6 bread xop6WMM (8.1 0) (ha-r6-shl] good 'fipHbiM black

87

LESSON 8

il6noKo apple pl. R6nOKM

HMI40 [yee-ts6] egg pl. ilit148 [yay-tsa]

8.12 Dialogues (Translation in Key)

M3pM: Bon6Af1:

KaKMe npOAYKTbl pyccKMe noKynatOT a Mara3MHe? B Mara3MHe Mbl noKynaeM Kon6acy, Cblp, MonoK6, RM148, Macno, KapT6ctenb, caxap. M xne6, KoHe'IHo, 'lipHbiM M 6enbtM. pYccKMM xne6 6'1eHb BKYCHbiM, acerA& cae1KMM. Mbl O'leHb mo6MM Al!n&Tb 6YTep6p6Ab1.

M3pM: Bon6Af1: M3pM: Bon6Af1:

A CiPYKTbl? Cl)pyKTbl Mbl noKynaeM Ha pbiHKe. OHM AOporMe, H6 cae1KMe. Mbl noKynaeM il6noKM ManenbCMHbl, ecnM ecTb. rAe Bbl noKynaeTe Milco? B Mara3MHe Milco nnox6e. Xop6wee, caeee Milco ecTb TonbKO Ha pbiHKe.

2 Cl)pyKTbl AHHa: &opMc: AHH8: &opMc: rAe npoA&IOr anenbCMHbl? TonbKO Ha pbiHKe. A i16noKM? Sf6nOKM eCTb B M8f83MHe, HO OHM nnode.

* Where do they sell oranges?/Where does one sell oranges?/Where areoranges sold? If you use the third person plural (the 'they' form) of the verb without OHM, the meaning becomes impersonal. roaopiiT, 'ITO pyccKMM xne6 acerA& cae1KMM 'It is said that Russian bread is always fresh'.

3 Ha pbiHKeA: 6: A: 3TM nMp01KKM aawM? MoM. OHM ca61KMe?

88

PLURALS; SPELLING RULES; BUYING THINGS

6: A:

CaeJKMe, o.. eHb xop6wMe.

Aiuihe, noJKanyicTa, KMnorpiiMM.

4 B Mara3MH8CK&JKMTe, noJKanyicTa, a K&KOM OTAene npoAfiiOT KecjJ.tp? npoAf1Be4: 8 MOnO.. HOM. M3pM: A RM48? npOAf1Be4: T6JKe B MOnO.. HOM. M3pM: Cnac..t6o. M3pM:

EXERCISE 813

Say in Russian:

I Is there (any) coffee? 2 Are there (any) fresh sandwiches? 3 Where areyour friends? 4 I love Russian pancakes. 5 Black bread, please. 6 Give (me) these oranges, please.

COMPREHENSION EXERCISE 814

Here is a list of fifteen of the peoples of Europe. Guess who is who and see if you can work out the masculine singular form of each nationality, bearing in mind the example aMepMKiiH(e)LjlaMepMKiiHL!bl in the section on mobile vowels (8.6 above). The capital city of each nationality is given in brackets.B Eapc)ne JKMBjT 6enopycbl (MMHCK), aannMML!bl (KiiPAMcjJc!J), aeHrpbl (6yAflnewT), MpniiHAL!bl {Ay6nMH), MCniiHL!bl (MSAPMA), n8TbiWM (Piotra), nMTOBL!bl (BMnbHIOC), HeML!bl (6epnMH), nonRKM (Bapwaaa), c!JpaHL!Y3bl (napMJK), pyccKMe (MocKaa), yKpaMHL!bl (K.tea), wa8Abl (CTOKr6nbM), WOTniiHAL!bl (3AMH6ypr), 3CTOHL!bl (TilnnMHH).

89

te' .. ... :17. m]iiiui tt.aW!a> .. 1~ !1"}.116,

21J.S..~{~). .~. KeHa? 2 Y Hero ecTb pyccKaH noApyra. 3 Y Eabl ecTb 6paT? 4 6paTa y Hei HeT. 5 Do you have (any) white wine? 6 They

have a daughter and two sons. 7 Does she have (any) money?

10.4 EXTRA: MMeTb 'to have' There is also a verb MMeTb (3H&Tb-type): H MMeiO, Tbl MMeewb 'to have'. This verb is not used in the everyday sense of possession ('I have a car' is Y MeHH eCTb M8WMH8, not Sl MMeiO M8WMHy). Instead, it is used with abstract nouns in a number of fixed expressions:MMeTb npaao 'to have the right'