Russian for
beginners
• 2nd lesson
• УРОК ПЕРВЫЙ
• КАК ВАС ЗОВУТ?
Greetings
(23)
ADDITIONAL EXERCISE
Formal and Informal Greetings (33)
• The form здравствуйте serves two purposes:
• to address more than one person (both formally and informally)
• to address one person formally
• здравствуй is used to address one person informally.
Addressing Teachers (24)
If your teacher is native Russian, he or she is usually addressed with the first name and
patronymic: Александр Петрович, Светлана Олеговна. Otherwise, you may use the
words господин (Mr.) or госпожа (Ms.) and the last name: господин Смит, госпожа
Гомез. In this case it is also possible to use the words профессор or доктор with the
last name, for example, профессор Смит or доктор Гомез.
How are things? (24 + 33)
Как дела? literally means How are things? Тhe question А у тебя? means And with you? Use these
lines only when meeting friends.
Как дела? Спасибо, хорошо. А у тебя? / А у вас?
Тоже хорошо.
More examples
Asking Someone’s
Name
Russian First Names
(Male) (19)
FULL NAME NICKNAME FULL NAME NICKNAME
Александр
Алексей
Андрей
Борис
Валентин
Виктор
Владимир
Георгий
Григорий
Саша
Алёша
Андрюша
Боря
Валя
Витя
Володя
Гоша
Гриша
Евгений
Иван
Игорь
Максим
Михаил
Николай
Олег
Сергей
Юрий
Женя
Ваня
*
*
Миша
Коля
*
Серёжа
Юра
Russian First Names
(Female) (19)
FULL NAME NICKNAME FULL NAME NICKNAME
Александра
Алла
Анна
Валентина
Вера
Евгения
Екатерина
Елена
Ирина
Лариса
Саша
*
Аня
Валя
*
Женя
Катя
Лена
Ира
Лара
Марина
Мария
Надежда
Наталья
Нина
Ольга
Светлана
София
Татьяна
*
Маша
Надя
Наташа
*
Оля
Света
Соня
Таня
What Is … Name? (29,30)
• To ask а person’s name, or to give а person’s name, you need the object forms of personal pronouns
(me, you, him, her, us, you, them).
КАК ЕГО ЗОВУТ? ЕГО ЗОВУТ МАРК.
literally: How him they call? Him they call Mark.
What is his name? His name is Mark.
МЕНЯ [minia] me (first person, singular)
ТЕБЯ [tibia] you (second person, singular)
ЕГО [yivo] him (third person, singular)
ЕЁ [yiyo] her (third person, singular)
НАC [nas] us (first person, plural)
ВАС [vas] you (second person, plural)
ИХ [ikh] them (third person, plural)
Exercise 4 (20)
Exercise 3 (30)
Formal and Informal Adress (30)
КАК ТЕБЯ ЗОВУТ? МЕНЯ ЗОВУТ АННА.
What is your name? My name is Anna.
КАК ВАС ЗОВУТ? МЕНЯ ЗОВУТ АННА ПАВЛОВНА./ МЕНЯ ЗОВУТ АННА.
What is Your name? My name is Anna Pavlovna./My name is Anna.
ОЧЕНЬ ПРИЯТНО. ОЧЕНЬ ПРИЯТНО.
Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.
Formal and Informal Adress (30)
• There are two forms of address in Russian: formal (second-person plural) and informal (secondperson
singular).
• The informal forms are used among friends and family members, when addressing young
children.
• Adults normally use the formal form when they first meet. When they know each other better,
they may switch into informal address.
• Foreigners should address Russian adults with the formal form until the Russians suggest the
use of the informal form instead.
• The second-person plural serves two purposes. КАК ВАС ЗОВУТ?
• to address more than one person (both formally and informally)
• to address one person formally
• The second-person singular serves only one purpose. КАК ТЕБЯ ЗОВУТ?
• to address one person informally
Exercise 3 (SB 31)
Exercise 5 (21)
Exercise 6 (21)
More examples
Exercise 3 (31)
Russian Last Names (21-22)
• Many Russian last names (фамилия) have two different forms, masculine and feminine. If а man’s last name
is ИВАНОВ, his wife’s last name is ИВАНОВА. Тheir children are also ИВАНОВ (sons) and ИВАНОВА
(daughters).
• Some last names have adjective forms with the feminine ending in -ая.
Пушкин (M) Пушкина (F)
Чехов (M) Чехова (F)
Достоевский (M) Достоевская (F)
Толстой (M) Толстая (F)
ADDITIONAL EXERCISE
INTRODUCING
PEOPLE
Omission of the Verb to be (27)
• The present tense of the verb to be is seldom used as a linking verb in Russian.
• There are also no articles in Russian.
✓ КТО ЭТО? ЭТО ПРЕЗИДЕНТ.
✓ Who is this? This is a president.
• In sentences where both the subject and predicate are nouns, a dash is often used to denote the omission of the
verb to be.
✓ АЛЛА ПУГАЧЁВА – АРТИСТКА.
✓ Alla Pugachova is an artist.
Gender of Nouns: Introduction (27)
• Russian nouns have 3 genders:
• Masculine (M) nouns usually end in a consonant
• Feminine (F) nouns usually end in a/я
• Neuter (N) nouns usually end in o/e/ё
Professions (16)
• Some names of professions have distinct M and F forms:
• артист (M) артистка (F) performing artist
• актёр (M) актриса (F) actor
• студент (М) студентка (F) student
• спортсмен (М) спортсменка (F) athlete
• Other professions use M form for both males and females:
• президент (M+F) president
• композитор (M+F) composer
• профессор (M+F) professor
Asking Yes-or-No Questions (16)
Intonation in Questions (27-28)
• Compare the following:
• Это артист. (statement) X Это артист?(question)
• In oral language, questions that do not use а question word (who, what, where, etc.) have
а special intonation pattern that emphasizes the stressed syllable of the most important
word in the question.
Negative Sentences (28)
• А negative answer to а yes-or-no question starts with the word нет. А negative within the
sentence is не.
Это президент? Нет, это не президент. (Is this the president? No, this is not the president.
• You can also use the construction не... а (not . . . but).
Это артист? Нет, не артист, а президент.
EXERCISE (17)
Make up minidialogues using the names of famous artists, actors, athletes, and
presidents.
Model: George Washington/actor:
Джордж Вашингтон – актёр? Нет, президент. / Нет, Джордж Вашингтон не актёр, а президент.
1. Abraham Lincoln/actor
2. Barbra Streisand/athlete
3. Brad Pitt/artist
4. Julia Roberts/professor
5. Cristiano Ronaldo/composer
6. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart/athlete
7. Haririson Ford/student
8. Tom Hanks/artist
Describing People with Adjectives of Nationality and Quality
(17)
Adjective Agreement (28)
• Adjectives agree with the noun in gender.
известный артист (М) известная артистка (F) a famous artist
русский артист (М) русская артистка (F) a Russian artist
плохой артист (М) плохая артистка (F) a bad artist
• The ending for masculine adjectives are -ый, -ий or-ой. Adjectives
that end in -ой have the stress on the ending.
плохой X хороший
плохая X хорошая
Adjectives of Nationality
(17)
• русский (M) русская (F) Russian
• американский (M) американская (F) American
• английский (M) английская (F) English
• канадский (M) канадская (F) Canadian
Adjectives of Quality
(17)
• хороший (M) хорошая (F) good
• неплохой (M) неплохая (F) not bad
• плохой (M) плохая (F) bad
• известный (M) известная (F) famous
EXERCISE (29)
Fill in the adjective endings
1. хорош_______ американ_______ студент
2. хорош_______ канадск_______ студентка
3. плох_______ американск_______ актриса
4. известн_______ английск_______ артистка
5. русск_______ туристка
6. известн_______ канад_______ спортсмен
7. хорош_______ русск _______ актёр
8. американск_______ турист
9. плох_______ студент
10. хорош_______ английск_______ артист
Intonation in Questions (28)
Алла Пугачёва – спортсменка? Нет, Алла Пугачёва – артистка.
Is Alla Pugachova аn athlete? No, Alla Pugachova is аn artist.
Это русский артист? Нет, это русский студент.
Is this а Russian artist? No, this is а Russian student.
Это русский артист? Нет, это американский артист
Is this а Russian artist? No, this is an American artist
INTONATION (18)
• Это русский артист? Да, русский.
Нет, не русский, а американский.
• Это русский артист? Да, артист.
Нет, не артист, а студент.
• Это хороший артист? Да, очень хороший.
EXERCISE 2A (18)
EXERCISE 2B (18)
EXERCISE 3 (18)
EXERCISE 2A (29)
Inquiring About Someone’s Profession (22)
WHO? Questions. (31)
• If you know а person’s name and want а more detailed description, you often start the question with
КТО ТАКОЙ (masc.) or КТО ТАКАЯ (fem.).
Кто такой Юрий Гагарин? Юрий Гагарина – русский космонавт.
Who is Yuri Gagarin? Yuri Gagarin is а Russian cosmonaut.
Кто такая Алла Пугачёва? Алла Пугачёва – русская артистка.
Who is Alla Pugachova? Alla Pugachova is a Russian performing artist.
• Use the кто такой/кто такaя construction only when the person’s name is included in the question.
Use the word кто alone for аnу other questions with who.
Кто это? Это Алла Пугачёва.
Who is this? This is Alla Pugachova.
Exercise 6 (SB 32)
PROFESSIONS (22)
PROFESSIONS (22)
Professions and Gender (32)
• For some professions, separate forms for masculine and feminine are used quite
frequently, for example, артист/артистка. For other professions, the masculine form can
be used to refer to women, even if а feminine form exists.
Optional: космонавт (М) космонавтка (F)
пианист (М) пианистка (F)
писатель (М) писательница (F)
поэт (М) поэтесса (F)
хоккеист (М) хоккеистка (F)
шахматист (М) шахматистка (F)
No separate feminine form: доктор
композитор
президент
профессор
Different feminine form: танцор (M) балерина (F)
ADDITIONAL EXERCISE
Professions and Gender (32)
• If а masculine noun is used to refer to а woman, the adjectives also take the masculine form.
Exercise 8 (23)
QUESTIONS?