Russian Lesson 8
Восьмой Урок
| Chapters | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lessons | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
In Russian Lesson 8 you will listen to two Russian conversations in a restaurant; learn a few more Russian words; introduction to past tense in Russian and the й sound.
Contents on this lesson:
- Диалог А: Вот вам чай — Here's your tea
- Диалог Б: Вот вам кофе — Here's your coffee
- 8A. Introduction to Past Tense in Russian
- 8Б. Russian to English (continued): Different Sentence Structure
- 8В. The Consonant Sound (y): й or Soft-indicating Vowel
Диалоги — Dialogues
Диалог А. Вот вам чай - Here's your tea
| 1 | в ресторане | in a restaurant | |
| Рита | 2 | Чай пожалуйста. | Tea, please. |
| Джон | 3 | Пожалуйста. | Here you go. |
| Рита | 4 | Спасибо. Это не чай. Это кофе. Что я сказала? Я сказала "чай." Вы понимаете: "чай"! |
Thank you. (starts to drink) This isn't tea. This is coffee. What did I say? I said 'tea.' Do you understand, 'tea!' |
| Джон | 5 | Извините. Я плохо понимаю по-русски. Я американец. | Excuse me. I don't understand Russian very well. I'm an American. |
| Рита | 6 | Ой! Извините, Пожалуйста. | Oh, excuse me, please. |
| Джон | 7 | Ничего. Вот вам чай. | Don't worry about it. Here's your tea. |
| Рита | 8 | Спасибо. | Thank you. |
| Джон | 9 | Пожалуйста. | You're welcome. |
Диалог Б. Вот вам кофе - Here's your coffee
| 10 | в ресторане | in a restaurant | |
| Валера | 11 | Кофе, пожалуйста. | Coffee, please. |
| Пэм | 12 | Пожалуйста. | Here you go. |
| Валера | 13 | Спасибо. Это не кофе. Это чай. Что я сказал? Я сказал "кофе". Вы понимаете: "кофе!" |
Thank you. (Starts to drink) This isn't coffee. This is tea. What did I say? I said 'coffee.' Do you understand: 'coffee!' |
| Пэм | 14 | Извините. Я плохо понимаю по-русски. Я американка. | Excuse me. I don't understand Russian very well. I'm an American. |
| Валера | 15 | Ой! Извините, пожалуйста. | Oh, excuse me please. |
| Пэм | 16 | Ничего. Вот вам кофе. | Don't worry about it. Here's your coffee. |
| Валера | 17 | Спасибо. | Thanks you. |
| Пэм | 18 | Не за что. | Don't mention it. |
Словарь - Russian Vocabulary
| 1 | ресторан (no т at the end of the word in Russian) |
restaurant |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | чай | tea |
| 3 | пожалуйста | 1. please 2. Here you go (service worker giving something to customer) 3. you're welcome |
| 4 | спасибо | thank you (there is no way to shorten this word further) |
| 4 | кофе | coffee (masculine - note gender) |
| 4 | сказала | said (past tense, feminine) |
| 4 | понимаете | (you - singular Formal /plural) understand |
| 5 | плохо | poorly |
| 5 | я понимаю по-русски. | I understand Russian (don't leave out the hyphen -) |
| 5 | американец | American (masculine, note: not capitalized) |
| 7 | ничего | here: don't worry about it; it is nothing (lit. nothing) |
| 7 | вот вам (noun) | (handing something to someone) here's your (noun) |
| 13 | сказал | said (past tense, masc.) |
| 14 | американка | American (feminine; note: lower case) |
| 18 | не за что | (response to спасибо) don't mention it (lit. There isn't anything) |
Грамматика - Russian Grammar
8A. Introduction to Past Tense in Russian
Что я сказала / сказал? (4, 14)
You have so far seen a couple of past tense already: были were (plural), перепутал mixed up (masculine).
For now just note two things:
- The consonant 'л' as a past tense marker.
- The ending changes depending on the gender and number (-л = masculine singular, -ла = fem. sg., -ли = plural).
| SINGULAR | PLURAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine (я, ты, он) -л |
Feminine (я, ты, она) -ла |
(мы, вы, они) -ли |
| перепутал | перепутала | перепутали |
| сказал | сказала | сказали |
| выл | выла *(note stress position) | бвли |
You'll learn more about past tense in Chapter 2. Just be patient and you'll be there soon.
Note that вы always takes a plural form of the verb, even when it's Formal-singular:
| ВЫ всё перепутали. | You (guys) mixed up everything. |
| You (stupid professor) mixed up everything. |
Change the form of the verb based on the cue. Careful with the word order. Full nouns follow the verb, pronouns precede the verb.
Examples:
- Что он сказал? (Маша) -- > Что сказала Маша?
- Что он сказал? (она) --> Что она сказала?
| Phrase | Cue | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Что она сказала? | он, вы, Коля, твои родители, моя мать, его отец |
| 2 | Миша всё перепутал. | Вера, я, мы, Витя, она, вы, ты |
| 3 | Я выл /а ресторане. | Соня, мы, он, ты (сестра), мои родители, Дима |
8Б. Russian to English (continued): Different Sentence Structure
Я плохо понимаю по-русски (5)
Here is a perfect example of how a word-for-word translation just won't work. Literally Я плохо понимаю по-русски means I poorly understand in Russian, though it's best translated as I don't understand Russian very well. As you've read before, there's no sure way to predict which phrases and sentences are directly translatable and which aren't. But you'll have a feel of it as you study along.
8В. The Consonant Sound (y): й or Soft-indicating Vowel
Like English, Russian has the consonsant sound (y) as in yes, boy, etc. There are two basic ways to spell this (y) sound in Russian. One way is straightforward: just use the consonant letter й. The other way is a bit more complex: using (certain) soft-indicating vowels.
How the sound of (y) is represented:
- 1. Using Consonant Letter Й
- Й is seen mostly at the end of a syllable following a vowel, in which case it's close to the (y) in English boy and they, but with a real tug on that (y) at the end. It can also appear syllable-initially in foreign words: Нью-Йорк.
Listen and repeat the following Russian words. Be sure to give a good tug when pronouncing й.
мой, твой, май, ковбой (cowboy), большой (big), плохой (bad), гений, ой, пей (drink!), здравствуйте, танцуй (dance!), бей (beat!), йога (yoga), Нью-Йорк, спрашивай
- 2. Using a soft-indicting vowel я, е, ё, ю, but not и
- Our previous discussion of soft-indicating vowels was limited to cases in which the vowels were immediately preceded by a consonant. When a soft-indicating vowel я, е, ё, ю (but not и) is not immediately preceded by a consonant sound й is pronounced (but not written) before the vowel sound. For instance я not immediately preceded by a consonant is a single letter representing two sounds й + я. As you'll see in the chart below (and don't forget to do the oral exercise!), there are three places where a soft-indicating vowel are not preceded by a consonant, and are pronounced with a preceding й sound.
Listen and repeat:
| 1 | At the begining of a word | Яша, ястреб (hawk),
ел (he ate), ехать (to
ride), ёлка (fir), ёмкость (capacity), юмор (humor), юность
(youth) *Word-initial и is not pronounced with a preceding й: Иван, инженер, имя (first name) |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Following any vowel | моя, приехать (to arrive), даёт (he gives), свою (one's own) |
| 3 | Following ь or ъ | свинья (swine), объятие (hug), семье (family), съел (he ate), статьи (article), свиньи, шьёт (he /she sews), объём (amount, volume), пью (I drink), адъютант (adjutant) |
Thus if someone shows you the words м♦я or ♦ё or п♦ю (♦ = hidden letter, if any before the soft-indicating vowel) and ask you whether there is an й sound in the word, your answer should be "I can't tell as it is, I need to see the preceding letter, if any, to determine whether there should be a й pronounced before the vowel. If that letter is anything except a consonant, then there is a й sound before the vowel sound.
So, in addition to the basic vowel sound, soft-indicating vowels represent either:
- Softening of immediately preceding consonants: (привет, Лёня).
- The presence of й sound : (я, моё, пью).
| Vowel Letter |
Soft Consonant + Vowel | Й + Vowel | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Example | as in | Example | as in | |
| я | б + я | тебя | й + я | я, моя, свинья |
| е | д + е | дети | й + е | ехать, уехать, семье |
| ё | л +ё | Лёня | й + ё | ёлка, твоё, житьё |
| ю | н + ю | кухню | й + ю | юмор, твою, пьют |
While the explanation of the й sound may be a bit complex, remember, it's all a matter of pronunciation. In all the instances described above, Russians really do pronounce the й sound (and they certainly don't know any of these rules).
Finally, many students have an expecially hard time hearing this й sound when it occurs in one-syllable words. Compare the pronunciation (with and without й sound).
| Without й Sound | With й Sound |
|---|---|
| пять | пьяный (drunk; inebriated) |
| сел (he sat down) | съел (he ate up) |
| штаты (states) | статьи (articles) |
| Лёня | льёт (s/he pours) |
| *чудо (miracle) | чью (whose) |
*remember to pronounced чю
Домашнее Задание - Homework
Упражнение 1 - Exercise 1
Provide an appropriate response to the following (as a full sentence if possible).
1. Как вас зовут?
2. Спасибо.
3. Вот вам чай.
4. Извините ради Бога.
5. Это твой брат?
6. Как дела?
Compare your answers here.
Answers
Упражнение 1 - Exercise 1
- 1. Как вас зовут?
- Меня зовут Антон.
- 2. Спасибо.
- Не за что.
- 3. Вот вам чай.
- Пожалуйста.
- 4. Извините ради Бога.
- Ничего.
- 5. Это твой брат?
- Да, это мой брат.
- 6. Как дела?
- Прекрасно! А у тебя?
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