LESSON NOTES

Beginner S1 #2
I Hope She Can Tutor You On
Russian Genders!

CONTENTS
2
2
2
2
3
5
8

Russian
Romanization
English
Vocabulary
Sample Sentences
Grammar
Cultural Insight

#
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RUSSIAN
1.

-?

2.

, . ?

3.

. -.

4.

-!

ROMANIZATION
1.

JAMES:

Vy govorite po-russki?

2.

NATASHA:

Da, ya russkaya. A vy?

3.

JAMES:

Ya amerikanets. Ya ne ochen' horosho govoru po-russki.

4.

NATASHA:

Davayte govorit' po-anglisski!

ENGLISH
1.

JAMES:

Do you speak Russian?

2.

NATASHA:

Yes, I'm Russian. And you?

3.

JAMES:

I'm American. I don't speak Russian very well.

4.

NATASHA:

Let's speak English!

VOCABULARY
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R ussian

R omanization

English

C lass

govorit'

to speak

verb

amerikanka

(nationality)

noun

Davay

let's, shall we...

verb

ochen'

A vy?

russkiy

American

very, very much,

really

adverb

And you?

phrase

Russian
(nationality)

Ge nde r

feminine

noun, adjective

masculine

noun, adjective

feminine

Russian

russkaya

(nationality,

po-angliyski

(in) English

adverb

pa-russki

(in) Russian

adverb

feminine)

American

amerikanets

(nationality,
masculine)

noun

masculine

SAMPLE SENTENCES
-.

My nye govorim po-angliyski.

Syergyey govorit po tyelyefonu.

"We don't speak English."

"Sergey is speaking on the phone."

-.

Chto oni govoryat?

Eta amyerikanka nye govorit po-russki.

"What are they saying?"

"This American doesn't speak Russian." (feminine)

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, !

Davay ya tyebye pomogu.

Davay, prosypaysya!

"Let me help you."

"Come on, wake up!"

Davay spat'.

Davaytye zakazhyem shampanskoye!

"Let's sleep/go to bed."

"Let's order champagne!"

Davaytye poydyom ko mnye.

Davay pop'yom chay na kuhnye.

"Let's go to my place."

"Let's have some tea in the kitchen."

Davaytye vstryetimsya vyechyerom.

Davaytye poznakomimsya.

"Let's meet tonight."

"Let's get to know each other."

Davaytye rabotat'!

Davay obyedat'!

"Let's work!" (formal)

"Let's have lunch!" (informal)

-.

Vy ochen horosho govorite po-russki.

On ochen lyubit slushat' muzyku.

"You speak Russian very well." (formal)

"He really likes listening to music."

. ?

Ona ochen' krasivaya.

Ya iz Kiyeva. A vy?

"She's very beautiful."

"I'm from Kiev. And you?"

. ?

. ?

My lyubim chitat'. A vy?

Ya uchityel'. A vy?

"We like reading. And you?"

"I'm a teacher. And you?"

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Igor' russkiy.

My uchim russkiy yazyk.

"Igor is Russian."

"We study Russian."

, .

-?

Ona nye russkaya, ona anglichanka.

Vy govorite po-angliyski?

"She isn't Russian, she's English."

"Do you speak English?" (informal)

-.

-.

Tanya nye ponimayet po-angliyski.

Ya chasto pishu pis'ma po-angliyski.

"Tanya doesn't understand English."

"I often write letters in English."

-.

-?

Ya ploho govoryu po-russki.

Ty govorish' po-russki?

"My Russian is not good."

"Do you speak Russian?" (informal)

-.

-.

Ya nye ponimayu po-russki.

Oni mnogo chitayut po-russki.

"I don't understand Russian."

"They read in Russian a lot."

, .

Ya ukrainka, a on amyerikanyets.

Vy amyerikanyets?

"I'm Ukrainian, and he's American."

"Are you an American?" (formal, masculine)

GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson is Russian Verbs.
-!
"Let's speak English!"

We can divide all Russian verbs into two large groups:

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1.

Verbs ending in -

2.

All the other verbs

We usually conjugate the verbs belonging to the same group in the same way (please, note
that there are some exceptions). To conjugate a verb in the present tense, we take the
infinitive of the verb () and replace - with one of the endings below. The choice of
the ending depends on the subject (- if the subject is -, - for -, etc.).
Here's a table to help you learn the endings of the verbs ending in -:
Pronoun

Ending

Example

()

- vs.
-?
"Do you speak Russian"

We say - and not . We only use - in phrases.

For example:
1.

-
"to speak Russian"

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2.

-
"to understand Russian"
/ -

3.

"to read/write in Russian"

We cannot use it in phrases such as, "to learn Russian," "he's Russian," or "Russian is a
beautiful language." In this case, we use the word .
For example:
1.

"to learn Russian"

2.

"he's Russian"

3.

- .
"Russian is a beautiful language."

Discussing Nationality
, . ?
"Yes, I'm Russian. And you?"

To say that someone is Russian, American, and so on, you don't need a verb.
For example:
1.

.
"He's Russian."

2.

?
"Are you American?" (informal)

We don't use the same word for men and women.

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For example:
1.

.
"Sergey is Russian."

2.

.
"Natasha is Russian."

3.

.
"John is American."

4.

.
"Mary is American."

CULTURAL INSIGHT
Travel Tip: Speaking English in Russia

Many young people in Russia, especially in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, speak good
English and are happy to use it. Don't hesitate to speak English if you've run out of Russian
words! However, be prepared for the fact that police and other officials, hospital staff, most
waiters, and store clerks usually don't speak English.

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