How to speak Russian in 30 lessons. Lesson 2
Разговор. А conversation.
So we continue learning to speak Russian! It's important to know how to apply the rules of communication and etiquette. You already know the difference between ТЫ and ВЫ. In this lesson we'll learn how to introduce ourselves to our friends and colleagues and how to introduce others and start the conversation.
Russian names. Русские имена.
Russian names consist of a first name (имя), a middle name (отчество) and a last name (фамилия). For example, a typical Russian name is something like Антон Петрович Галкин, or Анна Андреевна Чайкина. Отчество (middle name) is derived from the father's given name with an ending -ович/-евич (-ovich/-evich) for men and -овна/-евна (-ovna/-evna) for women added to it. Say if a boy's name is Андрей (Andrey) and his father's name is Анатолий (Anatoly), his first and middle name will be Андрей Анатольевич (Andrey Anatolievich). If a girl's name is Любовь (Lubov') and her father's name is Игорь (Igor') , her first and middle name will be Lubov Igorevna (Любовь Игоревна). The last name (фамилия) takes different endings for men and women with the letter а normally added to the female last name : Mr. Surkov - Mrs. Surkova
| Russian last and middle names | ||
| Иванов (man) | Иванова (woman) | |
| Ельцин (Boris) | Ельцина (his wife) | |
| Путин (ex-president) | Путина (his wife) | |
| Каспаров (chess master) | Каспарова (his wife) | |
| Мутко (man) | Мутко (woman) | foreign names don't change |
|
Russian middle names are derived from the father's name |
||
| Father | Son's middle name | Daughter's middle name |
| Иван | Иванович | Ивановна |
| Сергей | Сергеевич | Сергеевна |
| Александр | Александрович | Александровна |
How to address people in Russian.
Let's consider a few ways to properly address others. To address your friends you can use their first name or a shortened version of that name. To address people you don't know very well use their first and middle name (имя и отчество) unless they ask you to address them using ТЫ. In this case they're likely to say Давайте перейдём на ты? /Можно на ты? / Может перейдём на ты? Or a similar phrase (let's start using ТЫ ?)
You might wonder how to address someone if you only know their last name. An equivalent to Mr. is Господин and Mrs. Госпожа. But these are only used in very official meetings. They're not very appropriate for everyday use. In the soviet times people used to say гражданин / гражданка or товарищ. These are still used by some folks although they sound really weird now. (Товарищ Сталин на телефоне! Comrade Stalin is on the phone / speaking!)
Most Russian names have a shortened version and an informal version used mostly by close friends and teenagers. Here's a short list of the most used ones
Common Russian names. Популярные русские имена |
|||
| Boy's names | Girls' names | ||
| full | short | full | short |
| Александр | Саша | Алина | - |
| Алексей | Лёха | Алиса | - |
| Анатолий | Толя | Алла | - |
| Андрей | Андрей | Альбина | - |
| Борис | Боря | Анастасия | Настя |
| Вадим | Вадик | Анна | Аня |
| Виктор | Витя | Валентина | Валя |
| Виталий | - | Валерия | Лера |
| Владимир | Вова | Вера | - |
| Владислав | Влад |
Виктория |
Вика |
| Всеволод | Сева | ||
| Вячеслав | Слава | Галина | Галя |
| Геннадий | Гена | Дарья | Даша |
| Григорий | Гриша | Евгения | Женя |
| Денис | - | Екатерина | Катя |
| Дмитрий | Дима | Елена | Лена |
| Егор | - | Елизавета | Лиза |
| Иван | Ваня | Жанна | - |
| Игорь | Илья | Зинаида | Зина |
| Кирилл | - | Злата | - |
| Константин | Костя | Инга | - |
| Леонид | Лёня | Инна | Ира |
| Максим | Макс | Ирина | - |
| Михаил | Миша | Ксения | Ксюша |
| Никита | - | Лариса | - |
| Николай | Коля | Лидия | Лида |
| Олег | - | Любовь | Люба |
| Павел | Паша | Надежда | Надя |
| Роман | Рома | Наталья | Наташа |
| Руслан | - | Нина | Нина |
| Станислав | Стас | Оксана | Оксана |
| Степан | Стёпа |
Ольга |
Оля |
| Тарас | - | Роза | Роза |
| Тимур | - | Маргарита | - |
| Федор | Федя | Мария | Маша |
| Эдуард | Эдик | Марина | - |
| Яков | Яша | Милена | Мила |
| Светлана | Света | ||
| Тамара | - | ||
| Татьяна | Таня | ||
| Ульяна | - | ||
| Юлия | Юля | ||
If you're introducing adults in a formal setting use their full name (имя, отчество и фамилия). For example :"I'd like you to meet Ivan Sergeevich Rybakov". In business meetings a position in the company would probably be appropriate to be added. When introducing young kids you should use their first name or first and last name: "I want to introduce Ivan Petrov to our class". When kids introduce each other they simply say: "Знакомьтесь. Это Боря. Это Миша."
Слова этого урока. Words for this lesson. 
Меня зовут Иван. My name is Ivan
Как ваша фамилия? What is your last name?
Моя фамилия Кошкин. My last name is Koshkin.
Как ваше отчество? What is you middle name? (patronymic)
Моё отчество Сергеевич. My middle name is Sergeevich.
Как ваше имя? What is your first name?
Моё имя Иван. My first name is Ivan.
Вас зовут Николай? Is your name Nikolay?
Да. Yes.
Нет. No.
Да, меня зовут Николай. Yes. My name is Nikolay.
Нет, меня зовут Аркадий. No. My name is Arkady.
Ваша фамилия Петров? Is your last name Petrov?
Нет, моя фамилия Степанов. No, my last name is Stepanov.
Давайте познакомимся! Let's get acquainted!
Познакомьтесь, пожалуйста, с Марией! Let me introduce you to Maria!
Познакомься, пожалуйста, с Марией! Let me introduce you to Maria!
Очень приятно. Very nice to meet you.
Мне тоже. Nice to meet you too.
Взаимно. Nice to meet you too (literally : it was mutual)
Друг - friend (a male friend)
Подруга - friend (a female friend)
Друзья - friends
Товарищ - a friend, a comrade (can only be male)
Товарищи - comrades
Господин - Mister, sir
Преподаватель - teacher (male or female)
Учитель - teacher (male or female)
Студент - student (masculine)
Студентка - student (feminine)
Ученик - a pupil (a boy)
Ученица - a pupil(a girl)
Одноклассник - classmate
Одноклассница - classmate (a girl)
Университет - University
Институт - Institute, University
Grammar. Грамматика.
Personal pronouns. Личные Местоимения.
|
|
|
Я
|
I |
| Ты | you |
| он | he |
| она | she |
| оно | it |
| мы | we |
| вы |
you |
| они | they |
Genders of Russian nouns.
There're 3 types of nouns in Russian: masculine, feminine and neuter. Masculine nouns end in consonants: мастер, пассажир, сторож. Feminine nouns end in -а and -я : красотка, причёска, Галя. Nouns ending in -ь can be either masculine or feminine: букварь (masculine), тетрадь (feminine). Neuter nouns end in -о, -е, -мя : пламя, море, село, стадо.
Some exceptions. The gender of several nouns ending in -а and -я depends on whether they refer to a man or a woman : он коллега, она коллега. Male names ending in -а and -я decline like feminine nouns.
| Masculine (он) | Feminine (она) | Neuter (оно) |
| стол table | страна country | село settlement |
| компьютер computer | лень idleness | масло butter |
| человек man | Любовь Lubov' (girl's name) |
море sea |
| автомобиль car | любовь love | поле field |
| Григорий Gregory (boy's name) |
семья family | утро morning |
| танк a tank | лента stripe | общество society |
Learn more about genders of Russian nouns.
Possessive pronouns.Притяжательные местоимения.
|
Masculine
Singular
|
Feminine
Singular
|
Neuter
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
| my | мой | моя | моё | мои |
| your (sing.) | твой | твоя | твоё | твои |
| his, its/her | его/её | его / её | его / её | его / её |
| our | наш | наша | наше | наши |
| your (pl.) | ваш | ваша | ваше | ваши |
| their | их | их | их | их |
Possesive pronouns agree in number, case and genderwith the nouns they're used with: мой стол, моя кровать, мои книги, мое детство etc. Learn more about Russian pronouns
Cases. Падежи.
Nominative and accusative cases of personal pronouns.
| Nominative | Accusative | Nominative | Accusative |
| я | меня | I | me |
| мы | нас | we | us |
| ты | тебя | you | you |
| вы | вас | you | you |
| он | его | he | he |
| она | её | she | she |
| оно | его | it | it |
| они | их | they | they |
Dialogs. Диалоги
Listen, repeat and read aloud. Time to start speaking Russian 
1. A conversation between a boy and a girl. Разговор между юношей и девушкой.
- Hello! Let's get acquainted! My name is Alexander! And what is your name?
- А меня зовут Екатерина. - And my name is Yekaterina.
- Очень приятно.- Glad to meet you.
2. Official introduction. Официальное знакомство.
-Good afternoon! Let's get acquainted! My name is Anatoly Petrovich Gurov. And what is your name?
-Меня зовут Алексей Дмитриевич Минин.-My name is Alexey Dmitrievich Minin.
3. Conversation between two friends.Разговор двух подруг.
-Очень приятно, Лиза.-Nice to meet you, I'm Lisa.
-Мне тоже очень приятно.-Nice to meet you too.
4. Office conversation.Разговор в офисе.
5. Conversation between young kids. Разговор детей.
-Да, это Миша. -Yes, this is Misha.
-Сколько ему лет? -How old is he?
-Ему десять (10) лет.-He's ten.
-А это твоя подруга? -And is this your girlfriend?
-Ага. Это Ксюша. Ей двенадцать лет. -Aha. This is Ksyusha. She's twelve years old.
-Давайте играть вместе! -Let's play together!
6. Conversation at the bank. Разговор в банке.
7. New teacher. Новый учитель.
-Hello students! I'm your new teacher of Russian. My name is Irina Borisovna Ignateva.
-Здравствуйте, Ирина Борисовна! -Hello, Irina Borisovna!
-Рада вас видеть! Я надеюсь мы подружимся! -Grad to see you. I hope we'll make friends.
8. Calling parents. Звонок родителям.
Now take the Quiz and see how well you learned the material!
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written by sashasultanov , November 30, 2009
written by Gilles , October 02, 2010
Как ваша отчество? (what is written)
instead of
Как ваше отчество? (what you actually say)
written by Gilles , October 02, 2010
втомобиль car (missing first letter 'a')
written by Russian-Plus.com , October 03, 2010
