Russian Learn About Russian , Build Your Own 6 Sentences and Pronounce Words Correctly
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK Look out for the following icons throughout the book:
‘Shortcut’ Phrase Easy to remember alternative to the full phrase
Q&A Pair ‘Question-and-answer’ pair – we suggest a response to the question asked
Look For Phrases you may see on signs, menus etc
Listen For Phrases you may hear from offi cials, locals etc
Language Tip An insight into the foreign language
Culture Tip An insight into the local culture
How to read the phrases: • Coloured words and phrases throughout the book are phonetic guides to help you pronounce the foreign language. • Lists of phrases with tinted background are options you can choose to complete the phrase above them.
These abbreviations will help you choose the right words and phrases in this book: a adjective lit literal pol polite adv adverb m masculine sg singular f feminine n neuter v verb inf informal pl plural
00--about-pb-rus7.inddabout-pb-rus7.indd 3 111/05/20181/05/2018 1:03:561:03:56 PM PAGE About Russian Learn about Russian , build your own 6 sentences and pronounce words correctly. Introduction ...... 6 Top Phrases ...... 8 Pronunciation ...... 10 Grammar ...... 14
PAGE Travel Phrases Ready-made phrases for every situation – 29 buy a ticket, book a hotel and much more.
Basics ...... 29 Understanding ...... 30 Numbers & Amounts ...... 32 Time & Dates ...... 37
Practical ...... 43 Transport ...... 44 Border Crossing ...... 63 Directions ...... 66 Accommodation ...... 69 Shopping ...... 83 Communications ...... 94 Money & Banking ...... 102 Business ...... 106
00--about-pb-rus7.inddabout-pb-rus7.indd 4 111/05/20181/05/2018 1:03:561:03:56 PM Sightseeing ...... 108 Senior & Disabled Travellers ...... 113 Travel with Children ...... 115
Social ...... 117 Meeting People ...... 118 Interests ...... 129 Feelings & Opinions ...... 135 Going Out ...... 141 Romance ...... 147 Beliefs & Culture ...... 153 Sports ...... 155 Outdoors ...... 161
Safe Travel ...... 167 Emergencies ...... 168 Police ...... 170 Health ...... 173
Food ...... 183 Eating Out ...... 184 Self-Catering ...... 202 Vegetarian & Special Meals ...... 206
PAGE Menu Decoder Dishes and ingredients explained – 209 order with confi dence and try new foods.
PAGE Two-Way Dictionary Quick reference vocabulary guide – 217 3500 words to help you communicate. English–Russian Dictionary ...... 217 Russian–English Dictionary ...... 250
Index ...... 268
00--about-pb-rus7.inddabout-pb-rus7.indd 5 111/05/20181/05/2018 1:03:561:03:56 PM 6
ABOUT Russian русский rus·ki RUSSIAN Who Speaks Russian? INTRODUCTION
cle WIDELY Arctic Circle UNDERSTOOD
ARMENIA • AZERBAIJAN BELARUS • ESTONIA Cancer Tropic of Cancer GEORGIA • KAZAKHSTAN KYRGYZSTAN • LATVIA
LITHUANIA • MOLDOVA Equator TAJIKISTAN OFFICIAL TURKMENISTAN Capricorn LANGUAGE Tropic of Capricorn UKRAINE UZBEKISTAN RUSSIA
Why Bother in a mystery inside an enigma’ that is Russia. Admirers of Russian literature claim that the ‘Slavic soul’ of Distinctive Sounds writers such as Chekhov or Rolled r and guttural kh (as Tolstoy can’t be fully appreci- in the name Bach). ated in translation. For the less ambitious, the language Russian Script will bring you closer to de- Russian uses Cyrillic script, ciphering the ‘riddle wrapped developed from Ancient Greek
00--about-pb-rus7.inddabout-pb-rus7.indd 6 111/05/20181/05/2018 1:03:561:03:56 PM 7
MILLION MILLION
150 120 ABOUT speak Russian as their speak Russian as their fi rst language second language
letters in the 9th century to False Friends translate the Bible into Old RUSSIAN Warning: some Russian Church Slavonic. Several words look like English words Cyrillic letters are the same as but have a diff erent meaning those in the Roman alphabet. altogether, eg магазин Note, however, that some ma·ga·zin is a shop, not a
Cyrillic letters are used for a INTRODUCTION magazine (which is журнал diff erent sound: Cyrillic ‘B’ is zhur·nal in Russian). the Roman ‘V’, ‘H’ is used for ‘N’, ‘P’ for ‘R’ and ‘C’ for ‘S’. Language Family Russian Lexicon Russian belongs to the East Russian boasts a rich Slavic group of Slavonic lexicon and highly colourful languages. Close relatives expressions. This linguistic include Belarusian and fl amboyance has thankfully Ukrainian. resisted the infl uence of dour Must-Know Grammar communist style and the Russian words can have ‘socrealist’ literature of the a number of diff erent 20th century. For example, if something is impossi- endings, depending on their ble to pronounce, just say role in the sentence. There’s Язык сломаешь! yi·zihk also a polite and informal sla·ma·yish (literally ‘You’ll word for ‘you’ (вы vih and break your tongue!’). ты tih respectively).
Donations to English Several – you may recognise apparatchik, sputnik, steppe, tundra, tsar, vodka ...
00--about-pb-rus7.inddabout-pb-rus7.indd 7 111/05/20181/05/2018 1:03:561:03:56 PM 8
Is this Moscow or local time? Это московское или местное время? e·ta ma·skof·ska·ye i·li myes·na·ye vryem·ya Russia has 11 time zones but the entire country’s rail and air networks run on Moscow time. Ask if you’re not certain what time zone your transport is running on. I live in Moscow, I won’t pay that much. Я живу в Москве, я не буду платить так много. ya zhih·vu v mask·vye ya nye bu·du pla·tit’ tak mno·ga Taxi drivers and market sellers sometimes try to charge foreigners more, so you may want to bargain in Russian. Are you serving? Вы обслуживаете? vih aps·lu·zhih·va·it·ye It may be hard to attract the attention of workers in the service industry – if you want to get served, use this polite expression. I don’t drink alcohol. Я не пью спиртного. ya nye pyu spirt·no·va Refusing a drink from generous locals can be very diffi cult, so if you’re really not in the mood you’ll need a fi rm, clear excuse. May I have an offi cial receipt, please? Дайте мне официальную расписку, пожалуйста. deyt·ye mnye a·fi ·tsi·yal’·nu·yu ras·pis·ku pa·zhal·sta Russian authorities might expect an unoffi cial payment to expedite their service, so always ask for an offi cial receipt.
00--about-pb-rus7.inddabout-pb-rus7.indd 8 111/05/20181/05/2018 1:03:571:03:57 PM 9
What’s new? Что нового? shto no·va·va
Sure! Конечно! kan·yesh·na
Great! Отлично! at·lich·na
Maybe. Может быть. mo·zhiht biht’
No way! Вы шутите! vih shu·tit·ye
Just a minute. Минутку. mi·nut·ku
Just joking. Я шучу. ya shu·chu
No problem! Ничего! ni·chi·vo
Fine. Нормально. nar·mal’·na
It’s a nightmare! Кошмар! kash·mar
00--about-pb-rus7.inddabout-pb-rus7.indd 9 111/05/20181/05/2018 1:03:571:03:57 PM 30
Understanding
BASICS Do you speak Вы говорите vih ga·va·rit·ye English? по-английски? pa·an·gli·ski I don’t Не понимаю. nye pa·ni·ma·yu understand.
UNDERSTANDING What does … Что обозначает shto a·baz·na·cha·it mean? слово …? slo·va …
Q Do you speak Вы говорите (по-английски)? (English)? vih ga·va·rit·ye (pa·an·gli·ski) Q Does anyone speak Кто-нибудь говорит (English)? (по-английски)? kto·ni·bud’ ga·va·rit (pa·an·gli·ski) I speak (English). Я говорю (по-английски). U ya ga·var·yu (pa·an·gli·ski) U I don’t speak Я не говорю (по-русски). (Russian). ya nye ga·var·yu (pa·ru·ski) I speak a little. Я немного говорю. U ya nim·no·ga ga·var·yu Do you understand? Вы понимаете? Q vih pa·ni·ma·it·ye I (don’t) understand. Я (не) понимаю. U ya (nye) pa·ni·ma·yu Pardon? Простите? pras·tit·ye Let’s speak (Russian). Давайте поговорим (по-русски). da· veyt·ye pa·ga·va·rim (pa·ru·ski)
01--basics-pb-rus7.inddbasics-pb-rus7.indd 3300 111/05/20181/05/2018 1:05:021:05:02 PM