Russian For Dummies

174 Part II: Russian in Action

Lying around at Lake Baikal

With its picturesque cliffs, numerous islands, and crystal clear water, Ozyero Baikal (oh-zee-ruh buhy-kahl; Lake Baikal) is an unforgettable vacation spot. It’s a little way off the beaten path — a direct flight from Moscow to Irkutsk, the nearest big city in the Baikal area, is five and a half hours long.

If you decide to embark on this adventure, having these words at your disposal makes your experience easier:

byeryeg (bye-reek; shore)

plyazh (plyash; beach)

ryechnoj vokzal (reech-nohy vahk-zahl; port)

katyer (kah-teer; boat)

parom (puh-rohm; ferry)

prichal (pree-chahl; pier)

pristan’ (prees-tuhn’; loading dock)

ostrov (ohs-truhf; island)

bajdarka (buhy-dahr-kuh; kayak)

rybalka (rih-bahl-kuh; fishing)

lovit’ rybu (lah-veet’ rih-boo; to fish)

plavat’ (plah-vuht’; to swim)

komary (kuh-muh-rih; mosquitoes)

Taking a cruise ship down the Volga River

If you feel like enjoying some Russian waterways, but a flight all the way to Irkutsk just doesn’t find its way into your schedule, a river cruise down the Volga River is an easily arranged alternative. You can get on a tyeplokhod (teep-lah-khoht; cruise ship) in any major city in Russia, including Moscow. Now, just grab a comfortable chair, relax na palubye (nuh pah-loo-bee; on the deck), and watch centuries of Russian history go by!

The Volga River has always been in the center of Russian history. The oldest cities, churches, and monasteries are located on its banks. In Russian folk songs and fairytales, the Volga is often called matushka (mah-toosh-kuh), which is an affectionate word for mother.

176 Part II: Russian in Action

To ask someone whether he or she can do one of these crafts, use the verb umyet’ (oo-myet’; can) plus the infinitive:

Ty umyeyesh pisat’ maslom (tih oo-mye-eesh’ pee-saht’ mahs-luhm; Can you paint?; informal singular)

Vy umyeyetye vyazat’? (vih oo-mye-ee-tee vee-zaht’; Can you knit?; formal singular)

To answer these kinds of questions, you can say:

Da, ya umyeyu (dah ya oo-mye-yu; Yes, I can)

Nyet, ya nye umyeyu (nyet ya nee oo-mye-yu; No, I can’t)

Playing music

Do you like muzyka (moo-zih-kuh; music)? To talk about playing a muzykal’nyj instrumyent (moo-zih-kahl’-nihy een-stroo-myent; musical instrument), use the verb igrat’ (eeg-raht’; to play) + the preposition na (nah) and the name of the instrument in the prepositional case (for prepositional case endings, see Chapter 2).

Use the preposition na when you’re talking about playing a musical instrument. Unlike in English, missing a preposition in the sentence Ya igrayu na gitarye (ya eeg-rah-yu nuh gee-tah-ree; I play the guitar) makes it meaningless in Russian.

You can ask the following questions:

Ty umyeyesh’ igrat’ na . . . ? (tih oo-mye-eesh’ eeg-raht’ nah; Can you play . . . ?; informal) + the name of the instrument in the prepositional case

Vy umyeyetye igrat’ na . . . ? (vih oo-mye-ee-tee eeg-raht’ nah; Can you play . . . ?; formal and plural) + the name of the instrument in the prepositional case

Some musical instruments you may want to mention include the following:

pianino (pee-uh-nee-nuh; piano)

skripka (skreep-kuh; violin)

flyejta (flyey-tuh; flute)

klarnyet (kluhr-nyet; clarinet)

baraban (buh-ruh-bahn; drum)

gitara (gee-tah-ruh; guitar)

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Fun & Games

Match the questions in the left column with the most likely answers on the right. The correct answers are in Appendix C.

Where are you most likely to see all these things? For each group, choose an answer from the list below. The correct answers are in Appendix C.

1.Knigi, zhurnaly, gazyety, otdyel audio i vidyeo matyerialov

2.Lyzhi, snoubordy, kanatka, gory

3.Katyer, ostrov, parom, baidarka

What do they like to do? Look at this list of famous people and choose their favorite activities from the list on the right.

182 Part II: Russian in Action

The main part of the telephone is the trubka (troop-kuh; receiver). On your landline, the trubka rests on the tyelyefonnyj apparat (tee-lee-fohn-nihy uh- puh-raht; the body of the phone).

You can do a lot of different things with the trubka. You can podnimat’ trubku (puhd-nee-maht’ troop-koo; to pick up the receiver), vyeshat’ trubku (vye-shuht’ troop-koo; to hang up the receiver), or klast’ trubku (klahst’ troop-koo; to put down the receiver). Other words related to phones include

knopka (knohp-kuh; button)

gudok (goo-dohk; beep, tone)

dolgij gudok (dohl-geey goo-dohk; dial tone, Literally: long tone)

korotkiye gudki (kah-roht-kee-ee goot-kee; busy signal, Literally: short tones)

kod goroda (koht goh-ruh-duh; area code)

tyelyefonnaya kniga (tee-lee-fohn-nuh-ye knee-guh; telephone book)

You also need to be able to give other people your phone number and to understand the phone numbers dictated to you. Usually, Russians give phone numbers in chunks. For instance, if your phone number is 123-45-67, you say it as sto dvadtsat’ tri, sorok pyat’, shyestdyesyat’ syem’ (stoh dvaht-tsuht’ tree, soh-ruhk pyat’, shees-dee-syat’ syem; one hundred twenty-three, fortyfive, sixty-seven).

Distinguishing different types of phones

Recent advances in technology have brought many different types of phones. In addition to the standard landline, or tyelyefon, most people today in Russia have sotovye tyelyefony (soh-tuh-vih-ee tee-lee-foh-nih; cellular phones), which are also called mobil’nye tyelyefony (mah-beel’-nih-ee tee-lee-foh-nih; mobile phones), trubki (troop-kee; Literally: receivers), or mobil’niki (mah-beel’-nee-kee; mobile phones). The singular forms of these words are sotovyj tyelyefon (soh-tuh-vihy tee-lee-fohn; cellular phone), mobil’nyj tyelyefon (mah-beel’-nihy tee-lee-fohn; mobile phone), trubka (troop-kuh; mobile phone, Literally: receiver) and mobil’nik (mah-beel’-neek; mobile phone).

Other specific types of phones include

diskovyj tyelyefon (dees-kuh-vihy tee-lee-fohn; rotary phone)

knopochnyj tyelyefon (knoh-puhch-nihy tee-lee-fohn; touch-tone phone)

byesprovodnoj tyelyefon (bees-pruh-vahd-nohy tee-lee-fohn; cordless phone)

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If you’re not at home and you don’t have a cell phone with you, look for what Russians call a tyelyefonnaya budka (tee-lee-fohn-nuh-ye boot-kuh; telephone booth), which is not always an easy task. Have you noticed that with the arrival of cellular phones, telephone booths have become an almost extinct species? Well, telephone booths were a dying species in Russia even before cell phones, mostly because the booth phones usually didn’t work!

Our recommendation: When in Russia, try to have a reliable cell phone with you at all times. You have to remember, though, that the cell phone you use at home may not work in Russia unless you purchase a special card to insert into it that enables you to use it abroad. Another way to solve the problem is to just get a new cell phone in Russia.

Knowing different kinds of phone calls

If you call somebody in your calling area, you make a myestnyj zvonok (myest-nihy zvah-nohk; local call), and you aren’t charged. If the person or institution you call is in a different city, you make a myezdugorodnyj zvonok (myezh-doo-gah-rohd-nihy zvah-nohk; long-distance call, Literally: intercity). If you want to call back home from Russia, you make a myezhdunarodnyj zvonok (myezh-doo-nuh-rohd-nihy zvah-nohk; international call).

Russia has no collect or operator-assisted calls. So when you’re in Russia and you want to make a call, be sure to have a Russian-speaking friend around!

Dialing It In and Making the Call

When you want to make a phone call, you can’t translate your desire into reality without first dialing the number of the person or institution you’re calling. In order to nabirat’ nomyer (nuh-bee-raht’ noh-meer; to dial the number), use a tsifyerblat (tsih-feer-blaht; dial-plate), which, in many Russian homes, is still rotary rather than a push button. To help you handle this task, we provide you with the conjugation of the verb nabirat’ in the present tense in Table 9-1.

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