Russian For Dummies

Creating composite numbers in Russian is as easy as one, two, three. Say you need to say “one hundred fifty five” in Russian. Translate “one hundred” into sto. “Fifty” in Russian is pyatdyesyat. Five is pyat’. There you go; the number 155 is sto pyatdyesyat pyat’ (stoh pee-dee-syat pyat’). This process also applies to numbers larger than 1,000 (see the next section).

For numbers ending in 1 (such as 121, 341, and so on), the noun following them must be in the nominative case. For numbers ending in 2–4 (122, 453, 794, and so on), the noun following them must be in the genitive singular. For numbers ending in 5–9, the noun following them must be in the genitive plural.

Numbers 1,000–1,000,000

To say 1,000, you may say either just tysyacha (tih-see-chuh) or odna tysyacha (ahd-nah tih-sih-chuh; Literally: one thousand). Starting with 2,000, numbers

in increments of 1,000 going up to 10,000, simply add tysyachi (tih-see-chee; 1,000) or tysyach (tih-seech; 1,000) to the numerals 2–9. The numbers 2,000, 3,000, and 4,000 add tysyachi and 5,000–9,000 add tysyach, as shown in the following list:

1,000 tysyacha (tih-see-chuh)

2,000 dvye tysyachi (dvye tih-see-chee)

3,000 tri tysyachi (tree tih-see-chee)

4,000 chyetyrye tysyachi (chee-tih-ree tih-see-chee)

5,000 pyat’ tysyach (pyat’ tih-seech)

Tysyachi is the genitive singular form and tysyach is the genitive plural form of tysyacha. Notice how 2,000–4,000 require the genitive singular form and 5,000–9,000 require the genitive plural form of tysyacha. That’s because tysycha is treated like a noun, and nouns coming after 2, 3, and 4 must be in the genitive singular case. Nouns coming after 5–9 must be in the genitive plural.

To say 10,000, use the number dyesyat’ (dye-seet’; ten) followed by the word tysyacha in its genitive plural form, tysyach. This rule also applies for numbers beyond 10,000:

10,000 dyesyat’ tysyach (dye-seet’ tih-seech)

50,000 pyatdyesyat’ tysyach (pee-dee-syat tih-seech)

100,000 sto tysyach (stoh tih-seech)

And one really big number is quite simple: 1,000,000 million (mee-lee-ohn).

Showing affection for grandparents

Here’s how to know when to use which form of “you”:

In Russian, you’re allowed to use the informal ty only when you’re speaking to your parents, grandparents, siblings, children, and close friends.

The formal vy is used in more formal situations when you talk to your boss, acquaintances, older people, or people you don’t know very well, and anytime you’re speaking to more than one person.

If you’re a young person, you can safely use ty when addressing people your age, such as your classmates. Don’t, however, dare to use ty when talking to your teacher, no matter how young she is! If you use ty in addressing an elderly woman or your teacher, your perhaps very innocent mistake may be taken as extreme rudeness, unless people make allowances for the fact that you’re not a native Russian speaker.

As a rule, you should use the formal vy when addressing somebody you’ve never met before, an official, a superior, or someone who is older than you. As you get to know somebody better, you may switch to the informal ty. You even have a way of asking a person whether he or she is ready to switch to ty: Mozhno na ty? (Mozh-nuh nah tih?; May I call you informal “you?”) If the answer is da! (dah; yes), then you’re free to start calling the person ty. If, however, the answer is nyet! (nyet; no), you better wait until the person feels more comfortable with you!

If you’re at all unsure whether to use vy or ty, use vy until the person you’re addressing asks you to use ty or addresses you with ty.

Note that Russians use these expressions only as greetings but not at leavetaking. (See “Taking your leave,” later in this chapter for details on goodbyes.) You can also use these expressions without giving any thought to whether the person you greet should be addressed with ty or vy. No matter whom you greet, you can safely use any of these phrases.

Handling “How are you?”

The easiest and most popular way to ask “How are you?” is Kak dyela? (kahk dee-lah) You use this phrase in rather informal settings, like at parties, meeting a friend on the street, or talking on the phone.

A more formal way to ask “How are you?” is Kak vy pozhivayetye? (kahk vih puh-zhih-vah-ee-tee) You use this phrase when speaking with your boss, your professor, or somebody you’ve just met.

You won’t offend anyone in a formal setting if you say Kak dyela?, but you’re better off sticking to Kak vy pozhivayete? Russians tend to err on the side of more formality rather than less.

A word of caution. In the English-speaking world, “How are you?” is just a standard phrase often used in place of a greeting. The person asking this formulaic question doesn’t expect to get the full account of how you’re actually doing. But in Russia it’s different. They want to know everything! When they ask you how you’re doing, they are in fact genuinely interested in how you’re doing and expect you to give them a more or less accurate account of the most recent events in your life.

How should you reply to Kak dyela? Although optimistic Americans don’t hesitate to say “terrific” or “wonderful,” Russians usually respond with a more reserved Khorosho (khuh-rah-shoh; good) or Normal’no (nahr-mahl’- nuh; normal or okay), or even a very neutral Nichyego (nee-chee-voh; so-so, Literally: nothing) or Nyeplokho (nee-ploh-khuh; not bad).

If you’re truly feeling great, go ahead and answer pryekrasno! (pree-krahs- nuh; wonderful), or vyelikolyepno! (vee-lee-kah-lyep-nuh; terrific). But beware that by saying “terrific” or “wonderful,” you’re putting your Russian friend on guard: Russians know all too well that life is not a picnic. To a Russian, wonderful and terrific events are the exception, not the rule. To be on the safe side, just say either Nichyego or Nyeplokho.

And don’t stop there! Be sure to ask the person how she’s doing. You simply say A u vas? (ah oo vahs; and you?; formal) If you want to be less formal, you say A u tyebya? (ah oo tee-bya; and you?)

You may say that Russians have three names. The first name is a baptismal name; the second name is his or her father’s name with the ending -vich for men, or -ovna for women; and the third is the last name, or the family name.

Men’s last names and women’s last names have different endings. That’s because Russian last names have genders. Although most Russian male last names have the ending -ov (of), female names take the ending -ova (ohv-nuh). Imagine that your new acquaintance, Anna Ivanovna Ivanova, is a married woman. Her husband’s last name isn’t Ivanova (ee-vuh-noh-vuh), but Ivanov (ee-vuh-nof).

No matter what your relation is to another person (either informal or formal), you can still address that person by his or her first name and patronymic. So if you’re unsure whether you’re on ty or vy terms with someone, go ahead and address the person by the first name and patronymic just to be safe. When you’re clearly on friendly terms with the person, you can switch to using the first name only.

In everyday conversation Russians almost never use words like Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Miss. Russians use these kinds of titles only in extremely formal situations, such as in government proceedings or in legal contracts. In such situations you may hear somebody referred to as Gospodin Putin (guhs-spah-deen poo-teen; Mr. Putin) or Gospozha Gorbachyova (guhs-pah-zhah guhr-buh-choh-vuh; Mrs. Gorbachev).

Playing the Russian nickname game