RUSSIAN LANGUAGE
ВОЙДИТЕ, ЧТОБЫ НАЧАТЬ ОБУЧЕНИЕ С АУДИО-ЗАПИСЬЮ

Russian for English speakers 07


Lesson 07

Russian
Русский

Pronunciation & Comments
Произношение и комментарии

English
Английский
16 - шестнадцать 16 - (shestnadcăt')

sixteen

17 - семнадцать

17 - (sem'nadcăt')

seventeen

18 - восемнадцать

18 - (vosemnadcăt')

eighteen

19 - девятнадцать

19 - (dev'atnadcăt')

nineteen

     

Седьмой (7-й) урок

(sed'moy urok)

Seventh lesson

     

УРОК НОМЕР СЕМЬ (№7)

(oorock nommĕr sem')

Lesson number seven (#7)

    REVISION AND NOTES
      At the term of our first week's study, what have we learnt?
  First we are getting used to the Russian alphabet and the pronunciation ; we also understand a few short sentences, not much yet, but these are only the foundations of the edifice, which is as yet hardly above earth.
  We say : we understand, and not : we know ; for we must not forget that we are merely in the period of passive assimilation, and should do nothing but understand the sentences given, without trying to alter them or build up more ourselves.
  This will come in time, but for the moment, don't let us run harder than we can.
    Verbs. —  Let us group the few aspects of them we have seen :
Present Indicative :

Я знаю

 

I know

Вы знаете   you (plural or polite singular) know
Он (она) знает   he (she) knows
     

я желаю

  I want (or wish)
вы желаете   you want

он (она) желает

  he (she) wants
     

я понимаю

 

I understand

вы понимаете   you understand
он (она) понимает   he (she) understands
     

я помогаю

  I help
вы помогаете   you help
он (она) помогает   he (she) helps
     

я начинаю

  I begin
вы начинаете   you begin
он (она) начинает   he (she) begins
     

я читаю

  I read
вы читаете   you read
он (она) читает   he (she) reads
     

я думаю

  I think
вы думаете   you think
он (она) думает

(stressed on ду, not on ма).

he (she) thinks
     
    The infinitive of all these verbs is in ать :

знать

  to know
желать   to want
понимать   to understand
помогать  

to help, to be helping

начинать   to begin
читать   to read
думать

(dооmăt', very short ă)

to think
     
    We have also met :
Я говорю  

I speak

вы говорите

  you speak
он говорит   he speaks
   

the infinitive of which is in ить :

говорить

  to speak
    so is

любить

  to love
   

, which requires an л (l) after the б (b), and is stressed differently in вы любите, он любит

Я люблю

 

I love, I like

вы любите

  you (pl.) love, you like

он любит, она любит

 

he/she loves, he/she likes

    We also briefly saw :

сказать

 

to tell (to say, to utter)

я скажу  

I'll say (I'll tell)

извините  

excuse (verb - command or request, you-plural)

дайте  

give! (you plural) - request or command

может  

may (it's possible)

    and

быть

 

to be (in может быть, may-be)

     
    Speaking of быть (to be), we see that it is understood in the present indicative :

я рад

  I (am) glad
вы здесь   you (are) here
он дома   he (is) at home
где она?   where (is) she ?
мой брат далеко  

my brother (is) far (from here);

ваш друг - француз

 

your friend (is) French (Frenchman).

     
    PRONOUNS. — With the pronouns, we board the redoubtable declensions.
    We have seen only three cases of them the nominative (subject case), the accusative (direct object) and the dative (remoter object, or recipient).
    Let us read them over :

Я здесь

  I (nominative) (am) here
извините меня  

excuse me (accusative)

дайте мне это

  give me (to me, dative) this
     

Вы думаете

 

you (nomin.) think, you're thinking

он вас любит   he loves you (accus.), "he you loves"
она вам говорит   she speaks to you (dative), "she you speaks"

 

 

AK-NOTE: there're shades of meaning.
Here are some examples for you to think about.

она вам говорит что-то
она вам сообщает

 

she's saying to you something
she is notifying you

("она к вам говорит")
она к вам обращается

 

("she is /to you/ speaks")
the is talking to you, "she to you refers"

     

Он читает

  he (nomin.) reads

я его понимаю

(ya ievaw panimayu)

I understand him (accus.), "I him understand"

она как вы

 

she (nomin.) (is) like you -> she is similar to you

я её знаю

(ya ie'yo znayu)

I know her (accus.), "I her know"
     
    We have not the datives of он and она; we shall see them soon ; stone after stone we will build the house.
    About nouns, adjectives, adverbs, we have not much to say, but about the article...
     
    THE ARTICLE. — There is none. The, a, have no equivalent in Russian; an easy habit to take. It Is true that, for instance, вот письмо may mean both : here (is) a letter, and : here (is) the letter, but in current practice, thanks to the general meaning, you cannot be mistaken.
     
      As to the gender of nouns, it is known from the ending, as we shall see later on.
  Much more could be said about these first six lessons; but don't let us dwell too much on them. Too much precision is not suitable for a beginner. You must go forward with a will, without aiming at perfection, just like a child trying to speak.
  Moreover, for the time being, you have not yet got to speak, but simply to grasp the meaning of each sentence and repeat it aloud immediately, passively, without sitting too narrowly [on] what seems strange to you.
We shall tell you when it is time to pass to the active stage. Allow yourself to be carried on; you are on a rolling carpet.
Вы только начинаете.  

You just start.
You're just commencing.