All About #5 Five Russian Phrases That Will Take You A Long Way

LESSON NOTES
All About #5
Five Russian Phrases That Will Take
You A Long Way
CONTENTS
2 Grammar
# 5
COPYRIGHT © 2013 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson is Five Russian Phrases That Will Take You a Long Way
When you start learning Russian, there are words that you just can't miss and will hear all the
time, words such as здравствуйте ("hello"), до свидания ("good-bye"), or спасибо ("thank
you"). However, native speakers commonly use many Russian words and phrases in
everyday situations, but they are not necessarily the first thing you learn as they mainly
belong to 'spoken Russian.' In this lesson, we'll introduce five phrases that will take you a long
way and help you sound natural when you speak Russian.
1. Сч аст ливо
shchastliva
"Good-bye"
You probably know до свидания, which is a formal way to say "good-bye," as well as пока,
which is informal. However, до свидания might sometimes sound a bit too formal, and пока
a bit too informal in certain situations. That's why счастливо is often a good option.
It comes from the word "happy" (счастливый) and literally means, "a wish of happiness" to
the person you are saying goodbye to. You usually use it with people you know rather than
strangers, however, it sounds more polite than пока. For example, if you address someone
as вы rather than ты, you wouldn't normally say пока, but it's perfectly fine to say счастливо.
Please note that we pronounce the first sound in счастливо like the sound [щ] and not [сч].
2. Вы не под скаже т е ...

Vy ne patskazhete...
"Could you tell me..."
The first word for "Excuse me" that students usually learn is извините, and of course there is
nothing wrong with using it if you ask for directions or any other information. However, using
вы не подскажете will certainly make you sound more natural and polite at the same time.
We use it with извините.
RUS S I ANPOD101.COM ALL ABOUT #5 - FI VE RUS S I AN PHRAS ES T HAT WI LL T AKE YOU A LONG WAY 2
For Example:
1. Извните, вы не подскажете, где улица Маяковского?

"Excuse me, could you tell me where Mayakovsky street is?"
Or with Russian equivalents of sir, madam, etc., you say:
1. Девушка, вы не подскажете, автобус уже ушёл?

"Excuse me (addressing a young girl), could you tell me if the bus has already left?"
3. Нич е го ст рашного
Nichevo strashnova
"No worries"/"No problem"
We rarely teach this expression to beginners despite it being extremely useful. Think how
often you say "no problem" in English and you'll understand why. Often, Russian learners
tend to use their own literal translation of "no problem" (нет проблем), which isn't usually
used in the same context as in English.
Ничего страшного literally means "nothing scary," and we can use it in a variety of situations,
such as to accept an apology or to reassure someone.
For Example:
1. Someone pushes you in the metro and then apologizes. You can reply Ничего
страшного.
2. A friend calls you and says he can't meet you today. You can reply Ничего
страшного.
3. A child failed an exam. You can reply Ничего страшного, сдашь в следующий раз!
"No worries, you'll pass next time!"
4. Буд ьт е зд оровы!
But'te zdarovy
"Bless you!"
When someone sneezes, some Russian people might consider it impolite if you don't say
anything, so будь здоров is a good phrase to know. You will certainly impress your Russian
friends if you use this phrase in front of them, especially if you get the gender right! I know
what you're thinking - "Gender?! Not again?! Can't these Russians just keep it simple? You
can't even say 'Bless you' without thinking of genders and other grammar stuff?"
Well, to use this phrase correctly, you need to keep the following in mind:
1. Whether you address the person who sneezed formally or informally (use вы or ты
with them)
2. If you address them formally (use вы), you should say будьте здоровы
3. If you address them informally (use ты), you should say будь здоров when speaking
to a man, and будь здорова when speaking to a woman
Summary of Буд ьт е зд оровы
1. Formal: Будьте здоровы (but'te zdarovy)
2. Informal (addressing a man): Будь здоров (but' zdarof)
3. Informal (addressing a woman): Будь здорова (but' zdarova)
And finally, the Russian word you just can't do without:
5. Хорошо
harasho
"Good," "Okay," "Well"
This is probably the most common word in spoken Russian! Native speakers use it all the
time, which makes it difficult for learners to grasp its exact meaning.
Even though it comes from хороший ("good"), it most often means "okay," "fine" rather than
"great." If your teacher says хорошо after you've finished an exercise, don't rush to thank
them! Usually they just mean "Okay, we can move on now," rather than to praise you.
However, очень хорошо ("very good") is usually a compliment.
You often use хорошо when you agree to do something.
For Example:
1. Купи молока, пожалуйста. - Хорошо.

"Buy some milk, please. - Okay."
As you can see, we use these common phrases in English, and indeed any language. It
keeps the language 'oiled' as it's focused on what people say to each other every day, rather
than some dry academic writing that nobody actually speaks. This really summarizes learning
with RussianPod101. We know that any language needs to be learned correctly, but we also
know that languages are 'alive' and spoken by everyday people in everyday situations and
this is just as important to learn.

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LESSON NOTES

2. Вы не под скаже т е ...

1. Извните, вы не подскажете, где улица Маяковского?

Or with Russian equivalents of sir, madam, etc., you say:

1. Девушка, вы не подскажете, автобус уже ушёл?

Summary of Буд ьт е зд оровы

1. Formal: Будьте здоровы (but'te zdarovy)

2. Informal (addressing a man): Будь здоров (but' zdarof)

3. Informal (addressing a woman): Будь здорова (but' zdarova)

And finally, the Russian word you just can't do without:

You often use хорошо when you agree to do something.

1. Купи молока, пожалуйста. - Хорошо.

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