Russian Lesson 5
Пятый Урок
| Chapters | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lessons | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
In Russian Lesson 5 we will contnue with two more useful dialogues; Russian Grammar - Informal and formal forms of address; fixed nouns; personal pronouns; Basic Sounds of Russian; followed by grammar exercises and answers.
Contents on this lesson:
- Диалог А: Он адвокат — He's a lawyer
- Диалог Б: Она врач — She's a doctor
- 5А. Informal vs. Formal Forms of Address (contd.)
- 5Б. Nouns Denoting People That Don't Change With Gender
- 5В. Personal Pronouns
- 5Г1. Hard vs. Soft Consonants
- 1. Soft (or Fronted or Palatalized) consonants
- 2. Hard (or Plain or non-Palatalized) consonants
- 5Г2. What is a Basic Sound?
- 5Г3. Paired Consonants - 1 letter with Basic Sounds
- 5Г4. Vowels: 2 letters with 1 Basic Sound
- 5Г5. The Soft Sign 'ь' (мягкий
знак)
- What about the hard sign ъ (твёрдий знак)?
Диалоги — Dialogues
Диалог А: Он адвокат — He's a lawyer
(Stll looking at the фотография)
| Люда | 1 | Хорошо. Значит, это ты? | All right (OK). So that's you? |
| Стёпа | 2 | Да, это я. А это мой младший брат Гриша. Он живёт в Атланте. Он - адвокат. | Yes, that's me. And that's my younger brother Grisha. He lives in Atlanta. He's a lawyer. |
| Люда | 3 | А это твой родители? | And those are your parents? |
| Стёпа | 4 | Да. Это мой отец. Его зовут Вадим Петрович, а это моя мать. Её зовут Галина Александровна. Они живут в Нью-Йорке, в Квинсе. | Yes. That's my father. His name is Vadim Son-of-Peter*, and that's my mother. Her name is Galina Daughter-of-Aleksandr*. They live in New York, in Queens. |
*You'll learn more about these son-of and daughter-of in the upcoming lesson.
Диалог Б: Она врач — She's a doctor
(Stll looking at the фотография)
| Гена | 5 | Хорошо. Значит, это вы и ваш муж? | All right. So, that's you and your husband. |
| Юля | 6 | Да. Мы были в Москве. | Yes. We were in Moscow. |
| Гена | 7 | А это ваша сестра? | And that's your sister? |
| Юля | 8 | Да. Это моя старшая сестра Ира. Она живёт в Вашинтоне. Она - врач. | Yes. That's my older sister Ira. She lives in Washington. She's a doctor. |
Грамматика — Russian Grammar
5А. Informal vs. Formal Forms of Address (contd.)
ты vs. вы (1, 5)
Люда addresses Стёпа with the informal 2nd person singular, while Яша uses the formal ds with Оля, which means that he is not on close terms with her. Only вы is used when addressing more than one person, regardless of formality. So even when talking to your two best friends, you must use вы. Also note the corresponding differences in possessive forms and in the 'name fomula'.
| Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Informal | Formal | Informal & Formal | |
| you | ты | вы | |
| your (masculine) | твой | ваш | |
| your (feminine) | твоя | ваша | |
| you (plural) | твои | ваши | |
| What's your name? | Как тебя зовут? | Как вас зовут? | |
You'll learn more about possessive endings in the later chapters.
5Б. Nouns Denoting People That Don't Change With Gender
Она врач (8)
In Lesson 1 you saw two words for jerk (нахал - masculine, нахалка - feminine), depending on the gender of the jerk. Not all such nouns distinguish gender. "Respected" professions and titles tend not to have separate forms for masculine and feminine. They normally end in a consonant which is grammatically masculine.
| Он / Она - врач. | He / She is a doctor. |
| Он / Она - профессор. | He / She is a professor. |
| Паша / Маша - адвокат. | Pasha / Masha is a lawyer. |
| Мой брат / Моя сестра - физик. | My brother / My sister is a physicist. |
5В. Personal Pronouns
Here are the personal pronouns - listen and repeat:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st. person | я | мы |
| 2nd. person | ты | вы |
| 3rd person | он | они |
| оно | ||
| она | ||
Try to stick to the Masculine-Neuter-Feminine format for easy of learning the endings.
Translate into Russian - listen to the above recording for answers. Click here to compare your answers.
| 1 | They live in Atlanta. | |
| 2 | He is a rather good-looking guy. | |
| 3 | I am a lawyer. | |
| 4 | She is a doctor. | |
| 5 | Are you (informal) joking? | |
| 6 | We were in Washington? | |
| 7 | Where is it (the tree)? | |
| 8 | Were you (plural) in Moscow? |
5Г. The Basic Sounds of Russian
This is a very important section. Understanding how the basic sounds of Russian are represented in the spelling system will help you immensely in learning Russian. Do take your time to go through the these explanations. Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions about these notes.
5Г1. Hard vs. Soft Consonants
In the earlier recordings on the sounds of the cyrillic alphabet, you only heard one sound per consonant. "Б" = b, "Д" = d and so on. Actually this is not the whole picture. For 12 consonant letters (б, в, д, з, л, м, н, о, п, р, с, т, ф) there are two basic pronounciations:
1. Soft (or Fronted or Palatalized) consonants
When pronouncing a soft (or palatalized) consonant, you should arch the forward-middle part of your tongue (right behind the tip, but not the tip itself) towards the part of the palate that is located just a little behind your front teeth. See the diagram below.
This is sometimes referred to as 'secondary articulation'. In addition to the regular position of the tongue /teeth /lips, the front-mid part of the tongue is raised and moved forward.
Position of Tongue
Hard = shaded area; Soft = dotted line
2. Hard (or Plain or non-Palatalized) consonants
When pronouncing a hard (or plain) consonant, the forward /middle part of the tongue is not raised.
In the diagram above, the shaded area shows the position of the tongue when pronouncing hard н (as in она), while the dotted line shows the position of the tongue when pronouncing soft н (as in они). Note that the tip of the tongue is in the same position for both sounds; it is the position of the forward-middle of the tongue that creates the softness.
- EXTRA TIP for creating the soft sound
- Smile as you say the soft consonant or sound. Smiling helps to raise the tongue into the proper position.
5Г2. What is a Basic Sound?
In Russian, a basic sound like л (hard) is a distinct, unique sounds when compared to ль (soft), another basic sound. The same goes for н and нь, д and дь, р and рь, з and зь, and so on.
*л and ль are two completely distinct basic sounds
In fact many words differ only in the quality (hard vs. soft) of a single consonant. To a Russian стал (became - with л) sounds as different from сталь (steel - with ль) as say, ship does from sheep to a native speaker of English. In fact many non-native English speakers cannot hear the differenct between ship and sheep. But a native speaker can hear the difference clearly.
*Obviously they are not completely different: л does sound more like ль than it does з or к. Still, the point is that they are not just variations of one sound - they are distinct sounds.
5Г3. Paired Consonants - 1 letter with Basic Sounds
The 12 consonant letters (б, в, д, з, л, м, н, п, р, с, т, ф) are often called paired consonants because each consonant represents a pair of basic sounds: hard and soft.
These 12 letters actually represent 24 basic sounds. So when you see one of these consonants how do you know whether to pronounce it hard or soft? The quality of a consonant (hard or soft) is determined by the following letter (if any). There are four things that can follow a consonant.
| What Can Follow a Consonant (using т and ть as examples) |
|
|---|---|
| A vowel | ты |
| Another consonant | трава |
| A soft sign | мать |
| Nothing (at the end of the word) | мат |
5Г4. Vowels: 2 letters with 1 Basic Sound
Vowels work exactly the opposite of paired consonants. That is, instead of there being 1 letter for 2 basic sounds (eg. б can either be 'б' or 'бь', there are 2 vowel letters for 1 basic sound. There are 10 vowel letters (а/я, э/е, ы/и, о/ё, у/ю) but only 5 basic vowel sounds which roughly correspond to [A, E, I, O, U].
- Why do you need 10 vowel letters if there are only 5 basic vowel sounds?
- Because each vowel letter represents not only a basic vowel sound, but also the quality (hard or soft) of the preceding consonant.Thus, vowel letters perform 'double duty.' Refer to the vowels as either 'hard-indicating' or soft-indicating.' REMEMBER, there are no hard or soft vowels, only hard or soft consonants.
| Hard-Indicating Vowel Letters | Soft-Indicating Vowel Letters |
|---|---|
| а | я |
| э * | е |
| ы | и |
| о | ё / е ** |
| у | ю |
* The letter э is not found after consonants in native Russian words.
** The letter ё is written е when not stressed and becomes indistinguishable from soft-indicating е.
As you've heard on the recordings, the basic sound of a word often does not match its pronounciation. The main reason for this is 'reduction' of unstressed vowels. (See Lesson 2 for review).
5Г5. The Soft Sign 'ь' (мягкий знак)
In the previous section you saw that the hardness /softness of a consonant can be determined by the following vowel letter. But what if a consonant is not followed by a vowel? As
- when a consonant is followed by another consonant
- when a consonant is at the end of a word.
In these situations, if the consonant is 'soft', add a soft sign ь (мягкий знак) as in холодильник (refrigerator), мать.
If the consonant is hard, no special letter is needed: as in нахалка and привет.
- What about the hard sign ъ (твёрдий знак)?
- The hard sign ъ, which was used before the Spelling Reform of 1918 to indicate a hard consonant at the end of a word, is so rare today that you don't even have to worry about it. It's like the wacky cousin that everyone in the family pretends doesn't exist. You will at most see about three words with this sign, ъ, throught this course.
Listen carefully and repeat. When pronouncing a soft consonant, you should automtically 'smile' (pushing your tongue forward and up). First the hard consonant will be read, then the soft consonant. This is a fairly long but very important exercise. Beware that the distinction between the hard vs. soft consonant is fundamental in Russian.
| н | п | р | с | т | ф | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| на | ня | па | пя | ра | ря | са | ся | та | тя | фа | фя |
| нэ | не | пэ | пе | рэ | ре | сэ | се | тэ | те | фэ | фе |
| ны | ни | пы | пи | ры | ри | сы | си | ты | ти | фы | фи |
| но | нё | по | пё | ро | рё | со | сё | то | тё | фо | фё |
| ну | ню | пу | пю | ру | рю | су | сю | ту | тю | фу | фю |
Listen and repeat (this exercise contains mostly nonsense syllables) the exercise to help you to read and pronounce any Russian words accurately.
| Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | |||
| ал | аль | дел | дель | ун | унь |
| ом | омь | ком | комь | эп | эпь |
| ыр | ырь | он | онь | кит | кить |
| ас | ась | суп | супь | шеф | шефь |
| от | оть | сыр | сырь | вын | вынь |
| эф | эфь | час | чась | тел | тель |
Listen to these pairs of real words that differ only in the quality of one consonant.
| HARD | SOFT |
| мат (checkmate; mat; swearing) | мать (mother) |
| лук (onion) | люк (trap door) |
| нос (nose) | нёс (he carried) |
| лап (paws) | ляп (mistake) |
| ел (he ate) | ель (fir tree) |
| мэры (mayors) | меры (measures) |
| стал (he became) | сталь (steel) |
| в зал (into the hall) | взял (he took) |
Домашнее Задание - Homework
Упражнение 1 - Exercise 1
Highlight the words you hear. Hard and soft consonants are mixed up to give you a little bit more challenge. Compare your answers here.
| 1 | там | тям | 2 | лук | люк |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | тып | тип | 4 | дело | дэло |
| 5 | нос | нёс | 6 | мать | мат |
| 7 | сказаль | сказал | 8 | тётя | тота |
| 9 | мы | ми | 10 | Боря | бёря |
| 11 | дада | дядя | 11 | купит | купить |
| 13 | то | тё | 14 | зима | зыма |
| 15 | тюпик | тупик | 16 | нэп | неп |
Упражнение 2 - Exercise 2
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate personal pronoun. Compare your answers here.
1. - Это ты? - Да, это ______.
2. - Это твои родители? - Да, ______ были в Огайо.
3. ______ шутишь? (See Lesson 3)
4. Моя сестра адвокат. ______ живёт в Мэне.
5. Это Боря. ______ врач.
6. - Это ______ и ваш муж? - Да, это ______.
Answers
Translate into Russian - Compare your answers with the answers below.
| 1 | They live in Atlanta. | Они живут в Атланте. |
| 2 | He is a rather good-looking guy. | Он довольно красивые парень. |
| 3 | I am a lawyer. | Я - адвокат. |
| 4 | She is a doctor. | Она - врач |
| 5 | Are you (informal) joking? | Ты шутишь? |
| 6 | We were in Washington? | Мы были в Вашингтоне. |
| 7 | Where is it (the tree)? | Где оно? |
| 8 | Were you (plural) in Moscow? | Вы были в Москве? |
Упражнение 1 - Exercise 1 - answers are in green
| 1 | там | тям | 2 | лук | люк |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | тып | тип | 4 | дело | дэло |
| 5 | нос | нёс | 6 | мать | мат |
| 7 | сказаль | сказал | 8 | тётя | тота |
| 9 | мы | ми | 10 | Боря | бёря |
| 11 | дада | дядя | 12 | купит | купить |
| 13 | то | тё | 14 | зима | зыма |
| 15 | тюпик | тупик | 16 | нэп | неп |
Упражнение 2 - Exercise 2
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate personal pronoun:
1. - Это ты? - Да, это я.
2. - Это твои родители? - Да, они были в Огайо.
3. Ты шутишь? (See Lesson 3)
4. Моя сестра адвокат. Она живёт в Мэне.
5. Это Боря. Он - врач.
6. - Это вы и ваш муж? - Да, это я.
Comments
- This whole system seems backwards. Why are there 10 vowels for just 5 basic vowel sounds and 12 consonants for 24 consonant sounds? Why not have 24 basic consonants and 5 vowels instead?
- Excellent question.
The short answer is: You're right. Your system makes more sense, but there's nothing anyone can do about it now.
The longer answer involves various historical changes in the language, which you don't need to worry about. - Your said that a vowel letter, besides representing a basic vowel sound, indicates the quality of the preceding Consonant. What if the vowel is not preceded by a consonant, say at the begining of the word, or after a vowel?
- Another superb question. Glad to see you're paying close
attention.
For now, just say that hard-indicating vowels (but not soft-indicating ones) at the begining of a word are pronounced 'plain', just the pure vowel sound: Оля.
Another thing is, you generally won't find a hard-indicating vowel after another vowel. But you will find many vowels followed by a soft-indicating vowel.
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