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Author Topic: Russian Phrases  (Read 38737 times)

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Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #25 on: May 11, 2009, 02:22:35 PM »
More polite responses


So you've done something nice yourself and been thanked by your Russian friend. What is a good response? There is always pazhalusta which functions both as "please" and "you're welcome." But what if you want to work some variety into your vocabulary?

Try this one:

Не за что = It's nothing     (Ne za shto)


You're literally saying "not for what" and notice that it's very easy and comfortable to use.

Those of you who speak Spanish will notice that this corresponds nicely to the Spanish "de nada" which means the same thing.

Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #26 on: May 13, 2009, 12:53:57 PM »
Casual conversation


Что нового =  What's new?  shtO NOvava?   


(The г 'geh' is convertered into a B 'veh' here in this position.)


Copy and paste it into the oddcast tool to hear it spoken.


Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #27 on: May 15, 2009, 11:42:35 PM »
Time for a riddle

In the award winning book "The Company" about the legendary battles between the CIA and KGB in Eastern Europe, author Robert Littell attributes a phrase which was used by the KGB to describe the USA.  That phrase was "главный противник" which in Littell's book is translated as "principal adversary."

That plays very nicely in a book or movie and it is a good secondary meaning but perhaps not the very best.

What English phrase might be a better translation? (For bonus points can you think of two?)


Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #28 on: May 22, 2009, 11:35:45 AM »
Quote
What English phrase might be a better translation? (For bonus points can you think of two?)

Answers:
1- Main opponent
2- Primary opponent




Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #29 on: May 22, 2009, 11:37:44 AM »
The next phrase is compliments of RUA member Ste who enjoys music by the band Новые люди. They're a good band and you can copy and paste that name into YouTube to find out more about them.

So, what does the phrase/name, Новые люди mean?

Offline Ste

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #30 on: May 22, 2009, 11:39:46 AM »
Quote
What English phrase might be a better translation? (For bonus points can you think of two?)

Answers:
1- Main opponent
2- Primary opponent





Worth pointing out the adjective glavniy/aya/oye comes from the noun 'galava' - head, ie main/top etc.....
O pointy birds, o pointy pointy, Anoint my head, anointy-nointy.

Offline Ste

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #31 on: May 22, 2009, 11:45:47 AM »
The next phrase is compliments of RUA member Ste who enjoys music by the band Новые люди. They're a good band and you can copy and paste that name into YouTube to find out more about them.

So, what does the phrase/name, Новые люди mean?

Band is 'Splin', Mendy! I think from memory a deliberate misspelling of 'splean' like Beatles/Beetles - I think I might have that the wrong way round tho...

Not wanting to butt in Mendy (I can't help it - I have to be stopped!) we could add the second part of the refrain;

'Lyudi nachami, dyelayot novikh lyudei' - same as title but with with a different noun inflection, genitive I think, pls correct all that's wrong, I don't learn this stuff, I just try and feel it and I do get it wrong a lot....


 
O pointy birds, o pointy pointy, Anoint my head, anointy-nointy.

Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #32 on: May 22, 2009, 03:43:44 PM »
Quote
Band is 'Splin', Mendy!


oops....don't tell anyone!  :chuckle:



Quote
Worth pointing out the adjective glavniy/aya/oye comes from the noun 'galava' - head, ie main/top etc

Yes, and also worth pointing out that главная (glav nah ya) is what Russian websites often use as the MAIN (home) page.

Offline froid

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #33 on: May 29, 2009, 02:15:56 PM »
Both myself and Kirill are having fun learning off of each other...the other day Kirill made a new joke...

"You have to be twopizza to eat two pizza".

If you say it out loud those who speak Russian might get it. 
Look, we're gonna spend half the night driving around the Hills looking for this one party and you're going to say it sucks and we're all gonna leave and then we're gonna go look for this other party. But all the parties and all the bars, they all suck. <-Same goes for forums!

Offline khelkhov

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #34 on: May 29, 2009, 06:25:32 PM »
Both myself and Kirill are having fun learning off of each other...the other day Kirill made a new joke...

"You have to be twopizza to eat two pizza".

If you say it out loud those who speak Russian might get it. 

That's funny...    :laugh:

For those who don't know Russian...   twopizza = турица   (a dullard, dimwit or a stupid person)

Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #35 on: June 03, 2009, 08:41:36 PM »
Here is a helpful phrase is you want your mineral water without gas (carbonation):

минеральная вода, без газа


минеральная вода = mineral water, без газа = without gas.

Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #36 on: June 08, 2009, 12:01:20 PM »
Today's phrases are from Twobit's very interesting TR. They are simple and easy to learn:

эта моя
Большое спасибо
Не за что


эта моя = It's mine/This is mine. As TwoBit wrote about her identifying the third bus, she saw it and said эта моя "This is mine." (eta  my-ya)


Большое спасибо = thank you very much/a very big thank you. (bal-shoy-yeh  spa-cee-bah)


Не за что = it's nothing/you're welcome. A casual way to say 'you're welcome.' TwoBit answered the beggar who gave him a "big thank you" in a friendly way which corresponded to the mood he expressed in the TR, which was "it's nothing" as a way of saying "you're welcome."   (Ne zah shto)

Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #37 on: June 11, 2009, 01:34:04 PM »
Tak, in reading a newspaper article yesterday this writer came across a word, the term for "youth," only to see it spelled two different ways. There was only one letter difference and this letter is often abreviated.

The headline announced: День Молодежи 27 июня. Следи за новостями!

Translation: "Day of Youth is 27 June. Watch the news!"

Of special note was that the word for "Youth" was spelled in the headline as Молодежи, but later in the article it was also spelled as молодёжи.

That letter ё is often substituted by Russias with е because it's quicker and easier to write. If you went to a Russian dictionary and found all the words with the letter ё, you'd discover that it's an amazingly short list.

Problem is, it makes a difference in sound; e is Yeh and ё is Yoh. Naturally, Russians know it by context. The lovely and talented Mrs Mendeleyeva tells me that its simple and easy to recognize by context. Hmm, easy for her to say.  :)

But it seems that no matter how you write it, Russians pronounce it the same.

Whether молодежи or молодёжи, my ears don't hear a difference when the word is handled by a native.  That's good enough for now.

At least we know that the Russian "Day of Youth" will be on 27 June.



Offline anjutka

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #38 on: June 12, 2009, 02:02:44 PM »
Both myself and Kirill are having fun learning off of each other...the other day Kirill made a new joke...

"You have to be twopizza to eat two pizza".

If you say it out loud those who speak Russian might get it. 

That's funny...    :laugh:

For those who don't know Russian...   twopizza = турица   (a dullard, dimwit or a stupid person)

not турица but тупица :)
1 Life is not rehearsal... 2 sorry for my english;-)) 3 Thinking only always positive way=be healthy and happy))))) 4yes, and I am 41 yo ;-))))))))))))) 5 In life there are no rules!!! 6 but he should not be older 45 yo )))) 7...? ;-)

Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #39 on: June 14, 2009, 04:08:09 PM »
In TwoBitBandit's enjoyable Trip Report he used several phrases that are helpful to learn and use in our travels. So we'll take a recent phrase or two and practice.

There are a couple of good ways to say "don't worry" and TwoBit introduced one of them in his report:

не беспокойся = don't be concerned/don't be anxious/don't be bothered. It practically can mean "don't worry."  (Ne bes-pah-koi-cya)


An alternative could be:
Не волнуйтесь = don't be disturbed/don't be worried. Also means "don't worry/no worries."  (Ne val-NUY-tyes)


TwoBit used one more phrase:
Я тебя веру = I believe you.  (Ya Te-bya Vyeh-ROO)

Offline anjutka

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #40 on: June 15, 2009, 01:45:45 AM »

Я тебя веру = I believe you.  (Ya Te-bya Vyeh-ROO)

correct -  Я  тебе верю  :biggrin:= i believe you
1 Life is not rehearsal... 2 sorry for my english;-)) 3 Thinking only always positive way=be healthy and happy))))) 4yes, and I am 41 yo ;-))))))))))))) 5 In life there are no rules!!! 6 but he should not be older 45 yo )))) 7...? ;-)

Offline Solovey

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #41 on: June 15, 2009, 07:28:03 AM »

Я тебя веру = I believe you.  (Ya Te-bya Vyeh-ROO)

correct -  Я  тебе верю  :biggrin:= i believe you


Yeah верить [vyer-it'] (to believe) is one of those verbs that triggers the dative case in Russian, but not in English.

я верю тебе (dat.) = [literally] I believe to you


Similarly, the common verb обещать [ah-beh-shat'] (to promise) also triggers the dative case in the person you are promising something to.


Я обещал помочь другу

Я (Nom.) = I
обещал (past tense masc.) = promised
помочь (infinitive) = to help
другу (masc. dat.) = to friend

= [literally] I promised to help to friend.

= I promised to help my friend

* Remember Russian often omits possessive personal pronouns when they are obvious


The trick is remembering which bloody verbs trigger which particular cases .. not easy!


Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #42 on: June 15, 2009, 10:09:38 AM »
Thats what makes it great to have you guys here!  Thanks!    tiphat

Offline Ste

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #43 on: June 16, 2009, 04:01:49 AM »

Я тебя веру = I believe you.  (Ya Te-bya Vyeh-ROO)

correct -  Я  тебе верю  :biggrin:= i believe you


Yeah верить [vyer-it'] (to believe) is one of those verbs that triggers the dative case in Russian, but not in English.

я верю тебе (dat.) = [literally] I believe to you


Similarly, the common verb обещать [ah-beh-shat'] (to promise) also triggers the dative case in the person you are promising something to.


Я обещал помочь другу

Я (Nom.) = I
обещал (past tense masc.) = promised
помочь (infinitive) = to help
другу (masc. dat.) = to friend

= [literally] I promised to help to friend.

= I promised to help my friend

* Remember Russian often omits possessive personal pronouns when they are obvious


The trick is remembering which bloody verbs trigger which particular cases .. not easy!



I think one is the verb 'to arrive' which is why u can spot a Russian a mile off when they say 'I arrive to you...'

 
O pointy birds, o pointy pointy, Anoint my head, anointy-nointy.

Offline Solovey

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #44 on: June 18, 2009, 10:27:37 AM »


I think one is the verb 'to arrive' which is why u can spot a Russian a mile off when they say 'I arrive to you...'

 


Hiya Ste,

yeah I noticed a few extra 'to's when Russians speak as well. Funny how anything out of the usual pattern really stands out to us .. and Im sure when I try to speak in Russian EVERYTHING stands out as being odd to them  :)

In the case you're describing I think the addition of a 'to' here ('I arrive to you') is more to do with the construction of sentences with verbs of motion, the prepositions  в / на, and the accusative case.

For example, 2 verbs that mean "arrive / come" :

Он прибыл на станцию - (literally: He arrived to the station) (Interp: He arrived at the station) / станцию is accusative but we would expect it to be prepositional because in English we use 'at', but in Russian it is 'to': на + accusative

Студенты уже приехали в университет? - (literally: The students already arrived to the university?)  (Interp: Are the students over at the university yet?) / университет is accusative, Russian 'to': в + accusative

I find it easier to avoid the interpretation of 'arrive' where possible and substitute 'come' because then it triggers the 'to' in English and reminds you to use  в / на + accusative

  ... He came to the station / The students already came to the university?

Other verbs of motion also use this construction.

So one commmon phrase you'll see on Russian forums:

Теперь Вы можете войти на сайт, используя Ваш логин и пароль

(literally: Now you can enter to the site, using your login and password)


The problem for me is doing this stuff in my head while speaking .. it's one thing being able to write it down, but a whole another kettle of fish doing it on the fly!


Do you guys also find it easier to read / write Russian correctly than speak?





Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #45 on: June 18, 2009, 10:44:36 AM »
Oh yes, some things are second nature, but so much is still listen--think about how to respond--then respond.

My wife, and she is correct, says that I'm a much better translator....meaning that I can listen/read and understand well enough to explain it to someone else. She also says that it's hard to tell I'm not a native speaker when I'm speaking with correct grammar. She taught me to speak Russian thru the ears of a musician as it's a very "musical" language.

When I'm off grammar, then she begins to laugh.  :laugh: That usually earns me some kisses so I'm like Pavlov's dog...mess up grammar and be rewarded!  ;D

 

Offline Manny

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #46 on: June 18, 2009, 10:46:38 AM »
Do you guys also find it easier to read / write Russian correctly than speak?

My speaking is better than my writing - but neither are anything to write home about.
Read a trip report from North Korea >>here<< - Read a trip report from South Korea, China and Hong Kong >>here<<

Look what the American media makes some people believe:
Putin often threatens to strike US with nuclear weapons.

Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #47 on: June 21, 2009, 01:14:34 AM »
Its time for a quiz. This word is not really a phrase but hopefully in a moment you'll understand why it's posted here.


Here are song lyrics
Пока, пока
Уплывают на юг облака
Пока, пока
И течёт на север река

И мы больше не связаны
Грустить не обязаны
На-на-на-на-на...

Вот и всё, шутки в сторону
Нам с тобой - было здорово
Только жаль мне, что поровну
Не разделишь любовь

Ничего не получится
Ни к чему было мучаться
И теперь - дело случая
Что мы свидимся вновь

Пока, пока
Бесконечная даль высока
Пока, пока
Вот тебе на прощание рука

Буду помнить хорошее
Чтож - дело прошлое
На-на-на-на-на...

Вот и всё, шутки в сторону
Нам с тобой - было здорово
Только жаль мне, что поровну
Не разделишь любовь

Ничего не получится
Ни к чему было мучаться
И теперь - дело случая
Что мы свидимся вновь

Пока, пока
Знаю точно, наверняка
Любовь жива -
Для меня, не просто слова

Всё гораздо серьезнее
Чтож - время позднее
На-на-на-на-на...

Вот и всё, шутки в сторону
Нам с тобой - было здорово
Только жаль мне, что поровну
Не разделишь любовь

Ничего не получится
Ни к чему было мучаться
И теперь - дело случая
Что мы свидимся вновь

Вот и всё...
Было здорово...
Нам с тобой...
Пока...

Пока...

Пока...


Your quiz assignment is to listen to this song and see how many words you can recognize. Here is your teacher, Russian singer Alena Sviridova. You get to choose the amount of clothing she wears while singing this song. I'm not kidding! The first option features her on a fur rug with only a bra and some black stockings. It is also the remix (dance) version of the song.


Next, this link features the original version of the same song but she is wearing clothes.  :chuckle: 


Oh, how many words from this song can you recognize?  :)

Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #48 on: June 23, 2009, 10:54:36 PM »
Before we move forward to the next phrase, just a reminded that now it's popular in Russia to use the word twice together as a phrase.

Пока, пока "paKA paKA" is the best way to say "see ya later."

Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Phrases
« Reply #49 on: June 23, 2009, 11:00:34 PM »
A phrase to score points with the lady!

While putting together a music thread feature earlier this evening I was listening to Shanson (a style of music) singer Anatoly Korzh (Анатолий Корж) as he sang КРАСИВАЯ И СМЕЛАЯ.

Hmm, said Mendeleyev to himself, "Beautiful and Daring/Courageous" is a great phrase to learn. Call it a "pick up" line with your special lady.

Every woman likes the idea of someone thinking of her as not only beautiful but also as daring, bold, edgy and courageous. So go head, click on the phrase andlisten to learn how to say it. It's easy, fun, and even a little daring!

КРАСИВАЯ И СМЕЛАЯ "krah sieve ah yah  e  smel ah yah"