Russian · TORFL Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 3
Да или нет?Yes or no?
The third and last chapter of the Cyrillic "gate". First we consolidate the alphabet: the iotated vowels Е (ye), Ё (yo), Ю (yu), Я (ya), the short Й, the soft and hard signs Ь/Ъ, and the key rule — unstressed О sounds like "a" (Москва = "Maskva"). Then the personal pronouns: я, ты, вы, он, она, оно, мы, они. And we meet our exchange student Майк (Mike): he reads В as "B", so "привет" comes out "pribet". Anya corrects him. Standard Russian.
Dialogue
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Я, ты, он, она— I, you, he, she
- IvanПривет!Я—Иван,ты—Аня.Hi! I'm Ivan, you're Anya.
- AnyaДа!Он—Майк,иона—Маша?Yes! He's Mike, and she's Masha?
- IvanДа.Они—МайкиМаша.Мы—яиты.Yes. They're Mike and Masha. We're me and you.
- AnyaКонечно!Хорошо.Of course! Good.
Dialogue
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Майк и буква В— Mike and the Letter В
- IvanМайк,привет!Mike, hi!
- MikeПривет...или«при-БЕТ»?В—«б»?Hi... or "pri-BET"? Is В a "b"? (wrong: reading В as the Latin B)
- AnyaНет,Майк!«При-ВЕТ».В—это«в»,не«б».No, Mike! "Pri-VET". В is "v", not "b".
- MikeДа!«При-ВЕТ».Спасибо,Аня!Yes! "Pri-VET". Thank you, Anya!
Vocabulary
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- я
pronounI
- ты
pronounyou (informal)
- вы
pronounyou (formal / plural)
- он
pronounhe
- она
pronounshe
- оно
pronounit (neuter)
- мы
pronounwe
- они
pronounthey
- и
conjunctionand
- или
conjunctionor
Grammar
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Personal pronouns and "ты/вы"
Explanation
Personal pronouns: я (I), ты (you, informal), он/она/оно (he/she/it), мы (we), вы (you — polite or several people), они (they). Two key points for an English speaker. First: ты and вы are two different "you"s. ты for friends, family, and children; вы is polite (to elders, strangers, the teacher) and also plural. Second, and you'll notice it at once: there is no verb "to be" in the present. Я Иван literally means "I Ivan" — no "am". The full rule is in chapter 5; for now just get used to a name coming straight after the pronoun.
Examples
- Я Иван. Ты Аня.I'm Ivan. You're Anya.
- Он Майк, она Маша.He's Mike, she's Masha.
- Вы — Мария Ивановна?Are you Maria Ivanovna? (polite "вы")
Cyrillic
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Йотированные гласные, Й, Ь/Ъ и редукция О— Iotated vowels, Й, Ь/Ъ, and О-reduction
These vowels sound with a "y" in front — and soften the consonant before them:
- Е еye / e"ye" as in "yes"; softens the consonant before it
- Ё ёyo"yo" as in "yonder"; always stressed
- Ю юyu"yu" as in "you"
- Я яya"ya" as in "yard"
The short Й and two signs with no sound of their own:
- Й йya short "y" glide, as at the end of "boy" (мой = "moy")
- Ь'soft sign — silent; softens the consonant before it (мать)
- Ъ"hard sign — silent; a rare separator between consonant and vowel
The most important rule: unstressed О sounds like "a". Stress decides everything — so we mark it.
- О (stressed)oa clear "o": он = "on", дом = "dom"
- О (unstressed)areduces to "a": хорошо = "khara-SHO", Москва = "Maskva"
Read these, keeping the stress and О-reduction in mind:
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