Russian · TORFL Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 8
Это кто?Who is this?
The question кто (who): "Это кто?" (Who is this?) — "Это мой дедушка." New family members: brother, sister, son, daughter, grandmother, grandfather, husband, wife. And the third-person possessives: его (his), её (her), наш (our). Important: его and её do NOT change — его брат, его сестра, её сын, её дочь. But наш changes by gender, like мой. Reading: брат, сестра́, ба́бушка, stress on the second syllable.
Dialogue
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Это кто?— Who Is This?
- IvanЭтокто?Этомойбрат,аэтоегожена.Who is this? This is my brother, and this is his wife.
- MikeАэтоегосестра?Нет...еёсестра?And is this his sister? No... her sister? (slip: unsure — but его never changes for the noun)
- IvanЭтоегосестра.Егонеменяется:егобрат,егосестра,егодом.This is his sister. Его never changes: его брат, его сестра, его дом.
- MikeПонял!Этоегобрат,егоженаиегосестра.Хорошаясемья!Got it! This is his brother, his wife, and his sister. A good family!
Dialogue
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Бабушка и дедушка— Grandmother and Grandfather
- AnyaЭтонашабабушкаинашдедушка.Этоихдочь—моямама.This is our grandmother and our grandfather. This is their daughter — my mom.
- MikeТвоядедушка—женщина?Your grandfather is a woman? (slip: твоя; дедушка is a man → твой; and mixed up the words)
- AnyaНет!Дедушка—мужчина,бабушка—женщина.Иговори«твойдедушка».No! Дедушка is the man, бабушка is the woman. And say "твой дедушка".
- MikeХорошо.Твойдедушкаитвоябабушка.Этобольшаясемья!Okay. Your grandfather and your grandmother. This is a big family!
Vocabulary
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- кто
pronounwho
- брат
nounbrother (m)
- сестра
nounsister (f)
- сын
nounson (m)
- дочь
noundaughter (f)
- бабушка
noungrandmother (f)
- дедушка
noungrandfather (m)
- муж
nounhusband (m)
- жена
nounwife (f)
- его/её
det.his / her (invariable)
- наш/наша
det.our (m / f)
Grammar
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кто + его / её / наш
Explanation
Кто = "who": "Это кто?" (Who is this?) — "Это мой дедушка." Now the third-person possessives. Его (his), её (her) and их (their) do NOT change with the thing's gender — they depend only on the owner: его брат, его сестра, его дом; её сын, её дочь; их дочь, их дом. That's easier than мой/моя! But наш (our) changes like мой: наш дом (m), наша семья (f). Note: его is spelt with г but read "vo" — "ye-VO".
Examples
- Это кто? — Это мой дедушка.Who is this? — This is my grandfather.
- Это его сестра и его брат.This is his sister and his brother. (его invariable)
- Это её сын и её дочь.This is her son and her daughter. (её invariable)
- Это наша бабушка.This is our grandmother. (наша + бабушка, f)
Cyrillic
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Брат, сестра, бабушка: ударение— Брат, сестра, бабушка: stress
Today, stress. In сестра the stress is on the SECOND syllable: "ses-TRA", and the unstressed е sounds like "i": "sis-TRA". But in бабушка the stress is on the FIRST: "BA-bush-ka". Put the stress in the wrong place and the word is hard to recognise. Also: in дочь the final ь after ч just marks the feminine gender; it reads "doch". Read aloud and listen for where the strength falls.
Read aloud, placing the stress:
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