Russian · TORFL Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 40
Я звоню другуI’m calling my friend
The phone and messages. Words: звонить, телефон, писать, письмо, сообщение, отправить, ответить, номер, позвонить, связь. Key grammar: the recipient in the DATIVE case. Communication verbs — «звонить», «писать», «отправить», «ответить» — put the person you call or write to in the dative case: «Я звоню другу» (I call my friend), «Я пишу маме» (I write to mum), «Я отправил сообщение брату» (I sent a message to my brother). This is the same dative as «мне нравится» (chapter 27) and «мне грустно» (chapter 39). Personal pronouns go in the dative too: тебе, мне, ему, ей. English speakers’ mistake: in English «call you» is a direct object, so they put the accusative: «Я звоню тебя» ✗. But «звонить» requires the DATIVE: «Я звоню тебе» ✓. Reading: the letter «щ» in «сообщение» and the stress in the verb «звонить».
Dialogue
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Я тебе звоню!— I’m calling you!
- mike
- ivan
- mike
- ivan
- mike
- ivan
Dialogue
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Позвони маме!— Call mum!
- anya
- ivan
- anya
- ivan
- anya
- ivan
Vocabulary
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- звонить
verbto phone, call
- телефон
nountelephone, phone
- писать
verbto write
- письмо
nounletter
- сообщение
nounmessage
- отправить
verbto send
- ответить
verbto answer, reply
- номер
nounnumber
- позвонить
verbto call (perfective, one time)
- связь
nounconnection, signal
Grammar
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Who are you calling? — the recipient in the dative
Explanation
Communication verbs — «звонить» (позвонить), «писать», «отправить», «ответить» — put the recipient in the DATIVE case. The person you call or write to answers the question «кому?» (to whom?): «Я звоню другу» (to whom? — to a friend), «Я пишу маме» (to whom? — to mum), «Я отправил сообщение брату» (I sent a message to my brother). It is the same dative case as «мне нравится» (chapter 27) and «мне грустно» (chapter 39) — you already know it. Masculine adds «-у»: друг → другу, брат → брату. Feminine «-а» changes to «-е»: мама → маме, сестра → сестре. Personal pronouns: мне, тебе, ему, ей, нам, вам, им. Important: «звонить» takes the person NOT in the accusative (тебя, chapter 19), but in the dative (тебе). English speakers’ mistake: in English «call you» is a direct object, so they say «Я звоню тебя» ✗ (accusative). But in Russian: «Я звоню тебе» ✓ (dative). Likewise: «Ответь мне» (answer me), «Напиши брату» (write to your brother).
Examples
- Я звоню другу каждый день.I call my friend every day.
- Кому ты пишешь сообщение?Who are you writing a message to?
- Я отправил сообщение маме, но связь плохая.I sent a message to mum, but the signal is bad.
- Позвони мне вечером, я отвечу.Call me in the evening, I’ll answer.
Cyrillic
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Буква «щ» и ударение в «звонить»— The letter «щ» and the stress in «звонить»
This chapter’s word «сообщение» contains the letter «щ». It is NOT the same as «ш». «Ш» is a hard, short sound («шапка», a hat). «Щ» is soft and long, like a long «шь»: try to say «щ» with a smile, the tongue higher. In transcription we write «shch»: «сообщение» = «sa-ab-SHCHÉ-ni-ye», «борщ» = «borshch», «вещь» = «veshch» (a thing). You already saw «щ» in chapter 37 in the word «счёт», where the combination «сч» sounds like «щ». The second point is stress. The verb «звонить» is tricky: the stress is always on the ENDING, not on the root. Say «звоню́» (zva-NYÚ), «звони́т» (zva-NÍT), «позвони́» (pa-zva-NÍ) — never «звóнит». This is a common mistake even among Russians themselves, but the correct way is the end of the word.
Read the words aloud:
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