redarmylivinghistory

A basic guide to speaking a few words in Russian:

http://www.waytorussia.net/WhatIsRussia ... Part2.html

Cheers, Ade.

Just remembered to salvage all this from the old Sovforum...

Cyrillic Alphabet (courtesy of James Evans)

а= "a" as in apple
б= "b" as in box
в= "v" as in van
г= "g" as in get
д= "d" as in dog
е= "ye" as in yet
ё= "yo" as in your
ж= "s" as in pleasure
з= "z" as in zoo
и= "ee" as in feet
й= "y" as in boy
к= "k" as in kit
л= "l" as in love
м= "m" as in may
н= "n" as in not
о= "o" as in top
п= "p" as in pot
р= "r" as in rot (rolled) called an alveolar trill if yer being technical!
с= "ss" as in set
т= "t" as in to
у= "oo" as in moon
ф= "f" as in fit
х= "ch" as in loch (scottish)
ц= "ts" as in vets
ч= "ch" as in chin
ш= "sh" as in shin
щ= "shch" as in pushchair
ь= soft sign (makes no noise)
ы= "y" as in physics
ъ= hard sign (makes no noise)
э= "e" as in yet
ю= "yu" as in yule
я= "ya" as in yap

Unfortunatly there is no quick and easy way to learn all this.

You have to sit down and try and memorise it. And do it over and over again. It's a no brainer to say this, but the more you try and read Russian the easier it becomes. Eventually though, you get the magic moment when you catch youself genuinely reading Cyrillic text rather than decoding it in your head first.

So for now, the stuff below has been transcribed into Latin script .


Basic conjugations of regular verbs

I listen - Ya slooshyoo

You listen (inf) - Tuy shlooshyesh

He listens - On shlooshyet

We listen - Muy shlooshyeem

You listen (form) - Vuy shlooshyet'ye

They listen - On'ee shooshyoot


Past and future tenses


Okay, putting things in past tense is even more straightforward. 'Л' or 'L' does the trick for most things. Like 'd' on the ends of words in English.

So;

Present

I fire - Ya strelayoo
You fire (inf) - Tuy strelayesh
He fire - On strelayet
We fire - Muy strelayeem
You fire (for) - Vuy strelayete
They fire - Onee strelayoot

Past

I fired - Ya strelyal
You fired (imf)- Tuy strelyal
He fired - On strelyal
We fired - Muy strela'lee
You fired (for)- Vuy strela'lee
They fired - Onee strela'lee

The all purpose fixer to use if you want to put something into the future tense is 'Boodyet' or 'will' and this goes like so;

I will shoot - Ya boodyoo strelyat
You will shoot (imf) - Tuy booshyesh strelyat
He will shoot - On boodyet strelyat
We will shoot - Muy boodyem strelyat
You will shoot (form) - Vuy bootyet'ye strelyat
They will shoot - On'ee boodoot streylat


Verbs of motion


There are two words for 'going' in Russian - 'Edtee' and 'Yec'hat'

So quickly going through the declensions of these, I'll explain what that's all about in turn.

Edtee

I go - Ya eedoo
You go (inf) - Tuy eedyosh
He goes - On eedyot
We go - Muy eedyom
You go (form) - Vuy eedyot'ye
They go - Onee eedyoot

Now - this is only used to describe someone going by shanks pony. E.G;

Ya eedoo f'Moskvoo - or - I go (by walking) to Moscow - notice that the noun 'Moskva' takes on the accusative ending 'oo'.

so 'Moskva' becomes 'f'Moskvoo' - to Moscow

I'll get on to that whole barrel of fun another time.

However - walking all the way to Moscow is rather arduous - so much better to find some kind of transport!

Yec'hat

I travel - Ya yedoo
You travel (imf) -Tuy yedyesh
He travels - On yedyet
We travel - Muy yedeem
You travel (form) - Vuy yedyetye
They travel - Onee yedoot

So if you were to go to Moscow in your trusty Polutorka you would say;

'Ya yedoo f'Moskvoo' - I am travelling to Moscow.

If one is talking about the means of transport itself going somewhere then 'Edtee' is used - eg.

'Ya yedoo f'Moskvoo' - I am travelling (in the Polutorka) to Moscow.

Polutorka eedyot f'Moskvoo. - The Polutorka is travelling (under it's own power) to Moscow.


Gender forms (This came from Rick - Mr Gulimov)

On - he

Ona - she

Ono - it

Anee - they

Q: Gdye Vodka? [Where (is the) vodka]
A: Bot ona. [There she (is)]

Q: Gdye Vladimir? [Where (is) Vladimir]
A: Bot on [There he (is)]

Q: Gdye Takshi? [Where (is the) taxi]
A: Bot ono [There it (is)]


Numbers

Adeen -1
Dva - 2
Tree - 3
Chet'tere'ye -4
Pyat - 5
Shyest - 6
Syem - 7
Voshyem - 8
Dyev'yat - 9
Desyat -10

Of course, you could always pretend to be a Volga German (ja!!)

"Bot" in my example should be pronounced as "Vot" of course


Rick aka Mr_Gulimov

Hi Folks,

I hope you will find this link (pdf) interesting

http://english-tutor.ru/translation/military.pdf

I wonder, Folks, if the Cyrillic font would be displayed correctly on your screens?

Не стреляйте!

Я сдаюсь!

Не бейте меня, я всё скажу!

Yes, cyrillic appears perfectly on our screens (mine, anyway).

Thank you, Rob

Michael Kuznetsov wrote:I wonder, Folks, if the Cyrillic font would be displayed correctly on your screens?

Не стреляйте!

Я сдаюсь!

Не бейте меня, я всё скажу!

Michael,
It appears fine to me as well.

Do you know the meaning of THESE short phrases, Gennady?

Michael Kuznetsov wrote:Do you know the meaning of THESE short phrases, Gennady?

Something along the lines of Don't shoot, I surrender, I'll tell you everything !

Yes!!!
Да!!!
Well done!
Молодец!

Michael Kuznetsov wrote:Yes!!!
Да!!!
Well done!
Молодец!

Thank you Michael, obviously a member of the 2nd Guards would never say such a thing ( I hope )