Learn how to ask for something at a store
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| Let's take a closer look at the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Ben Lee asks for an item without knowing its name, |
| "This, please." |
| Это, пожалуйста. (Eto, pozhaluysta.) |
| This standard way of asking for something follows a simple pattern. |
| First is Это (Eto). "This." Это. Это. |
| Это (Eto) is the neuter, singular form of the word for “this.” If you don’t know the name of an item and consequently its gender, you can use это (eto). |
| It refers to something which is near the speaker. Ben uses it because he’s pointing at something which is near to him. |
| Next is пожалуйста (pozhaluysta), "please." Пожалуйста. Пожалуйста. |
| All together, it's Это, пожалуйста. (Eto, pozhaluysta.) "This, please." |
| Это, пожалуйста. (Eto, pozhaluysta.) |
| Do you remember how the clerk says, |
| "Here you are." |
| Вот, возьмите! (Vot, voz'mite.) |
| First is Вот (Vot), meaning “here” in this context. Вот. Вот. |
| Next is возьмите (voz'mite), literally “take.” Возьмите. Возьмите. |
| Возьмите (voz'mite) is from взять (vzyat’), “to take”. Взять (Vzyat’). |
| All together, it's Вот, возьмите! (Vot, voz'mite.), literally “here, take,” but it translates as "Here you are!" |
| Вот, возьмите! (Vot, voz'mite.) |
| Note, an alternative response from the clerk could be “Вот, пожалуйста” (vot, pozhaluysta), literally “Here, you are welcome,” but translates as "Here you are!" |
| The pattern is: |
| ITEM, пожалуйста. |
| ITEM, "please." |
| ITEM, pozhaluysta. |
| To use this pattern, simply replace the ITEM placeholder with the thing you want. |
| Note: This pattern requires a demonstrative pronoun, which is determined by the location, gender and the number of the desired item. |
| Imagine you’d like something from across the room. The pronoun to indicate something far from a speaker is то (to), "that." То. То. |
| Say |
| "That, please." |
| Ready? |
| То, пожалуйста (To, pozhaluysta). |
| "That, please." |
| То, пожалуйста (To, pozhaluysta). |
| The following phrases can be used to refer to an item without knowing its name in Russian: |
| Это, пожалуйста (Eto, pozhaluysta), “This, please.” And, |
| То, пожалуйста (To, pozhaluysta), “That, please.” |
| For items that are plural, use эти (eti), "these." Эти. Or, |
| For things that are far from you, use те (te), "those." Те. |
| To recap: |
| Close to speaker |
| Far from speaker |
| singular |
| Это (eto) |
| То (to) |
| plural |
| Эти (eti) |
| Те (te) |
| Remember, these can be used to refer to an item without knowing its name in Russian. |
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