How to Ask for Clarification

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Russian by RussianPod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for clarification in Russian.

For example, "Excuse me, can you repeat that?" is

Извини, можешь повторить? (Izvini, mozhesh’ povtorit'?)

Marina Maslova meets her neighbor, Daniil Denisenko , for the first time in the lobby of their building.

Daniil introduces himself but Marina doesn’t catch his name and asks for clarification.

Before you hear the conversation, let's preview some of its key components,

повторить (povtorit')

"repeat"

повторить

Listen to the conversation, and focus on Marina 's request.

Ready?

Приятно познакомиться. Меня зовут Даниил. (Priyatno poznakomit'sya. Menya zovut Daniil.)

Извини, можешь повторить? (Izvini, mozhesh' povtorit'?)

Меня зовут Даниил. (Menya zovut Daniil.)

Once more with the English translation.

Приятно познакомиться. Меня зовут Даниил. (Priyatno poznakomit'sya. Menya zovut Daniil.)

"Nice to meet you. I’m Daniil."

Извини, можешь повторить? (Izvini, mozhesh' povtorit'?)

"Excuse me, can you repeat that?"

Меня зовут Даниил. (Menya zovut Daniil.)

"I’m Daniil."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Daniil introduces himself?

"Nice to meet you. I’m Daniil."

Приятно познакомиться. Меня зовут Даниил. (Priyatno poznakomit'sya. Menya zovut Daniil.)

First is the expression Приятно познакомиться (Priyatno poznakomit'sya), meaning "Nice to meet you." Приятно познакомиться (Priyatno poznakomit'sya).

Let's start with приятно (priyatno), literally "pleasantly." Приятно . Приятно.

Next is познакомиться (poznakomit'sya), literally "to get acquainted." Познакомиться . Познакомиться.

Together, it's Приятно познакомиться (Priyatno poznakomit'sya), literally, "Pleasantly to get acquainted," but translates as "Nice to meet you." Приятно познакомиться (Priyatno poznakomit'sya).

This phrase can be used in many contexts and is appropriate for both formal and informal situations.

Do you remember how Daniil Denisenko says,

"I’m Daniil"

Меня зовут Даниил (Menya zovut Daniil).

First is меня (menya), "me." Меня . Меня.

After this is зовут (zovut), "[they] call." Зовут . Зовут.

Note, зовут (zovut) is the shortened form of они зовут (oni zovut), "they call." In Russian, они (oni), "they," is usually omitted.

Зовут (Zovut) is from the verb звать (zvat'), "to call." звать (zvat').

Together it's меня зовут (menya zovut). Literally, "me [they] call," but it translates as "I am." Меня зовут.

Next is the name, Даниил (Daniil). "Daniil." Даниил . Даниил.

All together, it's Меня зовут Даниил (Menya zovut Daniil). Literally, "Me [they] call Daniil," but it translates as "I’m Daniil."

Together, it’s Меня зовут Даниил (Menya zovut Daniil). "[I]’m Daniil." Меня зовут Даниил.

All together, it’s "Nice to meet you. I'm Daniil." Приятно познакомиться. Меня зовут Даниил. (Priyatno poznakomit'sya. Menya zovut Daniil.)

Приятно познакомиться. Меня зовут Даниил. (Priyatno poznakomit'sya. Menya zovut Daniil.)

Marina can’t catch his name.

Do you remember how she asks,

"Excuse me. Can you repeat that?

Извини, можешь повторить? (Izvini, mozhesh' povtorit'?)

First is извини (izvini). "Excuse [me]." Извини . Извини.

Note: извини (izvini) is the informal form of "Excuse [me]." Извини. In this conversation, Daniil and Marina are of similar age, so the informal извини (izvini) is more natural.

Извини (izvini) is from the verb извинить (izvinit’), "to excuse". Извинить (Izvinit’)

Next is можешь (mozhesh'), "[you] can," as in you are able. Можешь . Можешь.

Note: "you" is understood from the context.

Можешь (mozhesh') is from the verb мочь (moch’), "can". Мочь.

Next is повторить (povtorit’), "repeat." Повторить . Повторить.

Together, можешь повторить (mozhesh' povtorit') literally means, "[you] can repeat," but in this context, it translates as "can [you] repeat [that]?" Можешь повторить?

All together, Извини, можешь повторить? (Izvini, mozhesh' povtorit'?) Literally, "Excuse [me], [you] can repeat," but translates as "Excuse me, can you repeat [that]?"

Извини, можешь повторить? (Izvini, mozhesh' povtorit'?)

Note: [that] is added to the translation, but there is no corresponding word in Russian.

Finally, do you remember how Daniil says,

"I’m Daniil."

Hint, you’ve heard it before.

Меня зовут Даниил. (Menya zovut Daniil.) "I’m Daniil."

Меня зовут Даниил. (Menya zovut Daniil.)

In this lesson, you learned how to ask for clarification in an informal situation:

Извини, можешь повторить? (Izvini, mozhesh' povtorit'?)

"Excuse [me], can [you] repeat [that]?"

To ask for clarification in a formal situation:

Извините, можете повторить? (Izvinite, mozhete povtorit'?)

"Excuse [me], can [you] repeat [that]?"

Извините, можете повторить? (Izvinite, mozhete povtorit'?)

Note the two changes in the formal form.

First, извините (izvinite), replaces извини (izvini).

Извините (Izvinite), "Excuse me," formal form. Извините . Извините.

Извините (Izvinite), is the second person plural form of the verb извинить (izvinit’), meaning "to excuse." извинить (izvinit’)

Second, можете (mozhete) replaces можешь (mozhesh’).

Можете (mozhete), "[you] can" when using formal Russian. Можете. Можете.

Можете (mozhete) means "you can," as in "you all can." It's the second person plural form of the verb мочь (moch’), "to be able."

The second person plural is used for formal situations when addressing a single person.

Let’s look at the expressions once more. First you will hear informal expressions, followed by their formal counterparts.

Listen and repeat.

Извини. (Izvini.)

"Excuse me."

Извини. (Izvini.)

Можешь повторить? (Mozhesh’ povtorit'?)

"Can you repeat?"

Можешь повторить? (Mozhesh’ povtorit'?)

Извини, можешь повторить? (Izvini, mozhesh' povtorit'?)

"Excuse me, can you repeat that?"

Извини, можешь повторить? (Izvini, mozhesh' povtorit'?)

Извините. (Izvinite.)

"Excuse me." (polite)

Извините. (Izvinite.)

Можете повторить? (Mozhete povtorit'?)

"Can you repeat?" (polite)

Можете повторить? (Mozhete povtorit'?)

Извините, можете повторить? (Izvinite, mozhete povtorit’?)

"Can you repeat that?" (polite)

Извините, можете повторить? (Izvinite, mozhete povtorit’?)

Я не понимаю. (Ya ne ponimayu).

"I don't understand."

Я не понимаю. (Ya ne ponimayu).

Можешь говорить медленнее? (Mozhesh' govorit’ medlenneye?)

"Can you speak more slowly?"

Можешь говорить медленнее? (Mozhesh' govorit’ medlenneye?)

Did you notice the new expressions we used?

Я не понимаю. (Ya ne ponimayu).

"I don't understand."

Я не понимаю. (Ya ne ponimayu) Literally means "I not understand," but it translates as "I don't understand." Я не понимаю.

Next is

Можешь говорить медленнее? (Mozhesh' govorit’ medlenneye?)

"Can you speak more slowly?"

First is можешь (mozhesh’), "[you] can." Можешь.

Next is говорить (govorit’), "speak." Говорить.

Last is медленнее (medlenneye), "slower" is медленнее (medlenneye).

Медленнее (Medlenneye) Is from the adjective медленный (medlennyy), "slow." Медленный.

All together its Можешь говорить медленнее? (Mozhesh' govorit’ medlenneye?)

"Can you speak slower?" Можешь говорить медленнее? (Mozhesh' govorit’ medlenneye?)

Let’s review the key vocabulary.

Можете (Mozhete)

"can you" (formal)

Можете . Можете.

Повторить (Povtorit’)

"To repeat"

Повторить . Повторить.

Говорить (Govorit’)

"To speak"

Говорить . Говорить

Медленнее (Medlenneye)

"Slower"

Медленнее . Медленнее

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember the informal way to say,

"Excuse me?"

извини (izvini)

And how to say "repeat?"

повторить (povtorit’)

Do you remember how Marina asks,

"Excuse me, can you repeat that?"

Remember she uses informal Russian.

Извини, можешь повторить? (Izvini, mozhesh' povtorit'?)

Извини, мо́жешь повторить? (Izvini, mozhesh' povtorit'?)

Do you remember how to say

"Nice to meet you."

Приятно познакомиться. (Priyatno poznakomit'sya.)

And how to say "Daniil" in Russian?

Даниил (Daniil)

Do you remember how to say,

"My name is Daniil?"

Меня зовут Даниил. (Menya zovut Daniil.)

Do you remember how Daniil says,

"Nice to meet you. I’m Daniil."

Приятно познакомиться. Меня зовут Даниил. (Priyatno poznakomit'sya. Menya zovut Daniil.)

Do you remember the formal way to say,

"Excuse me."

Извините (izvinite)

And the formal way to say,

"Can you repeat that?"

Можете повторить? (Mozhete povtorit’?)

Do you remember the formal way to say,

"Excuse me, can you repeat that?"

Извините, можете повторить? (Izvinite, mozhete povtorit’?)

Do you remember how to say "speak?"

говорить (govorit’)

And how to say "slower?"

медленнее (medlenneye)

Do you remember how to say,

"Can you speak slower?"

Можешь говорить медленнее? (Mozhesh' govorit’ medlenneye?)

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Mikhail Maslov . Daniil introduces himself, but you can’t catch his name.

Ask him to repeat it using informal Russian.

Ready?

Приятно познакомиться. Меня зовут Даниил. (Priyatno poznakomit'sya. Menya zovut Daniil.)

Извини, можешь повторить? (Izvini, mozhesh' povtorit'?)

Listen again and repeat.

Извини, можешь повторить? (Izvini, mozhesh' povtorit'?)

Let's try another.

Imagine you're Daniil . Milena Maslova introduces herself, but you can’t catch her name.

Use formal Russian.

Ready?

Приятно познакомиться. Меня зовут Милена. (Priyatno poznakomit'sya. Menya zovut Milena.)

Извините, можете повторить? (Izvinite, mozhete povtorit’?)

Listen again and repeat.

Извините, можете повторить? (Izvinite, mozhete povtorit’?)

Let’s try one more.

Imagine you're Daniil . Ask Marina Maslova to speak slower.

Ready?

Приятно познакомиться. Меня зовут Марина. (Priyatno poznakomit'sya. Menya zovut Marina.)

Можешь говорить медленнее? (Mozhesh' govorit’ medlenneye?)

Listen again and repeat.

Можешь говорить медленнее? (Mozhesh' govorit’ medlenneye?)

This is the end of this lesson.

In this lesson, you learned how to ask for clarification in Russian. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of getting clarification on things when you're speaking Russian.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

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