Learn about the negative pronouns
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Yuriy: Hello and welcome back to RussianPod101.com. This is Lower Intermediate Season 2, lesson 18 - A Popular Vacation Spot for Russians. I’m Yuriy. |
| Elena: С вами Елена. Всем привет. |
| Yuriy: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use negative pronouns in Russian. |
| Elena: The conversation takes place in a cafe and is between NIka and Alex. |
| Yuriy: The speakers are friends so they’ll be using informal Russian. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Ника: Алекс, слушай, я решила поехать отдохнуть летом в Крым, но не знаю какой город выбрать. Я помню, ты вроде говорил, что твои друзья ездили, по-моему, в Ялту. Ты можешь у них уточнить, где они останавливались и сколько это стоило? |
| Алекс: Ника, мне кажется, ты что-то не так поняла. Никто из моих друзей не был в Крыму, поэтому мне некого спросить. Но я точно знаю, что Бен ездил в Ялту. Помнишь, он ещё рассказывал о достопримечательностях и показывал фотографии? |
| Ника: О! Точно! Спасибо! Спрошу его! |
| Алекс: А ты уже взяла отпуск? |
| Ника: Пока нет. Начальник мне обещал, а он слов на ветер не бросает. Но ты пока никому не рассказывай о моих планах. |
| Алекс: Договорились. |
| Yuriy: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Ника: Алекс, слушай, я решила поехать отдохнуть летом в Крым, но не знаю какой город выбрать. Я помню, ты вроде говорил, что твои друзья ездили, по-моему, в Ялту. Ты можешь у них уточнить, где они останавливались и сколько это стоило? |
| Yuriy: Alex, listen, I decided to go on vacation in Crimea this summer, but I don’t know what city to choose. I remember you told me a sort of friend of yours visited, I think, Yalta. Could you confirm with them where they stayed and how much it cost? |
| Алекс: Ника, мне кажется, ты что-то не так поняла. Никто из моих друзей не был в Крыму, поэтому мне некого спросить. Но я точно знаю, что Бен ездил в Ялту. Помнишь, он ещё рассказывал о достопримечательностях и показывал фотографии? |
| Yuriy: Nika, I think you got it wrong. None of my friends were in Crimea, so I have no one to ask. But I know that Ben went to Yalta. Do you remember he was talking about the sights and showed photos? |
| Ника: О! Точно! Спасибо! Спрошу его! |
| Yuriy: Oh! Exactly! Thank you! I’ll ask him! |
| Алекс: А ты уже взяла отпуск? |
| Yuriy: Have you already taken a vacation? |
| Ника: Пока нет. Начальник мне обещал, а он слов на ветер не бросает. Но ты пока никому не рассказывай о моих планах. |
| Yuriy: Not yet. Chief promised me, and he doesn't waste his words. But as of now do not tell anyone about my plans. |
| Алекс: Договорились. |
| Yuriy: Agreed. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Yuriy: Crimea is one of the most famous health resorts and it’s popular with Russians and Ukrainians. |
| Elena: : It’s well known for its unique climate and healing mud, which can cure many kinds of diseases. For example, many people visit Saky city. Have you heard of it? |
| Yuriy: Yes. It has many health resorts that offer mud-treatments. |
| Elena: : The first health resort was opened there in 1827, when the healing properties of Saky’s mud were confirmed, and mud-treatment was officially recognized as a method of treatment. |
| Yuriy: Crimea also has very unique air. Many people with lung problems go there to breath the healing air. Okay, now let’s move on to the vocab. |
| Vocab list |
| Yuriy: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Elena: вроде [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: kind of |
| Elena: вроде [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: вроде [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Elena: по-моему [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: in my opinion, as for me, as I think |
| Elena: по-моему [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: по-моему [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Elena: уточнить [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: to clarify, to specify |
| Elena: уточнить [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: уточнить [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Elena: останавливаться [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: to stay (overnight), to stop |
| Elena: останавливаться [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: останавливаться [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Elena: понимать [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: to understand |
| Elena: понимать [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: понимать [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Elena: достопримечательность [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: attraction, sights |
| Elena: достопримечательность [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: достопримечательность [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Elena: бросать слова на ветер [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: to waste one’s words |
| Elena: бросать слова на ветер [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: бросать слова на ветер [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Elena: договориться [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: to agree to, to agree on, to arrange, to find a consensus |
| Elena: договориться [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: договориться [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Elena: помнить [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: to remember |
| Elena: помнить [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: помнить [natural native speed] |
| : And Last: |
| Elena: показывать [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: to show |
| Elena: показывать [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: показывать [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Yuriy: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase in this lesson is… |
| Elena: the idiomatic expression “бросать слова на ветер,” which is translated as “to waste one’s words.” |
| Yuriy The literal translation is actually “throw words to the wind” where “to throw” is “бросать,” “words” is “слова,” and “to the wind” is “на ветер.” |
| Elena: Colloquially, this phrase means “to promise something and not to keep such a promise”. It is said with disapproval. |
| Yuriy: For example... |
| Elena: Анна обещала помочь мне с домашним заданием. Но по-моему, Анне нельзя доверять: она всегдя бросает слова на ветер. |
| Yuriy: “Anna promised to help me with my homework. In my opinion I shouldn't trust Anna: she always wastes her words.” |
| Elena: Я слова на ветер не бросаю: сказал помогу, значит, помогу. |
| Yuriy: “I don't waste my words: I said that I would help, so I will help.” Ok, what is the next word? |
| Elena: It is the preposition “вроде,” which can be translated into English as “kind of.” |
| Yuriy: It has two meanings. The first meaning is “like,” as in ‘like someone or something’. It requires the genitive case. It is often used with words like “что-то” and “нечто” which mean “something.” For example... |
| Elena: платье вроде твоего |
| Yuriy: “a dress like yours” |
| Elena: Ты смотрел фильм «Жизнь или что-то вроде того» ? |
| Yuriy: “Have you watched the movie ‘Life or something like it’?” The other meaning of this word is “it seems.” It has a slight tinge of uncertainty. For example... |
| Elena: Что-то Ивана сегодня нет на работе…- он вроде заболел. |
| Yuriy: “Somehow Ivan is not at work today ... He's kind of sick.” For more examples and explanations, please check the lesson notes. Okay, now on to the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Yuriy: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use negative pronouns in Russian. Negative pronouns are pronouns that indicate the absence or non-existence of something or somebody. |
| Elena: All negative pronouns can be divided into two groups. |
| Yuriy: The first group is negative pronouns formed from the pronouns кто meaning “who”, что, meaning “what”, какой meaning “which”, and чей meaning “whose,” with the help of the prefix [ни-]. For example... |
| Elena: никто |
| Yuriy: “no one” |
| Elena: ничто |
| Yuriy: “nothing, not anything” |
| Elena: никакой |
| Yuriy: “not any kind” |
| Elena: ничей |
| Yuriy: “no one’s.” Negative pronouns with the prefix [ни-] are used to emphasize negation expressed by the verb with the particle [не]. |
| Elena: So, the negative pronouns никто, ничто, никакой, ничей are used with the verb along with the particle [не]. |
| Yuriy: For example... |
| Elena: Person A says Что ты делаешь? |
| Person B replies - Я ничего не делаю. |
| Yuriy: Person A “- What are you doing? |
| Person B : - I am doing nothing.” What’s another example, Elena? |
| Elena: У меня нет никаких вопросов. |
| Yuriy: “I don't have any questions.” The second group of negative pronouns are those formed from the pronouns кого meaning “who”, and чего meaning “what”, with the help of the stressed negative prefix [не-]. |
| Elena: This group of pronouns indicates that an action cannot be performed because of the absence of a subject or object. |
| Yuriy: The negated pronouns in [не-] are typically used in impersonal constructions, which are those without a subject, with the infinitive form of the verb. |
| Elena: do not use “double negation” in sentences with некого and нечего. |
| Yuriy: For example... |
| Elena: Мне нечего делать. |
| Yuriy: “I have nothing to do.” |
| Elena: Мне нечего сказать тебе. |
| Yuriy: “I have nothing to say to you.” |
| Elena: Некого спросить. |
| Yuriy: “There is no one to ask.” |
Outro |
|---|
| Yuriy: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. As always, for more examples and information, please check the lesson notes. And leave us a comment at RussianPod101.com. Thanks for listening everyone. |
| Elena: See you in our next lesson. |
| Yuriy: Пока-пока |
| Elena: До скорой встречи! |
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