Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Hello and welcome to Russian Survival Phrases. This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Russia. So join us for Russian Survival phrases. You will be surprised at how far a little Russian will go.
In today's lesson we'll introduce you to a phrase that will provide you with the tools to learn from the people around you. Now, a dictionary is a great idea, but don't forget that you can use Russian to learn in a more fun and interactive way.
Today we are going to cover a way for you to hold on to the information you get.
In Russian "Can you write it down, please?" is "Ne magli by vy eta napisat'?”. Let`s break it down by syllable: Ne mag-li by vy eta na-pi-sat'? Let`s hear it once again: Ne magli by vy eta napisat'?
The first word "ne magli by" means "couldn't". Let`s break down this word and hear it one more time: ne magli by and ne magli .
This is followed by "vy", which in English is "you", vy and vy.
So, to recap here we have: "ne magli by vy". Literally this means "couldn't you".
Let's take a look at the next "eta", which means "it": e-ta and eta.
The last word is "napisat'", which means "write down": na-pi-sat' and napisat'. So altogether we have "ne magli by vy eta napisat'". Literally this means "couldn't you write it down".
Once it's written down, you may have trouble to pronounce it or remember it for that matter. In this case, this phrase will come in handy.
In Russian, "Can you pronounce this, please?" is "Ne magli by vy eta praiznesti?". Ne magli by vy eta praiznesti? Let`s break it down by syllable: Ne mag-li by vy e-ta pra-iz-nes-ti? Now, let`s hear it once again: Ne magli by vy eta praiznesti?
The first phrase "ne magli by" means "couldn't you". Let`s break down this phrase and hear it one more time: ne mag-li by and ne magli by. This is followed by "vy", which in English is "you", vy and vy. So, to recap here we have: "ne magli by vy". Literally this means "couldn't you".
Now, let's take a look at the next "eta", which means "this": e-ta and eta.
The word in the end is "praiznesti", which means “pronounce”: pra-iz-nes-ti and praiznesti. So altogether we have: "Ne magli by vy eta praiznesti?".
Literally this means "Couldn't you pronounce it?". The word "please" in Russian is "pazhalusta", but as you've noticed, we did not use it in our Russian phrases. As you ask a person to do something for you, the part "ne magli by vy" in a question already expresses the equivalent of the English word "please". And usage of Russian "pazhalusta" in above mentioned questions would make phrases sound unnatural. But if you want to use “please” in a sentence anyway, then you should not ask someone to do something but request it in a polite way. The letter would sound like: “Can you write in down, please?” as “Napishite eta, pazhalusta”, or literally in English: “Write it down, please”. For “Can you pronounce it, please” as “Praiznesite eta, pazhalusta, or literally in English: “Pronounce it, please”. If you address questions to you friends you should use “ty” instead of “vy”. The rest of the questions stay the same. As to the polite requests the ends of both verbs -te disappear and phrases sound like: “Can you write in down, please?” as “Napishi eta, pazhalusta” or literally in English: “Write it down, please”. For “Can you pronounce it, please” as “Praiznesi eta, pazhalusta, or literally in English: “Pronounce it, please”.
To close out today`s lesson we'd like for you to practice what we`d just learnt. I will provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for saying it aloud. You'll have a few seconds before I`ll give you the answer. Udachi! That means “good luck”! Ok, here we go!
Can you write it down, please?……..Ne magli by vy eta napisat'?
Can you pronounce this, please?……..Ne magli by vy eta praiznesti?
Alright, that's going to do for today. See you tomorrow, which in Russian is da zaftra!

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