Russian course
Basic Russian for beginners
Lesson 2:
I speak Russian very well
In this lesson you will learn:
- the personal pronouns "he", "she" and "it"
- basic rules of verbs in the present tense
- new Russian vocabulary
Useful phrase in Russian
Listen and repeat the following sentence:
Я говорю́ по-ру́сски о́чень хорошо́
ya ga-va-ryú pa-rús-ki ó-chyen ha-ra-shó
I speak Russian very well
Pronunciation: You have just heard the word "хорошо́" (well). It is not pronounced "ho-ro-shó" but "ha-ra-shó". Why? In Russian, the vowel "o" is pronounced "o" only when it is stressed. Otherwise it is pronounced "a".
Russian vocabulary
Read, listen and repeat the basic vocabulary of this lesson:
English
Russian
Pronunciation
To speak
Говори́ть
ga-va-rít'
Very
О́чень
ó-chen
But
Но
no
Thank you
Спаси́бо
spa-sí-ba
He
Он
on
She
Она́
a-ná
And
И
i
To speak Russian
Говори́ть по-ру́сски
ga-va-rít' pa-rús-ki
Well
Хорошо́
ha-ra-shó
Dialogues in Russian
These dialogues will help you memorise this lesson's vocabulary:
Dialogue 1
English
Russian
Pronunciation
Hi Michael!
Приве́т, Майкл!
pri-vyét maj-kl
Hi Elena! How are you?
Приве́т, Еле́на! Как дела́?
pri-vyét ye-lyé-na. kak dye-Lá?
Very well, thanks.
О́чень хорошо́, спаси́бо.
ó-chyen ha-ra-shó spa-sí-ba
Dialogue 2
English
Russian
Pronunciation
Hi, are you Russian?
Приве́т. Ты ру́сский?
pri-vyét. Ty rús-kij?
No, I am American, but I speak Russian.
Нет, я америка́нец, но говорю́ по-ру́сски.
nyét, ya a-me-ri-ká-nyets, no ga-va-ryú pa-rús-ki.
Wow, you speak Russian very well!
Ого́, ты говори́шь по-ру́сски о́чень хорошо́.
o-hó, ty ga-va-rísh pa-rús-ki ó-chyen ha-ra-shó.
Thank you!
Спаси́бо!
spa-sí-ba.
Dialogue 3
English
Russian
Pronunciation
He is American, but he speaks Russian very well.
Он америка́нец, но он говори́т по-ру́сски о́чень хорошо́.
on a-mye-ri-ká-nyets, no on ga-va-rít pa-rús-ki ó-chyen ha-ra-shó.
She is American, but she speaks Russian very well.
Она́ америка́нка, но она́ говори́т по-ру́сски о́чень хорошо́.
a-ná a-mye-ri-kán-ka, no a-ná ga-va-rít pa-rús-ki ó-chyen ha-ra-shó.
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Russian grammar
Read the following grammar explanations for this lesson:
Personal pronouns: third person
In this lesson you have learnt 3rd person singular pronouns in Russian. As in English, the verb does not change for masculine and feminine in the present tense:
- Он говори́т (he speaks)
- Она́ говори́т (she speaks).
In future lessons we will see that this does not happen in the past tense: there are different forms for masculine and feminine.
In the previous lesson you have learnt that in Russian there is a neuter gender. There is also a personal pronoun for this gender: оно́ (it is pronounced "a-no").
Attention: оно́ is neither used in the same situations nor as often as "it" in English.
Verb conjugation: present tense
After the first two lessons, you have already seen the conjugation of the present tense in singular (я, ты, он). Verbs in Russian are built adding different endings to a common root.
Have a look to this example:
To speak
I speak
You speak
He / she speaks
Говори́ть
Я говорю́
Ты говори́шь
Он / она́ говори́т
Test
Check how much you have learnt in this lesson:
