Learn Russian from the beginning! Lesson Fourteen

You will learn

• to answer questions about vacation plans
• to talk about buying an apartment
• to describe your work or studies
• to talk about plans for the future
• to invite somebody out
  and you will read about life in a Russian city

Study guide

1. Where are Larisa Alekseevna and her family going on vacation?

2. Misha is going further away.

Practice what you have learned

1. Кто куда? or Who is going where? Listen to your recording then note the mistake in each of the following statements.

2. You are going on holiday with your husband and daughter. You will be asked where you are going and what you'd like to do there. As always, listen for Andrei's prompts.

3. Pavel is planning to buy an apartment.

пока for the moment
кооператив another word for 'cooperative apartment'
уже already
готов (f. готова) ready
балкон/лоджия balcony
даже even
безумно дорого 'madly' expensive
через год in a year

Practice what you have learned

3. Aleksey is answering some questions about his present and future homes. Listen to your recording, then choose the correct answers below.

4. You will be talking about the apartment you would like to buy.

 

4. What is Kolya's ambition?

мечтать to dream, aspire
космонавт astronaut
шофёр driver, chauffeur

5. Dima asks Lyena whether she works or is studying.

Practice what you have learned

5. 'What would you like to be when you grow up?' is a question children will always willingly answer! Look at the pictures below and see if you can fill in the missing professions (with the right endings).

Professions:

6. Vladimir Dmitrievich has met some of his ex-pupils at the school New Year concert and asks them what they do now. Listen to their replies, then match the statements in each list which go together.

New words:
педагогический институт teachers' training college
исторический факультет history department

7. Your name is Dima, and, while working as a driver, you are studying at a medical college. Listen for Andrei's prompts.

6. Dima invites Lyena to the theater MKhAT.

МХАТ Moscow Arts Theater
замечательно marvelous
как вам удобно as you wish
Дядя Ваня Чехова Chekhov's Uncle Vanya
договорились agreed
до встречи! until we meet!

Practice what you have learned

8. There must be something in the air... Three people have confused their respective arrangements for going to the theater. Listen to the dialogues on your recording, then look at the pictures below and explain the mistake each person has made.

I.

II.

III.

9. You are visiting Moscow and a new acquaintance has managed to obtain tickets to the theater. Listen to Andrei's prompts.

The future tense

To say that an action will be taking place, or that it will happen more than once, the future of быть (to be) is used, followed by an infinitive verb, e.g.:

я	буду читать	I will read
ты	будешь купаться	you will bathe
он/она	будет загорать	he/she will sunbathe
мы	будем играть в теннис	we will play tennis
вы	будете работать	you will work
они	будут изучать русский язык	they will study Russian

No indication is given as to whether the action will be completed; all the speaker indicates is that it will be occurring.

Even if you are not talking about an action, but rather a state, you still use the future of быть, for example:

Я буду на работе I will be at work
Квартира будет готова через год The apartment will be ready in a year

A different form of the future is used, however, in order to talk about a specific single action in the future. Typical examples where such a form would be used are: 'I will finish that book tonight', 'He will set off for Moscow tomorrow', 'We will buy him a small present'. In Russian, this type of future action is expressed by the perfective aspect of the verb. It is most common for perfective verbs to be formed by adding по- to the verb, for example:

You will see that the verb endings are those with which you are already familiar.

Without the prefix по- the form of the verb used is, in fact, the imperfective aspect.

Unfortunately not all these perfective forms begin with по-. There are a number of other possible prefixes and sometimes the verb itself changes. Compare the following:

читать - прочитать to read
Утром я буду читать книгу.
In the morning I will be reading a book.
Я прочитаю книгу (и пойду в кафе).
I will finish the book (and go to the café).

встречаться - встретиться to meet
В Москве я буду встречаться каждый день с друзьями.
In Moscow I will meet with friends every day.
Где мы встретимся?
Where shall we meet?

There is also one exception (only one!) to the rule that adding по- makes a verb perfective. It is the verb 'to buy' where the form of the verb with по- is actually the imperfective, i.e. покупать, while the perfective is купить, for example:

Я больше не буду покупать эту газету. Она не очень интересная.
I won't buy that paper any more. It's not very interesting.
Я сегодня куплю платок.
I will buy a scarf today.

Since it is rather a tall order to leam the perfective form of every verb, try to concentrate on becoming familiar with those which you are most likely to need.

10. Irina Petrovna is trying to persuade a friend and her family to join a group heading to the river on vacation. In the box below is information about how each person normally spends his or her vacation. Bearing it in mind, fill in the missing verbs in the dialogue using the future tense.

11. Pick the verb most appropriate for each of the following sentences.

Read and understand

12. Что вы будете делать, если вам дадут миллион рублей?
What will you do if you are given a million rubles? This question was put to some of the occupants of a communal apartment. Match the replies to the pictures.

New words:

Before you leave this section, see if you can think of five things you would do if you had a million rubles, and express your ideas in Russian.

Did you know

Life in a Russian city

While cities everywhere have difficulties providing accommodation, the problems faced in the Russian Federation are particularly acute.

These days foreigners looking for places to live, or for offices, are served by an ever-growing number of cooperative enterprises offering these and other services.

Russian citizens, unless they have a lot of foreign currency or 'connections', are less lucky. The official allocation of living space is 9 square meters per person, but in fact all over the Russian Federation millions live in less than this. Some live in hostels, others in communal apartments, with a whole family often in a single room. Many wait for housing for years.

Those who can afford it, or who, like Pavel, receive help from work, try to buy a cooperative apartment. This is, however, expensive and out of reach for most people.

Жилищная проблема (the housing problem) has been a theme in literature, songs and anecdotes since 1917. The anecdotes are often extremely funny; however, it cannot be denied that the housing situation does have a very detrimental effect on people’s lives, and especially upon the family.

Most newly married couples will continue to live with one or the other's parents, sometimes without even a room of their own. This is perhaps one reason why the divorce rate is high and constantly rising.

Lack of adequate accommodation also deters women from having children, certainly from having more than one.

Perhaps there are some reasons for optimism. The city councils of many of the main cities have now not only acknowledged the problem, but have promised radical measures to try to improve the situation.

Your turn to speak

You have won a considerable amount of money in the State lottery. Consider what you would like to do with it. You may find the words below useful. As usual, try it by yourself, before listening to one possible response on your recording.