Lesson 1 Урок первый

What we will learn today: Russian alphabet Pronunciation: consonants Pronunciation: vowels Reading and stressed vowels The number of nouns The gender of nouns Russian greetings Days of the week More words for scheduling and planning DO’s and DON’Ts in Russia

Consonants and Vowels There are 21 consonant letters in Russian: б, в, г, д, ж, з, к, л, м, н, п, р, с, т, ф, х, ц, ч, ш, щ. The consonant letter й is sometimes called a semivowel. There are 10 vowel letters: а, э, ы, у, о, я, е, ё, ю, и. Two letters of the Russian alphabets do not designate any sounds. They are the "soft sign" (ь) and the "hard sign" (ъ).

Russian Alphabet Table

Letters vs. Sounds With few exceptions, Russian consonant letters can be pronounced either "soft" or "hard" depending on the type of a letter that comes after them. For this reason, the 20 consonant letters of the Russian alphabet can designate 37 distinct consonant sounds! In general, Russian vowels are divided into two basic types: "soft-indicating" and "hard-indicating" vowels. The "hard-indicating" vowels are а, э, ы, у, о. Russian "soft-indicating" vowels are formed from their "hard-indicating" counterparts by adding an English sound of "y" at the beginning. Thus you will get such "soft-indicating" vowels as я, е, ё, ю, и

Reading and Stressed vowels If you join the sounds of individual letters together you will be able to read the majority of words in Russian. One vowel in each word is always emphasized greater than the rest– it is called the stressed vowel and marked with the acute accent ´. While stressed vowels are pronounced rather distinctly, unstressed vowels undergo reduction and changes. For example, the vowels 'A' and 'O' are reduced to the "u"-sound as in "under" when they occur in unstressed positions. Placing the stress correctly is important when speaking Russian. Improper word stress not only makes you sound unnatural (imagine yourself saying "computer" with the letter "o" stressed) but it can also change the meaning of a word.

Pronunciation: Vowels “Hard-indicating” vowels Russian letter Symbol Pronunciation A (stressed) ah as Ah, but shorter A (unstressed) a as u in but O (stressed) o as aw in law O (unstressed) Ы i no English equivalent У oo as oo in wood Э e as e in pet

Pronunciation: Vowels “Soft-indicating” vowels Russian letter Symbol Pronunciation Я (stressed) ya as ya in yahoo Я (unstressed) ee as ee in meet, but very short Е (stressed) ye as ye in yes Е (unstressed) Ё (always stressed) yo as yo in yolk Ю yoo as the word you И (stressed) as ee in meet

Pronunciation: Consonants Russian letter Symbol Pronounced as Б (soft) b b in bee Б (hard) b in but В (soft) v v in view В (hard) v in voice Г (soft) g g in girl Г (hard) g in go Д (soft) d d in dew Д (hard) d in dial З (soft) z z in zeal З (hard) z in zoom К (soft) k k in okey К (hard) c in clock Л (soft) l l in leak Л (hard) l in lump М (soft) m m in muse М (hard) m in monk Н (hard) n n in noon П (soft) p p in pew П (hard) p in mop Р (soft) r no equivalent Р (hard) С (soft) s s in seed, sew С (hard) s in soup Т (soft) t t in stew Т (hard) t in ten Ф (soft) f f in few Ф (hard) f in fault Х (soft) kh h in huge Х (hard) h in host Ц (always hard) ts ts in what's up Ч (mostly soft) ch ch in church Ш (hard) sh sh in shield Щ (soft) shch й (soft) j y in yes or may

The gender of nouns Masculine gender Word Ending дом in a consonant чай in -й

The gender of nouns Feminine gender Word Ending картина in -a семья история in -ия

The gender of nouns Neuter gender Word Ending письмo in -o платьe     in -e     внимание     in -ие     время     in -мя    

The number of nouns Noun type Ending for plural Example masculine ending in a hard consonant; feminine ending in -a -ы стол - столы улица - улицы any nouns ending in -ь, -й, -я -и двeрь - двери земля - земли masculine and feminine with the stem ending in -к, -г, -x, -ч, -щ, -ж, -ш, ноЖ - ножи ноГа - ноги neuter ending in -o -a окно - окнa neuter ending in -e -я мoре - моря

Formality ты you (informal) вы you (formal)

My name is… Как тебя зовут? What’s your name? (informal) Kak tebya zavut? Как Вас зовут? What’s your name? (formal, polite) Kak vas zovut? Меня зовут... My name is… Menia zavut… Я... I’m… Ya…

Days of the week Какой сегодня день? What day is it today? Какой сегодня день?  What day is it today? kah-KOI see-VOHD-nyah dyehn' Russian word   English translation   Pronunciation понедельник Monday puh-nee-DYEHL'-neek вторник Tuesday FTOHR-neek среда Wednesday sree-DAH четверг Thursday cheet-VYEHRK пятница Friday PYAHT-nee-tsuh суббота Saturday soo-BOH-tuh воскресенье Sunday vuhs-kree-SYEHN'-yeh

Scheduling and planning Russian word   English translation   Pronunciation уик-энд weekend oo-ee-KEHND выходной день day off vi-khad-NOY dyehn' рабочий день working day rah-BOH-cheey dyehn' завтра tomorrow ZAHF-trah сегодня today see-VOHD-nyuh вчера yesterday fcheeh-RAH на этой неделе this week nah EH-tuy nee-DYEHL-yee на следующей неделе next week nah SLYED-oo-yoo-shchee nee-DYEHL-yeh на прошлой неделе last week nah PROSH-luy nee-DYEHL-yee день day dyehn' неделя week nee-DYEH-lyah месяц month MHYEH-seets год year goht

DO’s and DON’Ts in Russia 1. JUST DON'T SPILL SALT...there is no recovery. 2. Never buy an even number of flowers...and especially not yellow unless your relationship is over. 3. Red flowers are only for someone you really like..otherwise you could send the wrong message. 4. DO NOT go back to the house to get something you forgot...its bad luck...and you can recover if you look in the rear view mirror, but be careful because if there are other people with you they may not like it because you could bring bad luck on them too!

DO’s and DON’Ts in Russia 5. DO NOT do any bodily function out loud in public or at home (unless you are alone!) (i.e. burping, sneezing too loud, blowing your nose, etc.) 6. DO NOT buy a woman anything for an unborn child...this is also bad luck... 7. Do NOT drink the water... 8. DO come prepared to bring a gift to the host family and if going to visit a friend of the family...bring a gift also (e.g. bread, cake, alcohol (of course), flowers (pay attention again to bullet number 3)

DO’s and DON’Ts in Russia 9. DO NOT wear street shoes inside...there are special slippers for this...and when going out to parties at another's home...if you don't have a pair of house slippers some will be provided for you (usually) 10. DO eat caviar if the family offers...(they went to great pains to get it and want to treat you well) 11. DO drink vodka with your meal...it is expected (unless of course you have allergies to vodka and could die or become sick from it...then kindly explain that you might catch your death and they'll let you off the hook) More coming!