Svetlana Flemming - Colloquial Russian - The Next Step in Language Learning

Prixodi´t;sq / prijtiś; ‘to be obliged to, to have to’

The third person singular neuter (ono´ form) is used impersonally with the dative:

Dire´ktoru prixo´ditsq zanima´t;sq finańsami klińiki.

The director has to deal with the finances of the clinic.

Im pride¨tsq najti´ pla´tnu[ klińiku.

They will have to find a fee-paying clinic.

Gosudaŕstvu priwloś; otmeni´t; finańsovu[ po´mo];

haśtnym klińikam.

The government was obliged to abolish help to private clinics.

Zdravooxranenie

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Sle´duet, sle´dovalo ‘ought to, should, it is fitting’

2

Similarly, the third person singular neuter (ono´ form) of sle´dovat; 3

(‘to follow’) is used impersonally with the dative:

4

5

Vam ne sle´duet tak govori´t;.

6

You should not talk like that.

7

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|togo sle´dovalo o'ida´t;.

It was to be expected.

9

10

Mne sle´dovalo by sdeĺat; \to neme´dlenno.

1

I should have done it straight away.

2

3

In contrast doĺ'en ‘must’, obqźan ‘obliged’ and vyńu'den ‘forced’

4

are not used impersonally, but agree in number and gender with the 5

subject:

6

Ona´ dol'na´ (byla´ / bu´det) rabo´tat; v gosudaŕstvennoj 7

bol;niće.

8

She must (had to / will have to) work in a state hospital.

9

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Vy dol'ny

´ byĺi by nas predupredi´t;.

1

You ought to have warned us.

2

Onióbqźany vam pomo´h;.

3

They are obliged to help you.

4

5

Vrah byl vy

ńu'den operiŕovat;.

6

The doctor was forced to operate.

7

8

9

Exercise 6

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1

Replace doĺ'en by using the word in brackets in the right form and 2

tense.

3

4

1 Q doĺ'en e´xat; v Rossi´[ (prixodi´t;sq). 2 Oteć doĺ'en byl 5

kupi´t; bile´t na samole¨t (prijtiś;). 3 Mat; dol'na´ bu´det idti´

6

pewko´m (prijtiś;). 4 Ty ne dol'na´

vozvra]a´t;sq poźdno

7

(sle´dovat;). 5 Vy dol'nyśdat; \kza´men (obqźan). 6 Profeśsor 8

doĺ'en otkry´t; haśtnu[ klińiku (prixodi´t;sq). 7 On ne 9

40

doĺ'en byl soglawa´t;sq so mnoj (sle´dovat;). 8 Vrah doĺ'en 1

okaza´t; peŕvu[ po´mo]; (obqźan). 9 Vy ne dol'ny´ prixodi´t; s[da´

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(sle´dovat;). 10 Ty ne dol'na´ byla´ vstreha´t; ego´ (sle´dovat;).

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The health service

Expressions of success and luck

Certain of these expressions also use the third person of verbs impersonally with the dative.

Udava´t;sq / uda´t;sq ‘to be successful’

Nam udaloś; najti´ xoro´wu[ klińiku.

We succeeded in finding a good clinic.

Nade´[s;, hto tebeúdaśtsq rewi´t; \´tu proble´mu.

I hope that you will be successful in resolving this problem.

Note that udava´t;sq / uda´t;sq can also be used with a third person subject:

|ta proceduŕa ne vsegdaúdae¨tsq emu´.

He does not always have success with this procedure.

(lit. This procedure is not always successful for him.)

Veze¨t / povezlo´ ‘in luck, lucky’

The third person singular neuter (ono´ form) of vezti´/ povezti´ is also used with the dative to denote luck:

Emu´ povezlo´.

He was in luck.

Tebe´ veze¨t v 'iźni.

You are lucky in life.

Exercise 7

Replace the existing verb moh; / smoh; with the verb udava´t;sq /

uda´t;sq in the appropriate form.

Example: Onaśmogla´ dosta´t; bile´t na o´peru. – Ej udaloś; dosta´t; bile´t na o´peru.

1 Q smog kupi´t; maśsu knig. 2 Q du´ma[, hto profeśsor Brońwtejn smo´'et vy´'it; v uslo´viqx kriźisa. 3 My mo´'em dobe'a´t; do do´ma. 4 On mo´'et sxodi´t; v magaziń. 5 Vy smogli´