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

dobra´t;sq do

to get to

zarańee

in advance

Transport

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41

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marwru´tnoe taksi´

minibus

2

me'dunaro´dnyj

international

3

nalo´g

tax

4

nohno´j rejs

night flight

5

opozda´t; na (+ acc)

to be late for

6

otpravlq´t;sq

to set off, depart

7

povernu´t;

to turn

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po'aĺuj

perhaps

9

re´jsovyj avto´bus

regular bus

10

stoímost; ( f )

cost

1

stoqńka

(taxi) rank, stop

2

toĺ;ko hto

just

3

4

N.B. bile´t tudaí obra´tno – return ticket; plati´t; nali´hnymi – to pay 5

cash; vse¨ bu´det v porq´dke – everything will be OK

6

7

8

Exercise 1

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20111

Answer the following questions in English.

1

2

1 What airlines operate within Russia?

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2 What are the methods of payment for an air ticket?

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3 What does a ticket to Irkutsk cost?

5

4 How do you get to Sheremet'evo Terminal 1 from Terminal 2?

6

5 What do you need to check-in?

7

8

Language points ♦

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30

Imperatives

1

2

In the above dialogue there are several examples of the second person 3

imperative:

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Ska'i´te po'aĺujsta

tell (me ) please

5

Idi´te prq´mo

go straight on

6

7

Imperatives can be formed from either imperfective or perfective 8

verbs. Remove the last two letters from the third person plural (oni´

9

form) of the present or future perfective to find the stem of the verb.

40

Add -i if the stem ends in a consonant or -j if it ends in a vowel: 1

idti´ – idu´t – id – idi´ ‘go!’; hita´t; – hita´[t – hita –

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hita´j ‘read!’.

42

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Transport

Verbs with their stem ending in a single consonant that are stressed on the stem throughout their conjugation take the imperative ending

-;: zaby´t; – zabu´dut – zabud – zabu´d; ‘forget’.

For the plural or polite form add -te: idi´te, hita´jte, zabu´d;te.

The reflexive ending is -sq after -j or -; and -s; after -i or -te: odeva´jsq, odeva´jtes;; odeń;sq, odeń;tes; ‘dress’.

Verbs ending in -avat; form their imperative irregularly: dava´t;

– da[´t – dava´j(te) ‘give’; vstava´t; – vsta[´t – vstava´j(te) ‘stand’.

Note also est; – ew;(te) ‘eat’ and pit; – pej(te) ‘drink’.

Stress is on the same syllable in the imperative as in the first person singular (q form): pisa´t; – piwu´ – piwi´(te) ‘write’. The imperative of poe´xat; is poez'a´j(te).

Generally the imperfective imperative is used to express general injunctions to perform or refrain from actions. It is often found in negative sentences:

Ne terq´jte bilet!

Do not lose your ticket!

A perfective imperative relates to one particular occasion: Poverni´te napra´vo!

Turn right!

Exercise 2

Put the verb in brackets into the imperative to complete the sentence.

Example: (Brośit;) muśor v korzińu. – Broś;te muśor v korzińu!

1 (Ostanovi´t;) mawińu. 2 (Zakaza´t;) gostińicu.

3 (Porekomendova´t;) xoro´wij bank. 4 (Kupi´t;) aviabile´t.

5 (Zakry´t;) dver;. 6 (Postroít;) no´vu[ doro´gu. 7 (Poe´xat;) do Peterbuŕga. 8 (Oplati´t;) poeźdku. 9 (Provodi´t;) passa'iŕa k poézdu. 10 (Prigoto´vit;sq) k pole¨tu.

Exercise 3

Examine the special offer from Transaero Airline (shown on p. 43).

Answer the questions in English.

1 What flights does Transaero have?

2 What planes does the company use?

Transport

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43

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2

TRANSA|RO

3

4

aviakompaniq

5

SPECIAL:NOE PREDLO@ENIE:

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7

XITROU – MOSKVA ot £199 (+nalog £26.10)

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Rossijskaq aviakompaniq TRANSA|RO su]estvuet na rynke

9

bolee 8 let i vypolnqet regulqrnye rejsy iz Moskvy

10

(Domodedovo) v Sankt-Peterburg, Vladivostok, Omsk,

1

Noril;sk, Krasnoqrsk, Ekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, 2