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

V 1992 goduśokra]eńie naseleńiq

otmehaĺos; na 44 (territoŕiq) Rossií, a v 93 goduú'e´ v 68 iz 79 (rossi´jskij regioń). 3 V periód s 1897 go´da po 1924 god prirośt naseleńiq sosta´vil boĺee 22 (millioń) helove´k. 4 Sem;qś 3–5 (rebe¨nok) bol;wa´q re´dkost; v Rossií. 5 Bez migraćii hiślennost; naseleńiq Rossií sokratiĺas; by do 140 (millioń) helove´k u'e´ k 2000 go´du. 6 Soglaśno demo´grafam hiślennost; naseleńiq Rossií sniźitsq k 2010 godu´ do 133 (millioń) helove´k.

7 Ne´vskij \kspreśs sposo´ben razviva´t; skoŕost; do 200 km. v has.

8 Stoímost; aviabile´ta v Moskvuót 199 (doĺlar). 9 Mne o´hen; nra´vitsq kni´ga .

Collective numerals

Collective numerals dvoé ‘two’; troé ‘three’; he´tvero ‘four’, are followed by the genitive plural. They can conveniently be used with plural only nouns that have no genitive singular: troé haso´v ‘three clocks’; he´tvero su´tok ‘four days and nights’. Collective numerals cannot be used in compounds, so paŕa or wtu´ka is used: dva´dcat; tri paŕy haso´v ‘twenty-three clocks’.

Forms also exist for five to ten: pq´tero, weśtero, se´mero, voś;mero, de´vqtero, deśqtero. Collective numerals are often found with animate masculine nouns, with l[´di, lico´ and de´ti: dvoé mu'hiń ‘two men’; troé l[de´j ‘three people’; pq´tero dete´j ‘five children’; weśtero druze´j ‘six friends’.

Note also the expressions: nas byĺo troé ‘there were three of us’; my / nas dvoé ‘we two’; ko´mnata na dvoi´x ‘room for two’; na svoi´x dvoi´x ‘on your own two feet / on foot’.

Demografiq

|

169

1111

2

Exercise 4

3

4

Replace cardinal numerals by collective ones.

5

1 V sem;e´ (hetyŕe rebe¨nka). 2 My rabo´tali (dva dnq i dve no´hi).

6

3 Sredińas byĺo (tri de´vuwki). 4 (Pqt; solda´t) byĺi poślany 7

8111

v Hehn[

´ . 5 (Sem; sportsmeńov) poluhiĺi medaĺi. 6 (West; 9

studeńtov) zapisaĺis; na kuŕsy ruśskogo qzyka´.

10

1

Quantitative nouns

2

3

These consist of edinića ‘one’; dvo´jka ‘two’; tro´jka ‘three’; 4

hetve¨rka ‘four’; pqte¨rka ‘five’; weste¨rka ‘six’; seme¨rka ‘seven’; 5

vos;me¨rka ‘eight; devq´tka ‘nine’; desq´tka ‘ten’. They are used prin-6

cipally for playing cards: desq´tka tref, bu´ben, herve´j, pik ‘the 7

ten of clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades’ and in the five point Russian 8

marking scale where tro´jka is satisfactory and pqte¨rka is excellent.

9

Note also how seme¨rka is used to translate ‘the Seven (advanced 20111

industrial nations)’.

1

2

3

Other numerical expressions

4

You may find the following expressions useful:

5

6

vdvoé / vtroé boĺ;we

7

twice / three times as much

8

v dva / tri / hety

ŕe raźa boĺ;we

9

twice / three / four times as big

30

1

Contrast the expressions vdvoe¨m,

vtroe¨m meaning ‘two / three

2

together’:

3

4

oni´ 'ivu´t vdvoe¨m

the two of them live together

5

6

7

8

9

40

1

421111

170

|

Demography

Exercise 5

Insert the right word dvoé, vdvoe¨m, vdvoé.

1 Oni´ poe´xali v Rossi´[ . . . 2 V \´tom godu´ v Rossi´[ prie´xalo

. . . boĺ;we be´'encev, hem v prowlo´m godu´ . . . 3 sportsmeńov zańqli peŕvoe meśto.

troé, vtroe¨m, vtroé

4 . . . druze´j rewiĺi poe´xat; na Kavkaź. 5 Oni vse¨ deĺa[t . . .

6 Ee¨ zarpla´ta . . . boĺ;we, hem ego´.

Indefinite numerals

Neśkol;ko ‘several’, skoĺ;ko ‘how many’ and stoĺ;ko ‘how many’

decline like plural adjectives and agree with the nouns they describe: iz neśkol;kix dańnyx ‘from several statistics’. Mno´go ‘many, much’ and nemno´go ‘not many’ decline in both the singular and the plural; vo mno´gom ‘in many respects’; vo mno´gix mesta´x ‘in many places’. Maĺo ‘few’ does not decline.

Exercise 6

Put mno´go, nemno´go, neśkol;ko, skoĺ;ko in the right case.

1

Po mneńi[ (neśkol;ko) demo´grafov Rossií grozi´t

demografi´heskaq katastro´fa. 2 Vo (mno´go) raźvityx strańax prodol'i´tel;nost; 'iźni o´hen; vyso´kaq. 3 Proble´ma bylaŕewena´ v teheńie (neśkol;ko) dnej. 4 (Neśkol;ko) se´m;qm my pomogli´ den;ga´mi i ode´'doj. 5 U (mno´go) be´'encev net da´'e ode´'dy. 6 Na konfereńcii q poznako´milas; s (neśkol;ko) no´vymi ruśskimi. 7 So (skoĺ;ko) studeńtami vy razgovaŕivali?