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

I don’t believe he will come.

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Boq´t;sq ‘to fear’ may be followed by either the indicative or htoby 5

+ ne + past tense:

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Q bo[

ś;, hto on pride¨t.

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I’m afraid he will come.

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Q bo[

ś;, hto´by on ne prixodiĺ.

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I’m afraid he will not come.

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Q bo[

ś;, hto on ne pride¨t.

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I’m afraid he will not come.

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Exercise 9

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Put the following sentences into the subjunctive using hto´by + past 9

tense.

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1 Q somneva´[s;, hto \´to pra´vda. 2 Q ne veŕ[, hto on pride¨t.

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3 Q ne du´ma[, hto onaśdast \kza´men. 4 Q sove´tu[ vam podu´mat; 3

ob \´tom. 5 On prośil menq pogovori´t; s nej. 6 On prikazaĺ mne 4

poe´xat; v Lońdon.

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Hto´by + past tense after impersonal expressions denoting 8

desirablity and undesirability

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Expressions such as 'ela´tel;no ‘it is desirable’; va´'no ‘it is 1

important’; lu´hwe ‘it is better’; nevozmo´'no ‘it is impossible’; 421111

neveroq´tno ‘it is inconceivable’; ne mo´'et byt; ‘it cannot be’; na´do,

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Russian society

nu´'no ‘it is necessary’; gla´vnoe ‘the main thing is’ are also followed by hto´by + past tense:

@ela´tel;no, hto´by on ne priwe¨l.

It is desirable that he should not come.

Neveroq´tno, hto´by on priwe¨l.

It is inconceivable that he should come.

Gla´vnoe, hto´by emuńra´vilas; rabo´ta.

The main thing is that he should like the job.

Exercise 10

Complete the sentences using the phrase in brackets with hto´by +

past tense.

1 Ohen; va´'no (uhi´tel; obrazo´vannyj helove´k). 2 Ohen; va´'no (u dete´j ra´vnye vozmo´'nosti na obrazovańie). 3 Ohen; va´'no (studeńtam nra´vitsq uhi´t;sq). 4 Na´do (blagosostoqńie l[de´j povyśitsq). 5 Na´do (vse l[

´ di ime´[t rabo´tu). 6 Na´do (u l[de´j

sbere'eńiq). 7 Na´do (vse boga´tye pla´tqt nalo´gi). 8 Nevozmo´'no (v Rossií net xoro´wix doro´g). 9 Nevozmo´'no (on opozdaét na poézd. 10 Neveroq´tno (onańapi´wet romań). 11 Neveroq´tno (ona´

brośit kuri´t;). 12 Ne mo´'et byt; (u nego´ 'ena´). 13 Ne mo´'et byt; (u nee¨ net mu´'a).

Whoever, whatever etc.

Kto, hto, gde, kuda´, kak, kako´j combine with by + ni + past tense to translate ‘whoever, whatever, wherever (place), wherever (motion), however, whichever’:

Hto by ty ni skazaĺ, q ne soglawuś;.

Whatever you said I wouldn’t agree.

Gde by my ni 'iĺi, nam vse¨ boĺ;we nra´vitsq naw

rodno´j goŕod.

Wherever we have lived we still like our home town best.

Such sentences may also be rendered using the appropriate form of the indicative:

Hto ty ni ska´'ew;, q ne soglawuś;.

Whatever you say I won’t agree.

Rossijskoe obwestvo

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Exercise 11

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Translate the phrases in brackets into Russian.

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1 (Whatever you say), vseöstae¨tsq pre´'nim.

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2 (Wherever they worked), oni´ vsegda´ byĺi shaśtlivy.

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3 (Whenever she thinks about him), ona vsegdańahinaét pla´kat;.

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4 (Wherever my husband goes), on vsegda´ posylaét mne otkry´tki.

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5 (However difficult it was), my dol'nyńa´jti ego´.

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6 (Whenever I saw her), ona´ vsegda bylaóde´ta po posle´dnej mo´de.

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Exercise 12

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To which class in your opinion do these people belong? Why?

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