INTRODUCTION |
Eric: Beginner Series Season 2, Lesson 7 - I just wanted to send an SMS. |
Anna: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to RussianPod101.com. |
Eric: [Все хорошо, Анна?] |
Anna: [Все отлично. Как у тебя, Эрик?] |
Eric: [Также хорошо.] Alright. In this lesson, you will learn about the instrumental case. |
Anna: This conversation takes place on the plane. |
Eric: And the conversation is between unlucky Kevin and a flight attendant. |
Anna: The speakers don’t know each other, therefore they will be speaking formal Russian. |
Eric: So I’ll be playing unlucky Kevin. |
Anna: And I'm a flight attendant. |
Eric: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
DIALOGUE |
Anna: [Прошу прощения, но в самолете нельзя пользоваться мобильником.] |
Eric: [Я только хотел послать смс.] |
Anna: [Выключите мобильник, пожалуйста.] |
-- |
Eric: Once again, slowly. |
Anna: Еще раз, медленнее. |
Anna: [Прошу прощения, но в самолете нельзя пользоваться мобильником.] |
Eric: [Я только хотел послать смс.] |
Anna: [Выключите мобильник, пожалуйста.] |
-- |
Eric: One time, natural native speed with translation. |
Anna: Еще раз, с переводом. |
Anna: [Прошу прощения, но в самолете нельзя пользоваться мобильником.] |
Eric: I’m sorry but you can’t use a cellphone on the plane. |
Anna: [Я только хотел послать смс.] |
Eric: I just wanted to send an SMS. |
Anna: [Выключите мобильник, пожалуйста.] |
Eric: Turn off your cell phone, please. |
POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
Eric: So, Anna, I thought that “cellphone” is [мобильный] in Russian. But in our conversation we used a slightly different word. [мобильник], why is that? |
Anna: Well, these two words mean exactly the same thing, “a cellphone”. [Мобильник] though is a very conversational form of [мобильный телефон] or [мобильный]. |
Eric: Oh, that’s right. But I also heard people saying [сотка] referring to their cellphones as well. |
Anna: Yeah, that’s what I use, actually. [Сотка] is the conversational form from [сотовый телефон] or just [сотовый]. |
Eric: So what’s the difference between [мобильник] and [сотка]? |
Anna: If you translate this in English, it would be [мобильный] is “mobile phone” and [сотка or сотовый] is “cellphone”. |
Eric: Is there one term that’s more common than the other? |
Anna: I think it just depends on the person, so we can use either one. |
Eric: Ok. So if I want you to call my mobile, should I say [Позвони мне на мобильник]? |
Anna: Right. Or you can say [позвони мне на сотку] which means the same. |
Eric: Let’s break that down real quick. |
Anna: [позвони] |
Eric: Call. |
Anna: [мне] |
Eric: Me. |
Anna: [на] |
Eric: On. |
Anna: [мобильник] |
Eric: “Mobile”. “Call me on my mobile telephone.” |
Anna: Or [сотку]. |
Eric: Or “Call my cellphone”. |
Anna: Right. |
Eric: Ok, great. Now let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
VOCAB LIST |
Eric: Our first phrase is… |
Anna: [прошу прощения] |
Eric: I’m sorry, my apologies. |
Anna: [прошу прощения] |
Eric: Next. |
Anna: [нельзя] |
Eric: You can’t, you mustn’t, it’s forbidden. |
Anna: [нельзя] |
Eric: Next. |
Anna: [пользоваться] |
Eric: To use. |
Anna: [пользоваться] |
Eric: Next. |
Anna: [мобильник] |
Eric: Mobile phone. |
Anna: [мобильник] |
Eric: Next. |
Anna: [только] |
Eric: Only, just. |
Anna: [только] |
Eric: Next. |
Anna: [хотеть] |
Eric: To want. |
Anna: [хотеть] |
Eric: Next. |
Anna: [послать] |
Eric: To send. |
Anna: [послать] |
Eric: Next. |
Anna: [выключить] |
Eric: To turn off. |
Anna: [выключить] |
Eric: Next. |
Anna: [смс] |
Eric: SMS or text message. |
Anna: [смс] |
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
Eric: Ok, let’s have a closer look at the usage at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
Anna: The first phrase we’ll look at is [прошу прощения]. |
Eric: Which means “excuse me, I'm sorry”. So can I just say [извините] or “excuse me” or do I have to use this tongue twister of a phrase, [прошу прощения]? |
Anna: Of course you can say [извините, прошу прощения] is just a different way to say it. It’s very polite and quite formal. You wouldn’t normally use it with your friends. |
Eric: Ok, good, so I’ll stick to [извините] then. |
Anna: Well, Eric, I don’t blame you. |
Eric: So, Anna, if you really messed up, then this would be the phrase to use, right? |
Anna: Right. |
Eric: Cause [извините] may be not enough. |
Anna: Well, maybe. |
Eric: I guess depending on what you did. |
Anna: Yeah, yeah. |
Eric: The next word is… |
Anna: [нельзя]. We use it to say “We mustn’t do something” or that “it’s forbidden”. For example, [здесь нельзя курить]. |
Eric: Let’s break that down. |
Anna: [здесь] |
Eric: Here. |
Anna: [нельзя] |
Eric: Can’t. |
Anna: [курить]. |
Eric: “Smoke”. So “You can’t smoke here.” |
Anna: Right. |
Eric: Actually, you can just say [нельзя], right? |
Anna: Yes. |
Eric: In Russian, it’s common just to hear [нельзя!], but maybe in a different context. It’s like “No, you can’t do that.” |
Anna: Right, if you’re talking to your child, yeah. But sometimes we use [нельзя] as a general rule. For example, you can see a sign saying [нельзя курить здесь] or [нельзя бросать мусор]. |
Eric: You can’t litter. |
Anna: Right. |
Eric: In these phrases [здесь нельзя курить] there’s no “you”, “you can’t”. |
Anna: That’s right, because it’s a general rule. If you’re talking about rules, you can just start a phrase with [нельзя]. However, if you need to stress that only this particular person can do something, you should use “you”. |
Eric: Anna, for example, if you’re talking to your brother and he’s sick, what would you say for him not to do? |
Anna: Probably I would say [Тебе нельзя пить холодную воду]. |
Eric: Ok, let’s break that down. |
Anna: [тебе] |
Eric: You. |
Anna: [нельзя] |
Eric: Can’t. |
Anna: [пить] |
Eric: Drink. |
Anna: [холодную] |
Eric: Cold. |
Anna: [воду] |
Eric: “Water”. Ok. And this is something that my host family said to me, actually. [Тебе нельзя! Тебе нельзя пить холодную воду!] |
Anna: Yes. |
Eric: And I said, “Why? It’s no problem. Cause we don’t have this, at least where I'm from, in California, I never heard “You can’t drink cold water”, but my host family was very… |
Anna: Really? |
Eric: … that no, you should only have tea or other hot liquids. |
Anna: That’s interesting, Eric, cause this is very common in Russia. |
Eric: So one more question about that sentence - why is it [тебе] and not [ты]? |
Anna: Because we use the dative case with [нельзя]. |
Eric: So if I want to say that I can’t drink cold water, I would say what, Anna? |
Anna: You would say [Мне нельзя пить холодную воду]. |
Eric: So the next word we’ll look at is… |
Anna: [выключить] |
Eric: Which means “to turn off”. |
Anna: That’s right. |
Eric: Right. And the verb “to turn on” is quite similar to “turn off”, right? |
Anna: Yeah. |
Eric: Anna, could we have a side by side comparison? |
Anna: Sure. |
Eric: Ok. So the first word, “to turn off”... |
Anna: Is [выключить]. |
Eric: To turn on? |
Anna: [включить] |
Eric: [включить] |
Anna: [выключить, включить] |
Eric: Ok. So we’re talking about appliances here, right? |
Anna: Yes. |
Eric: Ok. Just to make that clear. This has nothing to do with people being turned on or off, right? |
Anna: No. We don’t use it in Russian. |
Eric: So, Anna, also the stress is a bit different for both of the words. |
Anna: That’s right. For “turn on” the stress is on the last syllable - [включить] |
Eric: [включить] |
Anna: Yes. And for “turn off” it’s on the first syllable - [выключить] |
Eric: [выключить] |
Anna: Yes. |
Eric: Ok, so [включить] last syllable, that’s “turn on”, and [выключить]. |
Anna: Yes. |
Eric: Turn off. |
Anna: Right. |
Eric: Anna, could we just have a quick example with “Turn off the television” and “Turn on the television”? |
Anna: [Выключи телевизор.] |
Eric: That is “Turn off the television”. |
Anna: Yes. |
Eric: And how do you say “Turn on the tele?” |
Anna: [Включи телевизор.] |
Eric: Ok. For turn off it’s the same [вы] as in “you”, formal, [выключить, вы], right? |
Anna: Yes, that’s right. |
Eric: So maybe if you’re talking with somebody and they’re talking a lot and you just want to turn them off like an appliance. “Stop talking”. You can remember the “you”, “you stop talking or turn off”, [вы] as in [выключить]. |
Anna: Yeah. |
Eric: Right. That may be a different between [включить], “turn on”, [выключить] “You stop, turn off”. |
Anna: Maybe, it could be a nice way to memorize it. |
Eric: Ok. |
Lesson focus
|
Eric: Ok, now let’s look at the grammar for this lesson. |
Anna: Today we’ll learn about the instrumental case. |
Eric: Yay, another case! |
Anna: Well, this one is really easy. |
Eric: You say that about all of them, Anna. |
Anna: Well, this one is easy. Let’s have another look at the conversation. The flight attendant says [В самолете нельзя пользоваться мобильником]. |
Eric: “In the plane, you can’t use cellphones or mobile phones.” |
Anna: Right. |
Eric: So in this example, we use the instrumental case after [пользоваться] or “to use”. So, Anna, which word in the sentence is in the instrumental case? |
Anna: [мобильником] |
Eric: So [мобильник] or “mobile phone” becomes… |
Anna: [мобильником] |
Eric: [мобильником]. Ok. What are some other examples? |
Anna: We need the instrumental case when we use something as a tool. For example, [Я ем ложкой]. |
Eric: “I eat with a spoon.” How is “spoon” normally? |
Anna: [ложка] In instrumental case, it becomes [ложкой]. |
Eric: [ложка, spoon] becomes… |
Anna: [ложкой] |
Eric: [ложкой], in the instrumental case. |
Anna: Yes. |
Eric: “I eat with a spoon.” |
Anna: [Я ем ложкой] |
Eric: Ok. |
Anna: And another example could be [Он пишет карандашом]. |
Eric: “He writes with a pencil.” So the key word is “with” for the instrumental case, right? |
Anna: Yes, but we don’t translate it into Russian, actually. |
Eric: So the case hold the “with”. [ложкой] is “with a spoon”. |
Anna: Yes. |
Eric: In this example, [я ем], “I eat”, [ложкой], “with a spoon”. |
Anna: Yes. So we cannot say [Я ем с ложкой]. |
Eric: Ok, good. And [Он пишет карандашом], also no [с]. It’s in the case, [карандашом], “with a pencil”. |
Anna: So, Eric, just to recap - when we use something as a tool, we just need the verb and a noun in the instrumental case. |
Eric: Thanks, Anna. So is this the only time when we use the instrumental case? |
Anna: No, not Eric. The instrumental case is also commonly used to talk about your job. For example, [Она работает врачом]. |
Eric: “She works as a doctor.” And how do you say “doctor”? |
Anna: [врач] |
Eric: [врач]. Here it becomes… |
Anna: [доктором] |
Eric: [доктором] or… |
Anna: [врачом] |
Eric: [врачом] |
Anna: [Она работает врачом.] |
Eric: “She works doctor” or “as a doctor”. Ok. |
Anna: We also use instrumental case after the preposition [с] or “with”. [Я живу с мамой.] |
Eric: “I live with my mother.” Let’s break that down. |
Anna: [я] |
Eric: I. |
Anna: [живу] |
Eric: Live. |
Anna: [с] |
Eric: With. |
Anna: [мамой] |
Eric: “My mother”. And “mom” normally is how? |
Anna: [мама] |
Eric: And in the instrumental case it becomes… |
Anna: [мамой] |
Eric: [мамой]. Ok. Great. So that leads me to the endings in the instrumental case. I’ve noticed that sometimes it’s [ом] and sometimes it’s [ей]. |
Anna: Yeah, that’s right. It depends on the gender of the noun. The endings for masculine nouns in the instrumental case are [ом] or [ем]. |
Eric: So, for example, “pencil”, [карандаш]. |
Anna: It becomes [карандашом]. |
Eric: Because it’s a masculine noun. |
Anna: In instrumental case. |
Eric: Ok. |
Anna: It is [ем] if noun ends in [ь] or [й] and it is [ом] for all other masculine nouns. |
Eric: Ok, so what about feminine nouns? |
Anna: The endings for feminine nouns are [ой] or [ей]. |
Eric: So just like in our example, “I live with my mother”. |
Anna: [Я живу с мамой.] |
Eric: [мамой] |
Anna: [мамой] is feminine noun, so in instrumental case it becomes [с мамой]. |
Outro
|
Eric: Perfect, Anna, thank you. |
Anna: Thank you, Eric. |
Eric: And that will do it for today’s lesson. |
Anna: Stop by and leave us a comment. |
Eric: We’d love to hear from you. |
Anna: [Спасибо и до встречи!] |
Eric: See you next time. |
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