Learn about expressing the unreal condition and Russian beliefs
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Yura: Привет всем, с Вами RussianPod101.com, я Юра. |
| Svetlana: А я Светлана, здравствуйте, welcome to Intermediate lesson 24, Daydreaming in Russia |
| Yura: in this lesson we will learn about conditionals in Russian |
| Svetlana: While talking about the things that could have been.. |
| Yura: The conversation takes place in a cafe |
| Yura: and it is between Kseniya and Bill |
| Svetlana: The speakers will use informal Russian because they are boyfriend and girlfriend |
| Yura: all right, let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Ксения: О чём ты задумался? |
| Билл: Просто думаю, какой бы была моя жизнь, если бы я не приехал в Россию. |
| Ксения: Если бы ты не приехал в Россию, ты бы не встретил меня. |
| Билл: Да. Я бы до сих пор жил в Бостоне, работал бы в рекламной компании... |
| Ксения: А если бы я не встретила тебя здесь, я бы уехала в Америку. |
| Билл: Тогда бы мы встретились там! |
| Yura: Let’s listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Ксения: О чём ты задумался? |
| Билл: Просто думаю, какой бы была моя жизнь, если бы я не приехал в Россию. |
| Ксения: Если бы ты не приехал в Россию, ты бы не встретил меня. |
| Билл: Да. Я бы до сих пор жил в Бостоне, работал бы в рекламной компании... |
| Ксения: А если бы я не встретила тебя здесь, я бы уехала в Америку. |
| Билл: Тогда бы мы встретились там! |
| Yura: Let’s listen to the conversation with English translation. |
| Ксения: О чём ты задумался? |
| Ksenia: What are you thinking about? |
| Билл: Просто думаю, какой бы была моя жизнь, если бы я не приехал в Россию. |
| Bill: Just thinking about what my life would be like if I hadn’t come to Russia. |
| Ксения: Если бы ты не приехал в Россию, ты бы не встретил меня. |
| Ksenia: If you hadn’t come to Russia, you would not have met me. |
| Билл: Да. Я бы до сих пор жил в Бостоне, работал бы в рекламной компании... |
| Bill: Yes. I'd still be living in Boston, working in an advertising company ... |
| Ксения: А если бы я не встретила тебя здесь, я бы уехала в Америку. |
| Ksenia: And if I hadn’t met you here, I would have gone to America. |
| Билл: Тогда бы мы встретились там! |
| Bill: Then we would have met there! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Yura: So, they’re not actually dreaming. |
| Svetlana: No, they are not. They are talking about what could have happened if they had not met. |
| Yura: And what would have happened if Bill hadn’t gone to Russia? |
| Svetlana: They would have ended up together anyway. |
| Yura: Because it is their destiny to be together. |
| Svetlana: So many couples like to believe so... |
| Yura: Nah, I don’t believe in destiny. |
| Svetlana: Well, many Russians do believe in destiny, but also in chances and of course in people’s free will. The faith in all these contradictory concepts has become the central topic of many literature masterpieces! |
| Yura: Oh yeah? For example? |
| Svetlana: Well, Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita to name the famous one. |
| Yura: I see, interesting. Shall we go to the vocabulary part? |
| Svetlana: Let’s go! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Yura: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| 1 The first word is |
| Задуматься (natural) |
| think about |
| Задуматься (slow) |
| Задуматься (natural) |
| 2 Next is |
| Приехать (natural) |
| come, reach |
| Приехать (slow) |
| Приехать (natural) |
| 3 Next is |
| встретить (natural) |
| to meet, pick up |
| встретить (slow) |
| встретить (natural) |
| 4 Next is |
| Жизнь (natural) |
| life |
| Жизнь (slow) |
| Жизнь (natural) |
| 5 Next is |
| до сих пор (natural) |
| still, until now |
| до сих пор (slow) |
| до сих пор (natural) |
| 6 Next is |
| жить (natural) |
| live |
| жить (slow) |
| жить (natural) |
| 7 Next is |
| Рекламный (natural) |
| advertising |
| Рекламный (slow) |
| Рекламный (natural) |
| 8 Next is |
| если (natural) |
| if |
| если (slow) |
| если (natural) |
| 9 Next is |
| тогда (natural) |
| then |
| тогда (slow) |
| тогда (natural) |
| 10 Last is |
| там (natural) |
| there |
| там (slow) |
| там (natural) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Yura: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Svetlana: The first word we will take a look at is Задуматься |
| Yura: This verb can be translated as “to think” with a notion of starting thinking, considering. |
| Svetlana: Usually it is used with the preposition o-’about’ and a noun in prepositional case. |
| Yura: For example, ‘I started thinking about my future when I turned 30.’ |
| Svetlana: Я задумался о моём будущем, когда мне исполнилось 30. A little late don’t you think? |
| Yura: better late than never. Well, what is the next word? |
| Svetlana: Приехать which is a verb that means “to come by some means of transport” not on foot. The conjugation in the present tense (with notion of future) is Приеду / Приедешь / Приедет / Приедем / Приедете / Приедут. |
| Yura: What do you mean by a notion of future? |
| Svetlana: I mean the conjugation is according to the rules of the present tense but the meaning is actually about the future. For the present tense we will need to use a different verb – приезжать. It is similar but not the same. |
| Yura: I see , good! The next word is встретить-’to meet someone.’ Svetlana, How would you say ‘Meet an old friend’? |
| Svetlana: встретить старого друга. Or for example “welcome a new year”- “meet a new year “would be встретить новый год.The next word is actually an expression- До сих пор This phrase is translated as still, but its literal translation is “until these times”. |
| Yura: For example, ‘He still lives with his parents.’ |
| Svetlana: Он до сих пор живёт с родителями. The question word-’until when’ will be до каких пор. |
| Yura: Until when is this going to last? |
| Svetlana: До каких пор это будет продолжаться? Until we finish all the words! What’s next? |
| Yura: The next one is ‘advertising’... |
| Svetlana: рекламный, I always use the phrases like рекламный трюк or рекламное агентство. |
| Yura: Advertising trick or advertising agency? I see. |
| Svetlana: Okay, now let’s go to the grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Yura: In this lesson, we're going to learn how to make conditional sentences in Russian by using the word-если which means “if”. Let’s start with The Unreal Conditional. |
| Svetlana: Right, the unreal conditional denotes a condition that was not met in the past, or that is unlikely to be fulfilled in the future. In other words, to try to express our dreams to suggest some situations that are not real. The Unreal Conditional is formed by если бы +verb in past tense. |
| Yura: Can we make some examples? |
| Svetlana: Sure, why not? For example, Если бы я только мог познакомиться с ней! |
| Yura: ‘If only I had gotten to know her.’ |
| Svetlana: Если бы я знал её номер, то позвонил бы ей. |
| Yura: ‘If I knew her phone number, I would call her’ or ’if I had known her phone number, I would have called her.’ As you can see, dear listeners, the unreal conditional is much easier in Russian than in English. All you need to know is the verb conjugation in the past and then add ‘if’- если and бы. |
| Svetlana: You are absolutely right. And we have had enough lessons to feel comfortable with the past tense. So, to continue we usually use the unreal condition to express our regret. Если бы я мог помочь, я бы это сделал не раздумывая. |
| Yura: ‘If only I could help I would do it in a heartbeat.’ |
| Svetlana: The main clause may be left out: Если бы мы знали! ‘If only we had known!’ |
| Yura: Or Если бы я только умел летать! ‘If only I could fly!’ |
| Svetlana: Great sentence! What would you do if you could fly? |
| Yura: если бы я только умел летать, я бы стал супергероем. If I could fly, I would become a superhero! |
| Svetlana: Hahaha, boys will be boys. Dear listeners, as you have noticed we must use the word бы in each part of the sentence. Умел бы, стал бы |
| Yura: Ok, is there anything else in our grammar part? |
| Svetlana: Yes, the word ‘if’- Если is also used to introduce a condition and the results if the condition is met: for example, Я пойду, если она там будет. |
| Yura: ‘I'll go if she will be there.’ |
| Svetlana: Если ты знал, почему же ты мне не сказал!? |
| Yura: ‘If you knew, why didn't you tell me!?’ In this case we don’t need to use бы. |
| Svetlana: That’s correct. And the verbs can be used in any tense, not only the past. |
| Если хочешь есть, приготовь себе яичницу. ‘If you want to eat, fry an egg.’ |
| Если он хотел есть, он готовил себе яичницу. ‘If he wanted to eat, he fried an egg.’ |
| Если он захочет есть, он приготовит себе яичницу. ‘If he wants to eat, he will fry an egg.’ |
| Yura: I see, that is good to know. So, are we done for this lesson? |
| Svetlana: Yes, that is all. |
Outro |
| Yura: Then see you next time! |
| Svetlana: Пока-пока! |
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