How to Ask If a Store Has a Specific Item

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Russian by RussianPod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask if a store has something in Russian.

For example, "Is there any salt?" is

Извините, у вас есть соль? (Izvinite, u vas yest' sol'?)

Mikhail Maslov is at a small grocery store and wants to buy some salt.

He gets the clerk's attention and asks if the store has some salt.

Before you hear the conversation, let's preview some of its key components.

соль (sol’)

"salt"

соль

здесь (zdes’)

"here"

здесь

Listen to the conversation.

Извините, у вас есть соль? (Izvinite, u vas yest' sol'?)

Да, она здесь. (Da, ona zdes'.)

Once more with the English translation.

Извините, у вас есть соль? (Izvinite, u vas yest' sol'?)

"Excuse me, do you have salt?"

Да, она здесь. (Da, ona zdes'.)

"Yes, it's here."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Mikhail asks,

"Excuse me, do you have salt?"

Извините, у вас есть соль? (Izvinite, u vas yest' sol'?)

First is извините (izvinite) meaning, "Excuse me." Извините . Извините.

Извините (izvinite) from the verb извинять (izvinyat’), "to excuse". Извинять.

Note: You may be familiar with the informal form извини (izvini), "Excuse me." In this conversation, Mikhail is speaking with someone he doesn’t know, so he uses the formal form, извините (izvinite).

Next is у вас есть (u vas yest’), meaning "[do] you have…" У вас есть . У вас есть.

Note: у вас есть is formal.

Last is соль (sol’), "salt." Cоль . Cоль.

In Russian, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Cоль (sol’) is singular and feminine.

All together, Извините, у вас есть соль? (Izvinite, u vas yest' sol'?) "Excuse me, do you have salt?"

Извините, у вас есть соль? (Izvinite, u vas yest' sol'?)

Let’s take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how the shop clerk says,

"Yes, it’s here."

Да, она здесь. (Da, ona zdes'.)

This starts with the expression, Да (Da), "yes." Да . Да.

It answers Mikhail 's question,

Извините, у вас есть соль? (Izvinite, u vas yest' sol'?)

"Excuse me, do you have salt?"

Next is она (ona), literally "she," but it translates as "it," as in "It’s here." Она . Она.

Note: The feminine singular pronoun она (ona), "she" is used to refer to the feminine singular noun соль (sol') in the response:

Да, она здесь (Da, ona zdes’), "Yes, she is here" is equal to

Да, соль здесь (Da, sol’ zdes’), "Yes, salt is here".

Last is the word здесь (zdes’), "here." Здесь . Здесь.

Note: the corresponding Russian word for [is] is omitted as it is understood from context.

All together, it's Да, она здесь. (Da, ona zdes'.), literally "Yes, she here," but it translates as "Yes, it’s here."

Да, она здесь. (Da, ona zdes'.)

The pattern is

У вас есть ITEM? (U vas yest’ ITEM?)

"Do you have ITEM?"

У вас есть ITEM?

To use this pattern, simply replace the {ITEM} placeholder with the thing you’re looking for.

Note: This pattern requires a noun.

Imagine you’re looking for milk.

Молоко (Moloko). "Milk." Молоко . Молоко.

Say, "Do you have milk?"

Ready?

У вас есть молоко? (U vas yest’ moloko?)

"Do you have milk?"

У вас есть молоко? (U vas yest’ moloko?)

The pattern У вас есть… (Y vas yest’...) is for formal situations.

However, when asking for something in an informal situation, the pattern changes slightly.

Imagine that you are planning to cook pancakes, but you are out of salt, and all nearby shops are closed.

In Russia, it's common to ask your neighbors if they could help you out with a little bit of salt.

In this case, you can ask,

У тебя есть соль? (U tebya yest’ sol’?), "Do you have salt?"

To create this pattern,

Simply replace вас (vas) with тебя, the informal way to say "you." Тебя . Тебя.

У тебя есть соль? (U tebya yest’ sol’?)

Again, the key pattern is

У вас есть ITEM? (U vas yest’ ITEM?)

"Do you have ITEM?"

У вас есть ITEM?

Let's look at some examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

У вас есть соль? (U vas yest' sol'?)

"Do you have salt?"

У вас есть соль? (U vas yest' sol'?)

У вас есть молоко? (U vas yest' moloko?)

"Do you have milk?"

У вас есть молоко? (U vas yest' moloko?)

У вас есть вода? (U vas yest’ voda?)

"Do you have water?"

У вас есть вода? (U vas yest’ voda?)

У вас есть яйца? (U vas yest’ yaytsa?)

"Do you have eggs?"

У вас есть яйца? (U vas yest’ yaytsa?)

Где сахар? (Gde sakhar?)

"Where is the sugar?"

Где сахар? (Gde sakhar?)

Did you notice how last speaker replaced У вас есть (U vas yest’) with Где (Gde)?

Где сахар? (Gde sakhar?)

"Where is the sugar?"

With this question, you are presuming that the shop has sugar.

First is Где (Gde), "where." Где . Где.

After this is сахар (sakhar), "sugar." Сахар . Сахар.

All together, Где сахар? (Gde sakhar?). This literally means "Where sugar?" but it translates as "Where is the sugar?"

Где сахар? (Gde sakhar?)

This sentence pattern is

Где ITEM? (Gde ITEM?)

"Where is ITEM?"

You should be aware of this pattern, but you won’t need it for this lesson.

Let's review the key vocabulary.

соль (sol’)

"salt"

соль

молоко (moloko)

"milk"

молоко

вода (voda)

"water"

вода

сахар (sakhar)

"sugar"

сахар

яйца (yaytsa)

"eggs"

яйца

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember the formal way to say,

"Excuse me."

извините (izvinite)

And how to say "salt?"

соль (sol’)

Do you remember how Mikhail Maslov asks,

"Excuse me, do you have salt?"

Извините, у вас есть соль? (Izvinite, u vas yest' sol'?)

Do you remember how to say "yes?"

да (da)

And how to say "here?"

здесь (zdes’)

Do you remember how the clerk says,

"Yes, it's here."

Да, она здесь. (Da, ona zdes'.)

Do you remember how to say "milk?"

молоко (moloko)

And how to say "sugar?"

сахар (sakhar)

And how to say "eggs?"

яйца (yaytsa)

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Mikhail Maslov , and you're at the grocery store. Get the shopkeeper's attention and ask if they have milk, or молоко (moloko).

Ready?

Извините, у вас есть молоко? (Izvinite, u vas yest' moloko?)

Да, оно здесь. (Da, ono zdes'.)

Listen again and repeat.

Извините, у вас есть молоко? (Izvinite, u vas yest' moloko?)

Let's try another.

Imagine you're Milena Maslova , and you're at the grocery store to buy eggs, or яйца (yaytsa).

Ready?

У вас есть яйца? (U vas yest' yaytsa?)

Да, они здесь. (Da, oni zdes'.)

Listen again and repeat.

У вас есть яйца? (U vas yest' yaytsa?)

Let’s try one more.

Imagine you're Marina Maslova , and you’re at the grocery store to buy sugar, or сахар (sakhar).

Ready?

Извините, у вас есть сахар? (Izvinite, u vas yest' sakhar?)

Да, он здесь. (Da, on zdes'.)

Listen again and repeat.

Извините, у вас есть сахар? (Izvinite, u vas yest' sakhar?)

In this lesson, you learned how to ask if a store has something. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of shopping at a grocery store. Let’s review.

Do you remember how to say "please?"

пожалуйста (pozhaluysta)

пожалуйста (pozhaluysta).

And do you remember how to say,

"That, please."

То, пожалуйста. (To, pozhaluysta.)

Imagine you're Jack Jones , and you're at a grocery store, and you'd like to buy an Item located near you. You point at it and request "this."

Do you remember how to say "this" in Russian?

это (eto)

Request "this" from the clerk.

Это, пожалуйста. (Eto, pozhaluysta.)

Вот, возьмите! (Vot, voz'mite.)

Listen again and repeat.

Это, пожалуйста. (Eto, pozhaluysta.)

You remembered that you also wanted to buy milk

Do you remember how to say "milk" in Russian?

молоко (moloko)

Now ask the clerk if the store has milk.

Ready?

Извините, у вас есть молоко? (Izvinite, u vas yest' moloko?)

Да, оно здесь. (Da, ono zdes'.)

Listen again and repeat.

Извините, у вас есть молоко? (Izvinite, u vas yest' moloko?)

This is the end of this lesson.

In this lesson, you learned how to ask if a store has something, an essential skill for shopping at a grocery store.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

What's next?

Show us what you can do.

When you're ready, take your assessment.

You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like.

Our teachers will assess it, and give you your results.

Keep practicing — and move on to the next lesson!

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