Learn about using the genitive case to make comparisons and convey part of a whole
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Yuriy: Hello and welcome back to RussianPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner season 1, lesson 15 - Renting an Apartment in Russia. I’m Yuriy. |
| Elena: Привет, меня зовут Елена. Hello, I’m Elena! |
| Yuriy: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use the Genitive case for making comparisons and conveying part of a whole. |
| Elena: The conversation takes place in a real estate office. |
| Yuriy: The speakers are Alex and a broker, who are strangers, so they’ll be using formal Russian. Okay! Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Алекс:Добрый день. Меня зовут Алекс, я из Америки. Я хочу снять квартиру. |
| Брокер:Здравствуйте. Какую именно квартиру вы ищете? |
| Алекс:Я хочу снять просторное и светлое жильё, где есть холодильник и кондиционер. |
| Брокер:Вы хотите снять квартиру или одну комнату квартиры? Квартира намного дороже комнаты. |
| Алекс:Тогда, одну комнату. |
| Aleks:Dobryy den'. Menya zovut Aleks, ya iz Ameriki. Ya khochu snyat' kvartiru. |
| Broker:Zdravstvuyte. Kakuyu imenno kvartiru vy ishchete? |
| Aleks:Ya khochu snyat' prostornoye i svetloye zhil'yo, gde yest' kholodil'nik i konditsioner. |
| Broker:Vy khotite snyat' kvartiru ili odnu komnatu kvartiry? Kvartira namnogo dorozhe komnaty. |
| Aleks:Togda, odnu komnatu. |
| Алекс:Добрый день. Меня зовут Алекс, я из Америки. Я хочу снять квартиру. |
| Yuriy: Good afternoon. My name is Alex. I'm from America. I want to rent an apartment. |
| Брокер:Здравствуйте. Какую именно квартиру вы ищете? |
| Yuriy: Good day. What kind of apartment exactly are you looking for? |
| Алекс:Я хочу снять просторное и светлое жильё, где есть холодильник и кондиционер. |
| Yuriy: I want to rent a bright and spacious accommodation with a refrigerator and an air conditioner. |
| Брокер:Вы хотите снять квартиру или одну комнату квартиры? Квартира намного дороже комнаты. |
| Yuriy: Do you want to rent an apartment or one room of an apartment? An apartment is much more expensive than a room. |
| Алекс:Тогда, одну комнату. |
| Yuriy: Then, one room. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Yuriy: Poor Alex, I guess he realized that renting a whole apartment will cost him too much. |
| Elena: You're right. Moscow is considered to be a very expensive city to live in. |
| Yuriy: For example, a one-room apartment can cost approximately $1000 per month. That would be middle-class accommodation somewhere in the suburbs. And I’m guessing central Moscow is even more expensive than that! |
| Elena: Definitely. |
| Yuriy: So how do Russians count rooms? |
| Elena: Well, when Russian people count rooms, they don't count the kitchen, bathroom, toilet and entrance way. |
| Yuriy: Ah, so if someone says that they have a 3-room apartment or 2 rooms, it means that he has 2 or 3 rooms plus a kitchen, bathroom, and toilet. |
| Elena: That’s right. |
| Yuriy: Ok, now let’s move on to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Elena квартира [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy apartment/flat |
| Elena квартира [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena квартира [natural native speed] |
| Elena снять [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy to rent |
| Elena снять [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena снять [natural native speed] |
| Elena искать [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy to look for, search |
| Elena искать [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena искать [natural native speed] |
| Elena светлый [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy bright |
| Elena светлый [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena светлый [natural native speed] |
| Elena кондиционер [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy air conditioner |
| Elena кондиционер [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena кондиционер [natural native speed] |
| Elena именно [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy exactly |
| Elena именно [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena именно [natural native speed] |
| Elena жильё [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy housing, accommodation |
| Elena жильё [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena жильё [natural native speed] |
| Elena комната [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy room |
| Elena комната [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena комната [natural native speed] |
| Elena просторный [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy spacious |
| Elena просторный [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena просторный [natural native speed] |
| Elena холодильник [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy refrigerator |
| Elena холодильник [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena холодильник [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Yuriy: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Elena: a verb снять, which can be translated as “to rent” or “to lease”. As you might expect, this verb is used with such nouns as квартира... |
| Yuriy: "apartment" |
| Elena: комната |
| Yuriy: "room" |
| Elena: жильё |
| Yuriy: "housing" |
| Elena: офис |
| Yuriy: "office" |
| Elena: Listeners, please don’t forget that the verb снять needs a noun in the accusative case after it. |
| Yuriy: For example... |
| Elena: Я хочу снять квартиру в центре Москвы. |
| Yuriy: "I want to rent an apartment in the center of Moscow." How about another one? |
| Elena: Компания планирует снять новый офис |
| Yuriy: "The company plans to rent a new office." The next meaning of this word is “to take off”—for example clothes, shoes, or a hat. Like in this sentence... |
| Elena: На улице было очень жарко и Ваня снял шапку" |
| Yuriy: "It was very hot outside, so Vanya took off his hat." What’s the next word for this lesson? |
| Elena: The next key word for this lesson is an adjective, светлый. |
| Yuriy: "bright" or "light". |
| Elena: We use this word in several ways. |
| Yuriy: The first meaning is "filled with light". For example... |
| Elena: Светлая комната |
| Yuriy: "A bright room." Another meaning is… |
| Elena: "Not dark in color." |
| Yuriy: For example... |
| Elena: У неё были светлые волосы и голубые глаза. |
| Yuriy: "She had light hair and blue eyes." When you’re talking about one's character, светлый means that a person is very good and kind, with a high sense of morals. This person brings joy to others and fills them with positive emotions. And when talking about someone's mental abilities, it means that this person is very logical and clever. For example... |
| Elena: Анна Ивановна очень добрый, заботливый, светлый человек. |
| Yuriy: "Anna Ivanovna is a very kind, caring, and bright person." Or another example... |
| Elena: У этого ученика светлая голова - он может решить любую задачу. |
| Yuriy: "This student has a clear head—he can solve any task." Ok, that's all. Now on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Yuriy: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the Genitive case for making comparisons and conveying part of a whole. The Genitive case is used when you want to compare the features or qualities of one object or person with another. For example... |
| Elena: Комната дешевле квартиры. |
| Yuriy: "A room is cheaper than an apartment." Hmm, can I say, for example, Комната дешевле, чем квартира? Will the meaning be the same? |
| Elena: Yes, the meaning will be exactly the same. You can make comparison in two ways—by using the Genitive case and without. |
| Yuriy: But if you don't use the Genitive case, you need to add the particle чем, which is translated as “than.” Let's give our listeners some examples. So, the first sentence will be without the Genitive case. |
| Elena: Мужчина сильнее, чем женщина. |
| Yuriy: "A man is stronger than a woman." |
| Elena: In this sentence, the nouns мужчина ("a man") and женщина ("a woman") are in Nominative case. And we used the particle чем, meaning “than.” |
| Yuriy: The next sentence will be with the Genitive case. |
| Elena: Мужчина сильнее женщины. |
| Yuriy: "A man is stronger than a woman." As you can see, the word Женщины is a noun in the Genitive case. And we didn't use the particle “than.” Now let’s compare the two sentences. |
| Elena: Мужчина сильнее, чем женщина. |
| Yuriy: and |
| Elena: Мужчина сильнее женщины. |
| Yuriy: Ok. Listeners, please check the lessons notes for more detailed explanations and more examples. Now, the Genitive case is also used when you want to express that something is a part of a whole. In this case, a noun expressing the whole should be put in the Genitive case. |
| Yuriy: For example. |
| Elena: Комната квартиры |
| Yuriy: "A room of an apartment." |
| Elena: It is obvious that a room is a part of an apartment. In Russian, the word for “apartment” should be in the Genitive case. |
| Yuriy: And one more example please. |
| Elena: Кусок пирога. |
| Yuriy: "A piece of cake." |
| Elena: The word пирог, meaning "a cake" is in Genitive case, because it means the whole thing. |
| Yuriy: While “a piece” is just a part of the cake. |
Outro |
| Yuriy: Well, that’s all for this lesson. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time! |
| Elena: До свидания! |
| Yuriy: Пока-пока. |
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