Learn how to use imperative verbs
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Jo: Hello everyone and welcome to RussianPod101.com. This is the Upper Beginner Series, season 1, lesson 3, Buy a Russian Dog and Stay Active! I’m Jo. |
| Svetlana: And I’m Svetlana. Privet. |
| Jo: In this lesson we're going to learn imperative verbs in Russian. And we will listen to Elena talk to the doctor about her daily nutrition, habits and preferences. |
| Svetlana: The conversation is between Elena and the doctor, and it takes place in the doctor’s examination room. |
| Jo: The speakers are strangers so they will be using formal Russian. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Doctor: Расскажите немного о себе, ваш ежедневный рацион, распорядок дня, привычки. |
| Elena: Мой распорядок дня как у всех; дом, работа, семья. Ещё у меня есть кошка. Ем я немного, два раза в день. Но я очень люблю мучные изделия, поэтому и расту как на дрожжах. На спорт совсем не хватает времени. |
| Doctor:Ясно. Типичный случай. Хорошо, что вы к нам обратились. В вашем рационе и образе жизни нужны большие изменения. Для начала заведите собаку. |
| Doctor: Rasskazhitye nemnogo o sebe, vash yezhednevnyi ratsion, rasporyadok dnya, privychki. |
| Elena: Moy rasporyadok dnya kak u vseh; dom, rabota, sem 'ya. Yeschyo u menya yest ' koshka. Yem ya nemnogo, dva raza v den '. No ya ochen ' lyublyu muchniye izdeliya, poetomu i rastu kak na drozhah. Na sport sovsem nye hvatayet vremeni. |
| Doctor:YAsno. Tipichniy sluchay. Horosho, chto vy k nam obratilis '. V vashem ratsione i obraze zhizni nuzhny bol 'shiye izmeneniya. Dlya nachala zaveditye sobaku. |
| Doctor: Tell me briefly about yourself; your daily routine, diet, schedule and habits. |
| Elena: My daily routine is like everybody else's; I go to work, I come home, and I spend time with my family and cat. I don't eat very much—just twice a day—but I really love pastries from the bakery. Maybe that's why I am growing like mushrooms. And I don't have time for sports at all. |
| Doctor: Okay. That's pretty typical. It's a good thing you came. You need to make some big changes in your daily routine. First of all, buy a dog. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Jo: Elena’s description about her daily routine as well as her diet didn’t seem to make the doctor very happy. |
| Svetlana: Yeah, she likes the bakery but doesn’t like sports, so... |
| Jo: How is Russian cuisine? I’ve heard there are so many different dishes and that they are all very delicious. |
| Svetlana: Yes, and there are so many different kinds of products in the markets and shops. Russians sometimes spend half of their salaries on food. Only ten years ago many of these products were not available in the market. But now, Russians can fully enjoy Zastoliye. |
| Jo: Zastoliye? |
| Svetlana: It’s a plentiful meal with salads, entrees, fruits and desserts served all at the same time, and of course with traditional drinks. |
| Jo: Let me guess... Vodka? |
| Svetlana: That’s right. So if you are a guest in a Russian house, get ready for a feast that will last for hours! |
| Jo: Thank you for the warning. It would be nice to experience that someday! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Jo: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is... |
| Svetlana: ежедневный рацион [natural native speed] |
| Jo: everyday nutrition |
| Svetlana: ежедневный рацион [slowly - broken down by syllable] ежедневный рацион [natural native speed] |
| Jo: Next |
| Svetlana: распорядок дня [natural native speed] |
| Jo: daily schedule |
| Svetlana: распорядок дня [slowly - broken down by syllable] распорядок дня [natural native speed] |
| Jo: Next |
| Svetlana: привычкa [natural native speed] |
| Jo: habit |
| Svetlana: привычкa [slowly - broken down by syllable] привычкa [natural native speed] |
| Jo: Next |
| Svetlana: мучные изделия [natural native speed] |
| Jo: bakery |
| Svetlana: мучные изделия [slowly - broken down by syllable] мучные изделия [natural native speed] |
| Jo: Next |
| Svetlana: дрожжи [natural native speed] |
| Jo: yeast |
| Svetlana: дрожжи [slowly - broken down by syllable] дрожжи [natural native speed] |
| Jo: Next |
| Svetlana: хватать [natural native speed] |
| Jo: to be sufficient |
| Svetlana: хватать [slowly - broken down by syllable] хватать [natural native speed] |
| Jo: Next |
| Svetlana: типичный [natural native speed] |
| Jo: typical |
| Svetlana: типичный [slowly - broken down by syllable] типичный [natural native speed] |
| Jo: And last... |
| Svetlana: обращаться [natural native speed] |
| Jo: to reach out |
| Svetlana: обращаться [slowly - broken down by syllable] обращаться [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Jo: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Svetlana: The first phrase is Расти как на дрожжах |
| Jo: “To grow very fast”. The literal translation of this phrase would be “to grow as yeast”. It is an equivalent of the English term “to grow like a weed”. And there are other phrases with similar meanings in Russian. |
| Svetlana: Yes, like “расти как грибы”. |
| Jo: “To grow like mushrooms” |
| Svetlana: And “расти на глазах”. |
| Jo: “To grow before one’s eyes”. We used this phrase in our dialogue when we were talking about gaining weight. |
| Svetlana: Yes. Elena likes bakeries. No wonder she is gaining weight very quickly! |
| Jo: Should this phrase only be used in regards to weight gain? |
| Svetlana: No. It also can be used in other cases like when talking about prices, exchange rates, or demand. For example “ Цена на эту квартиру растёт на глазах. “ |
| Jo: “The price of this apartment is growing like a weed”. |
| Svetlana: Спрос на этот продукт растёт как на дрожжах. |
| Jo: “The demand for this product is growing very quickly.” Okay. What is the next key word? |
| Svetlana: The next one is also a phrase - “Типичный случай” |
| Jo: “Typical case”. This phrase is commonly used when when something is ironic, or when something or somebody is too predictable or simple. |
| Svetlana: Right. The adjective “Типичный“ literally means “typical”, “exemplary”, “indicative”, and “specific”. For example “Для этого района типичен сухой климат. “ |
| Jo: “A dry climate is very typical for this region.” It also means “being a model or the best example for something”, “illustrative, representative and demonstrative”. |
| Svetlana: For example, Он типичный карьерист. |
| Jo: “He is typical careerist.” |
| Okay, Let’s move on to the grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Jo: In this lesson, we are going to learn imperative verbs in Russian. We had some of these examples in our dialogue. They are |
| Svetlana: Расскажите |
| Jo: “Tell me” And.. |
| Svetlana: Заведите |
| Jo: “to buy (a dog)”. The dictionary forms of these verbs are.. |
| Svetlana: Рассказать |
| Jo: “To tell” and |
| Svetlana: Завести |
| Jo: “to buy”. People like trainers, teachers, and coaches are the ones who usually use the verbs in imperative forms right? |
| Svetlana: Yes, trainers like giving orders. But you also use imperative verbs when you are prompting somebody to do something, ask for something, or when you give advice. For example “Откройте окно.” |
| Jo: “Open the window”, which is used as a prompt. |
| Svetlana: Не курите! |
| Jo: “Stop smoking!”, used as an order. |
| Svetlana: Пойди к нему и поговори с ним. |
| Jo: “Go and talk to him”, used when giving advice. |
| Jo: I see. So it is not always about being rude and bossy. You can use it when giving advice. |
| Svetlana: Right. In fact, there are formal and informal ways to address people. It will depend on what personal pronoun you conjugate the verb with. Ты “you singular” is less formal than Вы “you plural”. For example “Открой окно. “ |
| Jo: “Open the window”. This one is “you” singular and casual. |
| Svetlana: Откройте окно. |
| Jo: “Open the window”. And this is “you” plural and formal. |
| Jo: Of course, to add a little more politeness you can also use the word “Please”. |
| Svetlana: Which is “Пожалуйста” in Russian. |
| Jo: Откройте окно пожалуйста. That’s a very good point. |
| Jo: Now let’s take a look at how to form the imperative verbs. The verbs will be conjugated for the singular pronoun “You.” All we need to do is change the ending to make the imperative form. |
| Svetlana: Exactly, so we drop the endings -АТЬ, ЯТЬ, or ЕТЬ and add -Й. For example- |
| Петь meaning “to sing” becomes Пой |
| Играть meaning “to play” becomes Играй |
| Стоять meaning “to stay” becomes Стой |
| Svetlana: The verbs with the ending -ИТЬ which are stressed will have a -И ending. For example “Говорить meaning “to speak” becomes Говори. Звонить meaning “to call” becomes Звони |
| Jo: The verbs with the same ending that are NOT stressed will have a soft ending. |
| Svetlana: Right, a soft -Ь ending to be precise. For example, Готовить meaning “to prepare” becomes Готовь Ставить meaning “to put” becomes Ставь |
| Jo: In order to conjugate imperative verbs with the pronoun “You plural”, you just need to add a suffix to the imperative forms of the verbs conjugated for the pronoun “You singular”. Which suffix should we add? |
| Svetlana: We will add the suffix - TE. For example |
| Пойте |
| Играйте |
| Говорите |
| Готовьте |
| Jo: And lastly, we would like to mention another imperative form in case you want to give a strict command. |
| Svetlana: It is very simple. You just use the verbs in its dictionary form and speak with commanding intonation. For example, |
| Молчать |
| Jo: “Shut up!” |
| Svetlana: Сидеть |
| Jo: “Sit down! |
| Svetlana: Спать |
| Jo: “Sleep!” |
| Jo: That’s scary! |
| Svetlana: I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. But you’re right. You have to be very careful using these forms. They could be very offensive. |
| Jo: Okay, keep that in mind, listeners! And that’s it for this lesson. Don’t forget to check our lesson notes for more examples and information. |
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Outro |
| Jo: Thanks for listening, everyone. |
| Svetlana: Poka poka |
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