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Lesson 1:
Essential Expressions
- Vocabulary 1
- Matching Bubbles: Reading Practice 1
- Grammar: Russian singular pronouns and gender
- Go Further: Reduced Vowels
- Multiple Choice: Gender Practice
- Vocabulary 2
- Go Further: Present tense copular sentences
- Memory Match: Conversational Phrases
- Grammar: Russian plural pronouns
- Culture: The expression Как дела?
- Fill In: Nice to meet you!
- Conversation: Do you speak Russian?
- Culture: Palatalization
- Go Further: Russian Yes/No Questions
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Russian yes/no questions
Did you notice in the above dialogue that the question Вы говори́те по-ру́сски? [vy gə-vah-REE-ti pah-ROOS-ki] (Do you speak Russian?) is identical to the statement Вы (хорошо́) говори́те по-ру́сски [vy hə-rah-SHOH gə-vah-REE-ti pah-ROOS-ki] (You speak Russian [well])? This is because all yes or no questions are grammatically identical to their affirmative statement counterparts. The only difference is the intonation. To make an affirmative sentence into a question, just raise your tone in the stressed syllable of the word in question. For example, here the word in question is говори́те because you want to know whether the person speaks Russian or not (rather than whether the person speaks Russian or French). Therefore, the tone of your voice should sharply go up within the space of the и in говори́те while the rest of the sentence, including the other three syllables of the word in question, will more or less remain at a middle tone. Although such an abrupt change in intonation may at first sound unnatural to you, it’s perfectly normal and emotionally neutral in Russian.