{"id":11879,"date":"2019-08-14T07:36:16","date_gmt":"2019-08-14T07:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=11879"},"modified":"2019-10-22T20:26:41","modified_gmt":"2019-10-22T20:26:41","slug":"5-russian-phrases-to-get-past-comprehension-barriers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/5-russian-phrases-to-get-past-comprehension-barriers\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Russian Phrases To Get Past Comprehension Barriers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some approaches to learning a language, such as the communicative method, encourage teachers and students to only use the target language in the classroom. What do you do if you don’t understand what was just said or lack the vocabulary to ask the other person to repeat or explain? This post will equip you with five helpful phrases you can use in these situations. For the benefit of beginner students I will provide transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"two

Photo by Alex Holyoake<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

1. \u041f\u043e\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0301\u0442\u0435<\/h2>\n
[p\u0259ft\u0250\u02c8r\u02b2it\u02b2e] \u2014 Please, repeat (request)<\/div>\n

\u041f\u043e\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0301\u0442\u044c means to repeat. This is a perfective verb, used for one-time specific actions. This is similar to perfect tenses in other languages, except Russian has a whole separate word for this as opposed to just a tense. The corresponding imperfective verb is \u043f\u043e\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440\u044f\u0301\u0442\u044c, used for talking about recurring or continuous actions. \u041f\u043e\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0301\u0442\u0435 is the polite (formal) form that you would use with strangers or in a professional setting; the familiar form is \u043f\u043e\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0301.<\/p>\n

2. \u0415\u0449\u0451 \u0440\u0430\u0437<\/h2>\n
[(j)\u026a\u02c8\u0255\u02d0\u0275 ras] \u2014 Once again<\/div>\n

This phrase serves the same purpose as \u043f\u043e\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0301\u0442\u0435 \u2014 to ask someone to repeat what they just said. Here, you don’t need to worry about verb forms because this phrase does not change no matter who you talk to. It is a bit more colloquial, though, so perhaps you shouldn’t use it on very formal occasions.<\/p>\n

\"three

Photo by Alexis Brown<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

3. \u041f\u043e\u043c\u0435\u0301\u0434\u043b\u0435\u043d\u043d\u0435\u0435<\/h2>\n
[p\u0250\u02c8m\u02b2edl\u02b2\u026an\u02b2(\u02d0)\u026aje] \u2014 a little more slowly, please<\/div>\n

\u041c\u0435\u0301\u0434\u043b\u0435\u043d\u043d\u043e is the adverb “slowly.” Its comparative form is \u043c\u0435\u0301\u0434\u043b\u0435\u043d\u043d\u0435\u0439 or \u043c\u0435\u0301\u0434\u043b\u0435\u043d\u043d\u0435\u0435, and the addition of the prefix \u043f\u043e- conveys the sense of “a little bit.” That makes \u043f\u043e\u043c\u0435\u0301\u0434\u043b\u0435\u043d\u043d\u0435\u0435 somewhat more polite than the straightforward \u043c\u0435\u0301\u0434\u043b\u0435\u043d\u043d\u043e. If you want, you can turn this into a complete sentence like “\u0413\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0301\u0442\u0435 \u043f\u043e\u043c\u0435\u0301\u0434\u043b\u0435\u043d\u043d\u0435\u0435, \u043f\u043e\u0436\u0430\u0301\u043b\u0443\u0439\u0441\u0442\u0430!” (Please speak more slowly).<\/p>\n

4. \u042f \u043d\u0435 \u043f\u043e\u043d\u0438\u043c\u0430\u0301\u044e<\/h2>\n
[ja n\u02b2\u026a\u203fp\u0259n\u02b2\u026a\u02c8maj\u028a] \u2014 I don’t understand<\/div>\n

This phrase uses the imperfective verb \u043f\u043e\u043d\u0438\u043c\u0430\u0301\u0442\u044c and can be used about any one person to talk about themselves. If you want to use the past tense and say “I didn’t quite catch that,” you will need the perfective verb \u043f\u043e\u043d\u044f\u0301\u0442\u044c to refer to a one-off, specific situation. The feminine form is “\u042f \u043d\u0435 \u043f\u043e\u043d\u044f\u043b\u0430\u0301” and the masculine form is “\u042f \u043d\u0435 \u043f\u043e\u0301\u043d\u044f\u043b,” both meaning “I didn’t get that.”<\/p>\n

\"woman

Photo by Reeney Jenkins<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

5. \u0412\u044b \u0433\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0301\u0442\u0435 \u043f\u043e-\u0430\u043d\u0433\u043b\u0438\u0301\u0439\u0441\u043a\u0438?<\/h2>\n
[v\u0268 \u0261\u0259v\u0250\u02c8r\u02b2it\u02b2e p\u0250\u203f\u0250n\u02c8\u0261l\u02b2ijsk\u02b2\u026a] \u2014 Do you speak English?<\/div>\n

Finally, it never hurts to ask if the other person speaks another language. The formal question “\u0412\u044b \u0433\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0301\u0442\u0435 \u043f\u043e-\u0430\u043d\u0433\u043b\u0438\u0301\u0439\u0441\u043a\u0438?” uses the verb \u0433\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0442\u044c, to talk\/speak. If you are talking to a friend or relative who is close to you in age, you could use the familiar variant “\u0422\u044b \u0433\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0301\u0448\u044c \u043f\u043e-\u0430\u043d\u0433\u043b\u0438\u0301\u0439\u0441\u043a\u0438?” The last part, \u043f\u043e-\u0430\u043d\u0433\u043b\u0438\u0301\u0439\u0441\u043a\u0438, may be replaced with other languages \u2014 \u043f\u043e-\u043d\u0435\u043c\u0435\u0301\u0446\u043a\u0438 (German), \u043f\u043e-\u0444\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0446\u0443\u0301\u0437\u0441\u043a\u0438 (French), and so on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"three

Some approaches to learning a language, such as the communicative method, encourage teachers and students to only use the target language in the classroom. What do you do if you don’t understand what was just said or lack the vocabulary to ask the other person to repeat or explain? This post will equip you with…<\/p>\n

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