When I lived in Russia for the first time for a while, people kept asking me, “\u0414\u043e\u0433\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0440\u0438\u043b\u0438\u0441\u044c?”<\/p>\n
The first few times I didn’t know what the word meant. So I said, “I don’t know,” or “No?” And then we would go over everything that we has just said. “We’re meeting at the Orbit Movie Theater, outside the metro station, at 4pm, you think this is ok?” “Sure that’s ok.” “\u0425\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0448\u043e, \u0434\u043e\u0433\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0440\u0438\u043b\u0438\u0441\u044c?” Um. Did we? Did someone else? You tell me.<\/p>\n
Well, to end the repetition, I started saying “\u0434\u0430.”<\/p>\n
\nBut they’d just look at me, seemingly not sure of something. So I’d say “\u0434\u0430, \u0432\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0435\u0442\u0438\u043c\u0441\u044f \u043e\u043a\u043e\u043b\u043e \u043a\u0438\u043d\u043e\u0442\u0435\u0430\u0442\u0440\u0430 \u041e\u0440\u0431\u0438\u0442\u0430, \u043e\u043a\u043e\u043b\u043e \u043c\u0435\u0442\u0440\u043e, \u0432 \u0447\u0435\u0442\u044b\u0440\u0435.” That worked, but it’s a mouthful.<\/p>\n
The best way to go about it is to answer with \u0414\u043e\u0433\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0440\u0438\u043b\u0438\u0441\u044c. They’re asking, “Have we agreed?” So you say, “We have agreed.” The idea is to close the negotiation, and they like it if you affirm the agreement instead of just agreeing openly to whatever is going on around you. Are these things really different? It’s hard to say as an English speaker, but this is one of those instances where replying with a verb instead of the words yes or no is much more convincing in Russian. It’s like shaking hands with words.<\/p>\n
But there are other circumstances that yes and no will be dropped, mostly based on context and how direct the answer can be. A common one is with the verb \u0437\u0432\u043e\u043d\u0438\u0442\u044c. If they ask, for example, “\u0422\u044b \u0442\u0432\u043e\u0435\u043c\u0443 \u0434\u0440\u0443\u0433\u0443 \u0437\u0432\u043e\u043d\u0438\u043b?” you might be better off saying, “\u0417\u0432\u043e\u043d\u0438\u043b. \u0423 \u043d\u0435\u0433\u043e \u0432\u0441\u0435 \u0445\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0448\u043e” instead of just a plain old “\u0414\u0430, \u0443 \u043d\u0435\u0433\u043e \u0432\u0441\u0435 \u0445\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0448\u043e.” If done right, the verb in the question will have high question intonation and be placed the end of their sentence, and your answer will have low confident intonation on that very same verb. It’s like skiing down a steep hill of intonation. It’s beautiful to listen for.<\/p>\n
\u0414\u0430 is still well used, so feel free to use it, but think of this as a chance to highlight your actions and accomplishments, and to have fun repeating what other people say to you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I lived in Russia for the first time for a while, people kept asking me, “\u0414\u043e\u0433\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0440\u0438\u043b\u0438\u0441\u044c?” The first few times I didn’t know what the word meant. So I said, “I don’t know,” or “No?” And then we would go over everything that we has just said. “We’re meeting at the Orbit Movie Theater…<\/p>\n