HOW

TO USE
THIS
BOOK
Look out for the following icons
throughout the book:
‘Shortcut’ Phrase
Easy to remember alternative to the full phrase

Q&A Pair
‘Question-and-answer’ pair – we suggest a
response to the question asked

Look For
Phrases you may see on signs, menus etc

Listen For
Phrases you may hear from officials, locals etc

Language Tip
An insight into the foreign language

Culture Tip
An insight into the local culture

How to read the phrases:

• Coloured words and phrases throughout the book are
phonetic guides to help you pronounce the foreign language.
• Lists of phrases with tinted background are options you
can choose to complete the phrase above them.

These abbreviations will help you choose the right

words and phrases in this book:
a adjective lit literal pol polite
adv adverb m masculine sg singular
f feminine n neuter v verb
inf informal pl plural

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 PAGE About Russian

6
Learn about Russian, build your own
sentences and pronounce words correctly.
Introduction ................................................. 6
Top Phrases .................................................. 8
Pronunciation ..............................................10
Grammar ...................................................... 14

PAGE Travel Phrases

29
Ready-made phrases for every situation –
buy a ticket, book a hotel and much more.

Basics ........................................................................... 29
Understanding ............................................ 30
Numbers & Amounts ..................................32
Time & Dates ...............................................37

Practical .................................................................. 43
Transport ..................................................... 44
Border Crossing ......................................... 63
Directions .................................................... 66
Accommodation......................................... 69
Shopping ..................................................... 83
Communications ........................................ 94
Money & Banking ......................................102
Business .....................................................106

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 Sightseeing ................................................108
Senior & Disabled Travellers......................113
Travel with Children ....................................115

Social ...................................................................... 117

Meeting People .......................................... 118
Interests .....................................................129
Feelings & Opinions ................................... 135
Going Out ....................................................141
Romance .................................................... 147
Beliefs & Culture........................................153
Sports ......................................................... 155
Outdoors .................................................... 161

Safe Travel ..................................................... 167

Emergencies ..............................................168
Police .......................................................... 170
Health ......................................................... 173

Food .......................................................................... 183

Eating Out ..................................................184
Self-Catering ............................................. 202
Vegetarian & Special Meals ..................... 206

PAGE Menu Decoder

209 Dishes and ingredients explained –
order with confidence and try new foods.

PAGE Two-Way Dictionary

217 Quick reference vocabulary guide –
3500 words to help you communicate.
English–Russian Dictionary .................................... 217
Russian–English Dictionary .................................. 250

Index ............................................................................................................ 268

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 6

Russian
ABO UT RUS SIAN

русский rus·ki

Who Speaks Russian?

I NTRO D U CTI O N

WIDELY
cle Arctic Circle

UNDERSTOOD
ARMENIA • AZERBAIJAN
BELARUS • ESTONIA
GEORGIA • KAZAKHSTAN
C ancer Tropic of Cancer

KYRGYZSTAN • LATVIA
LITHUANIA • MOLDOVA Equator

TAJIKISTAN OFFICIAL
C apri corn
TURKMENISTAN LANGUAGE T ropic of Capricorn

UKRAINE
UZBEKISTAN RUSSIA

Why Bother in a mystery inside an enigma’

that is Russia.
Admirers of Russian literature
claim that the ‘Slavic soul’ of Distinctive Sounds
writers such as Chekhov or
Rolled r and guttural kh (as
Tolstoy can’t be fully appreci-
in the name Bach).
ated in translation. For the
less ambitious, the language Russian Script
will bring you closer to de- Russian uses Cyrillic script,
ciphering the ‘riddle wrapped developed from Ancient Greek

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150 MILLION 120 MILLION
speak Russian as their
first language
letters in the 9th century to
translate the Bible into Old
Church Slavonic. Several
Cyrillic letters are the same as
those in the Roman alphabet.
Note, however, that some
Cyrillic letters are used for a
different sound: Cyrillic ‘B’ is
the Roman ‘V’, ‘H’ is used for
‘N’, ‘P’ for ‘R’ and ‘C’ for ‘S’.
Russian Lexicon
Russian boasts a rich
lexicon and highly colourful
expressions. This linguistic
flamboyance has thankfully
resisted the influence of dour
communist style and the
‘socrealist’ literature of the
20th century. For example,
if something is impossi-
ble to pronounce, just say
Язык сломаешь! yi·zihk
sla·ma·yish (literally ‘You’ll
break your tongue!’).
Donations to English
Several – you may recognise apparatchik, sputnik, steppe,
tundra, tsar, vodka ...
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7
speak Russian as their
ABO UT RUS SIAN
second language
False Friends
Warning: some Russian
words look like English words
but have a different meaning
altogether, eg магазин
ma·ga·zin is a shop, not a
magazine (which is журнал
I NTRO D U CTI O N
zhur·nal in Russian).
Language Family
Russian belongs to the East
Slavic group of Slavonic
languages. Close relatives
include Belarusian and
Ukrainian.
Must-Know Grammar
Russian words can have
a number of different
endings, depending on their
role in the sentence. There’s
also a polite and informal
word for ‘you’ (вы vih and
ты tih respectively).
11/05/2018 1:03:56 PM
 8

Is this Moscow or local time?

Это московское или местное время?
e·ta ma·skof·ska·ye i·li myes·na·ye vryem·ya
Russia has 11 time zones but the entire country’s rail and air
networks run on Moscow time. Ask if you’re not certain what
time zone your transport is running on.

I live in Moscow, I won’t pay that much.

Я живу в Москве, я не буду платить так много.
ya zhih·vu v mask·vye ya nye bu·du pla·tit’ tak mno·ga
Taxi drivers and market sellers sometimes try to charge
foreigners more, so you may want to bargain in Russian.

Are you serving?

Вы обслуживаете? vih aps·lu·zhih·va·it·ye
It may be hard to attract the attention of workers in the service
industry – if you want to get served, use this polite expression.

I don’t drink alcohol.

Я не пью спиртного.
ya nye pyu spirt·no·va
Refusing a drink from generous locals can be very difficult, so
if you’re really not in the mood you’ll need a firm, clear excuse.

May I have an official receipt, please?

Дайте мне официальную расписку, пожалуйста.
deyt·ye mnye a·fi·tsi·yal’·nu·yu ras·pis·ku pa·zhal·sta
Russian authorities might expect an unofficial payment to
expedite their service, so always ask for an official receipt.

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 9

What’s new? Что нового? shto no·va·va

Sure! Конечно! kan·yesh·na

Great! Отлично! at·lich·na

Maybe. Может быть. mo·zhiht biht’

No way! Вы шутите! vih shu·tit·ye

Just a minute. Минутку. mi·nut·ku

Just joking. Я шучу. ya shu·chu

No problem! Ничего! ni·chi·vo

Fine. Нормально. nar·mal’·na

It’s a nightmare! Кошмар! kash·mar

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 30

Understanding

Do you speak Вы говорите vih ga·va·rit·ye

BASI CS

English? по-английски? pa·an·gli·ski

I don’t Не понимаю. nye pa·ni·ma·yu
understand.
What does … Что обозначает shto a·baz·na·cha·it
U N D ERS TAN D IN G

mean? слово …? slo·va …

Do you speak Вы говорите (по-английски)?

Q (English)? vih ga·va·rit·ye (pa·an·gli·ski)
Does anyone speak Кто-нибудь говорит
Q (English)? (по-английски)?
kto·ni·bud’ ga·va·rit
(pa·an·gli·ski)
Я говорю (по-английски).
U I speak (English). ya ga·var·yu (pa·an·gli·ski)
I don’t speak Я не говорю (по-русски).
U (Russian). ya nye ga·var·yu (pa·ru·ski)
Я немного говорю.
U I speak a little. ya nim·no·ga ga·var·yu
Вы понимаете?
Q Do you understand? vih pa·ni·ma·it·ye
Я (не) понимаю.
U I (don’t) understand. ya (nye) pa·ni·ma·yu
Pardon? Простите?
pras·tit·ye
Let’s speak (Russian). Давайте поговорим (по-русски).
da·veyt·ye pa·ga·va·rim (pa·ru·ski)

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