churches?

[wordchick.livejournal.com]

I was informed by a middle-aged taxi driver in a rural area that the difference between деревня and село was that the former had a church and the latter did not. However, when I looked in Dahl, it stated that деревня was a village without a church, and there is no entry for село at all (I use the on-line version, if that makes a difference). I accept that my driver was mistaken and that Dahl is correct, but is село not a word? I'm not sure what to make of this.

Also is there any way to anticipate which one-syllable masculine nouns will have a locative ending of y (ряд, порт, и.т.д.)? Is there a rule I don't know?

Are you married?

[david-us.livejournal.com]

I ran into a nice elderly Russian couple the other day at the Detroit airport. They could speak a little English, but not much. I could tell they were very excited to be conversing with somebody that, at least, halfway understood them.

I was pretty sure they were married, but I wasn't sure. It occurred to me to ask, but then it entered my mind, "How do I ask them (together), whether they are married to one another?"

In Russian, I recalled that there was a specific way to say that a woman is married and that there was a different way to say that a man is married. What is the generic way of asking two people, together, whether they are married?

Would, "Вы женаты друг с другом?" have been appropriate?

While we're on the topic: What if I was only talking to a woman - how would I ask her if she was married?

And then, what about a man?

Thanks!

David Emerling
Memphis, TN

It was nice talking to you

[beltspinner.livejournal.com]

A friend said he wanted to run something by me that his Russian friend taught him. It was supposed to mean "It was nice talking to you." I not only didn't understand the words, but couldn't recognize any part of the phrase. I'm guessing it was a heavily colloquial phrase, or else he was just dead wrong on remembering it.

I think I would just say ochen priyatno (sorry, my Russian keyboard isn't working) in that case. Would I be right?

And what could his phrase might have been?