Well?

[bugtilaheh.livejournal.com]

Are we going to talk about Russian or argue over the correct use of вы versus Вы all day? ;-) I barely know how to conjugate in Russian! Can someone provide some basic verbs, the most common ones and things like that, irregular things, greetings, simple phrases, etc.?

I'm assuming everyone here who's learning Russian has the alphabet down and somewhat of an idea of correct pronunciation and stress. I know that much, at least... so... anything?

Спасибо!
-Брэдли

Comments

[lexabear.livejournal.com]

That's a lot to ask in one post! I'll do my best, however.

Everything is off the top of my head so might not be absolutely correct.
Common verbs:

читать/прочитать : to read
писать/написать : to write
говорить/сказать : to say (talk, speak)
видеть/увидет : to see
делать/сделать : to do
понимать/понять : to understand
быть/бывать : to be
покупать/купить : to buy
знать/узнать : to know (a thing, not a person)


Some simple phrases:

меня зовут... - my name is... (lit. "they call me...")
идёт дождь - it's raining
идёт снег - it's snowing
У меня (есть) + nominative - I have ....
У меня нет + genative - I don't have...
e.g. У меня есть машина - I have a car.
but: У меня нет машины - I don't have a car.
(there's slightly more to it than that, but I'm keeping it simple here)
Я люблю + accusative or infinitive - I like... (hobbies, interests, etc - e.g. Я люблю читать романи - I like to read novels; Я люблю котёноков - I like kittens)


That's everything I could think of in a couple minutes.

[bugtilaheh.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'm aware of some of that after reading this:
http://anaproy.homeip.net/lmc/learnrussian_en.php
yers might want to add that to his list of links if he sees this.

[lexabear.livejournal.com]

That page uses the word автомобиль, whereas my book and teacher (non-native) have always used машина for "car" -- any native speakers want to shed light on current usage?

[bugtilaheh.livejournal.com]

Mashina, cognate with English machine? LOL. Well, no, machine does not equal car. But a car is a "machine." Blah.

[cjoy.livejournal.com]

машина & автомобиль (meaning the car) are used both side by side in modern Russian. Regarding the style автомобиль is a bit more formal, машина is more colloq.