LinguaКак дела? is a real question
In English how are you is half a greeting and the answer is always fine. In Russian Как дела? expects a real answer, and a Russian who is having a bad week will tell you so. It is asked of people you already know – not of the shop assistant you have never met.
| Answer | Roughly | Register |
|---|---|---|
| Отлично | excellent | cheerful |
| Хорошо | good | neutral, the safe default |
| Неплохо | not bad | neutral |
| Нормально | OK, nothing special | very common |
| Так себе | so-so | honest, mildly negative |
| Плохо | bad | means it |
The polite move after answering is to ask back: А у вас? or А ты как? Leaving the question unreturned sounds like the conversation is over.
Как дела? – Нормально, а у вас?How are things? – OK, and you?
Where are you from
Откуда вы? asks for origin. The answer is Я из plus the place, and the place changes its ending: Москва becomes из Москвы, Испания becomes из Испании. That ending is the genitive, and this is your first sight of it – take the phrase whole for now.
| Place | From there |
|---|---|
| Москва | из Москвы |
| Россия | из России |
| Испания | из Испании |
| Япония | из Японии |
| Корея | из Кореи |
| Вьетнам | из Вьетнама |
Where do you live now
Origin and address are two questions. Где вы живёте? asks where you live, and the answer uses в plus another ending: в Москве, в России. You will meet that case properly in a later unit.
Я из Кореи, но живу в Москве.I am from Korea, but I live in Moscow.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| дела | things, affairs | Как ваши дела? How are things with you? |
| нормально | OK, fine | Всё нормально. Everything is fine. |
| отлично | excellent | Дела идут отлично. Things are going excellently. |
| неплохо | not bad | Неплохо, спасибо. Not bad, thank you. |
| откуда | where from | Откуда ты? Where are you from? |
| из | from, out of | Она из Испании. She is from Spain. |
| страна | country | Это большая страна. This is a big country. |
| Россия | Russia | Россия очень большая. Russia is very big. |
| жить | to live | Где вы живёте? Where do you live? |
| где | where | Где твой дом? Where is your home? |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which answer means 'so-so, could be better'?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.