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Any Russian speakers?

kranky

kranky

Elite Member
My nephew is getting married to a girl from Ukraine. She speaks next to no English and none of her family will be present, none of the family on his side speaks Russian, so essentially she won't be able to communicate with anyone there except her husband-to-be.

I'd like to learn one or two Russian phrases that would be appropriate for a wedding, just so I could have something to say to her in her own language.

My nephew says that "my shoes are full of pork" is a traditional Russian wedding greeting, but I think he just wants me to embarrass myself in front of her. 😉
 
My nephew says that "my shoes are full of pork" is a traditional Russian wedding greeting, but I think he just wants me to embarrass myself in front of her.
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He's lying. Say something like "ya tebya lyublu" to the bride. That translates to something like "good luck".
 
Originally posted by: Yanagi
da = yes

Spatziba is Hello I think.

Thats the only one i kind of know of.
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actually, 'spaceba' means 'thank you'.

ztrastwoytya is more like hello.

(forgive the spelling, i'm not sure how to write russian in our alphabet).

iirc, 'kok vouy pajavayetye' means 'how are you?'

'oochin harashau' means 'very well'

'ya' means i or me

so you could possibly say something like 'ztrastwoytya, [girl's name], ya [kranky's name], kok vouy pajavayetye?'

she may say 'oochin harashau, spaceba, ah vouy' which means 'very well, thank you, and you?'

if she's not looking at you, you can start with 'izveneetye' which means 'excuse me'
 
Originally posted by: blackdogdeek
Originally posted by: Yanagi
da = yes

Spatziba is Hello I think.

Thats the only one i kind of know of.
Click to expand...

actually, 'spaceba' means 'thank you'.

ztrastwoytya is more like hello.

(forgive the spelling, i'm not sure how to write russian in our alphabet).

iirc, 'kok vouy pajavayetye' means 'how are you?'

'oochin harashau' means 'very well'

'ya' means i or me

so you could possibly say something like 'ztrastwoytya, [girl's name], ya [kranky's name], kok vouy pajavayetye?'

she may say 'oochin harashau, spaceba, ah vouy' which means 'very well, thank you, and you?'

if she's not looking at you, you can start with 'izveneetye' which means 'excuse me'
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Excellent - any chance you could write those out phonetically so I have a half-decent shot at pronouncing them correctly?
 
Originally posted by: kranky

Excellent - any chance you could write those out phonetically so I have a half-decent shot at pronouncing them correctly?
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i was actually trying to spell them phonetically but here goes:

excuse me = izveneetye (one e = short e sound, two e = long e sound), iz-ve-nee-tye

hello = ztrastwoitye, zdr-ah-st-woi-tye (again one e = short e sound, ah = a as in father, r = slightly rolling r)

how are you? = kok vouy pajavayetye, cock voo pa-zha-va-ye-tye (one e = short e, zha = like in zsa zsa gabor, va = a as in father, oo = oo as in boot)

very well = oochin harashau, oo-chin ha-ra-shaw (oo = o as in horse or lost, chin = cross between chin and shin, ha = a as in father, ra = a as in father)

thank you = spaceba, spah-see-bah (a as in father, ee = long e sound)

kranky = krankski, krangk-skee (a as in kranky, ee = long e sound) 😀
 
Are you sure she doesn't speak UKRAINIAN? For some, it is an insult to speak to them in Russian if they speak Ukrainian.

In Ukrainian (written in broken English - no Cyrilic type at work...):

I love you- ja tebe lyublu
Good morning - dobrij ranok
Good day - dobrij den
Did you sleep enough - chy ty vyspana?
Are you hungry - chy ty holodna?
Are you tired - chy ty zmychena
You look nice - ty harno vyhliadayesh
Do you want something to drink - chochesh pyty

What else would you like?

 

My nephew says that "my shoes are full of pork" is a traditional Russian wedding greeting, but I think he just wants me to embarrass myself in front of her. 😉[/quote]


This made my morning....I am getting hungry now lmao
 
Thanks again, blackdoggeek. I'll probably butcher the pronunciation, but I hope she appreciates the effort.

VanillaH, what do those mean?
 
Originally posted by: MisfitsFiend
Are you sure she doesn't speak UKRAINIAN? For some, it is an insult to speak to them in Russian if they speak Ukrainian.

In Ukrainian (written in broken English - no Cyrilic type at work...):

I love you- ja tebe lyublu
Good morning - dobrij ranok
Good day - dobrij den
Did you sleep enough - chy ty vyspana?
Are you hungry - chy ty holodna?
Are you tired - chy ty zmychena
You look nice - ty harno vyhliadayesh
Do you want something to drink - chochesh pyty

What else would you like?
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i would definitely find out if she speaks ukrainian instead of russian.

to find out if she understands russian(spoken in russian):

do you understand russian? = 'vouy punimayetye pa russkie', voo-ee poo-nee-mai-ye-tye pah ru-skee(oo = oo as in loot or boot, ee = long e sound, ai = i as in lithe or high, e = short e sound, ah = a as in father, u as in put)
 
VanillaH, what do those mean?
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ha..ha.. "durak" means idiot...so repeat after me...

"ot durak" ...what an idiot 🙂

if you want to see if she speaks Ukrainian "chy ty hovoresh po Ykrainsky"; understands Ukrainian "chy ty rozymiesh po Ykrainsky"

good luck, and keep us updated!
 
Originally posted by: MisfitsFiend
Are you sure she doesn't speak UKRAINIAN? For some, it is an insult to speak to them in Russian if they speak Ukrainian.

In Ukrainian (written in broken English - no Cyrilic type at work...):

I love you- ja tebe lyublu
Good morning - dobrij ranok
Good day - dobrij den
Did you sleep enough - chy ty vyspana?
Are you hungry - chy ty holodna?
Are you tired - chy ty zmychena
You look nice - ty harno vyhliadayesh
Do you want something to drink - chochesh pyty

What else would you like?
Click to expand...

Nice.... I'm Russian, my dad is from Ukraine but to my knowledege most of the people in Ukraine speak Russian, some don't, but those are mostly from the countryside....

As for Russian phrases:

1. Kak dela -> What's up? (slangish, not very proper)
2. Menya zovut ______ -> My name is ______
3. Kak vas zovut? -> What's your name?
4. Ocheni priyatno -> Nice to meet you (said after an introduction, could follow up with #2)
5. Chto vam nravitcya? -> What do you like?
6. Dobriy deni -> Good Day
7. Dobroye utro -> Good Morning
8. Spokoynoy nochi -> Good night
9. Spacibo -> Thank you
10. Pozalusta -> Please (when asking)

I'd give more if I had some pharses that you'd want to say.....
and I'm not too sure about that 'shoes/pork' thing... never heard that before... but could ask around to see if thats the case.....


MORE......
When having a drink (shot in Russia) usually someone says a toast (small speach), but you can probably just say:

Na zdoroviye (To our health)
Za molodykh ( To the newlyweds/young)

 
I never said she was mail order, that was tagej's misguided theory. 🙂 They met when he went to Ukraine to do missionary work for the summer of 2002. He went back for nine months last year and they decided to marry.

I honestly don't know if she speaks only Ukrainian or both Ukrainian and Russian. I've not met her and won't until the wedding. Thanks for the tip that speaking Russian could possibly be insulting. That's the last thing I'd want to do. I'll ask my nephew before I unleash the barrage of Russian you guys have helped me with. If it turns out she only speaks Ukrainian, and/or would be insulted if tried Russian, I'll just keep quiet.

Is there a traditional greeting/saying that people say to brides on their wedding day?
 
traditions greeting/saying
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In Ukraine, it is tradition to dish out a lot of "Mnohaja Lita" literally translated it means many years. It is used a tremendous amount in Ukrainian culture from singing it during birthdays (instead of happy birthday), to weddings, baptisms, big occasions....

We heard it very frequently at our wedding last year.
 
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