Unit 1: What’s your name? 17
‘I am the engineer’, and you have to select the appropriate translation
according to the context.
Omission of ‘am’, ‘are’, ‘is’
In Russian, the present tense of the verb ‘to be’ is usually omitted. Thus,
the sentence ‘I am Russian’ is translated Я ру�сская – lit. ‘I Russian’.
Between two nouns, a dash can be used in place of the verb:
Петро�ва – ва�ша фами�лия
‘Petrova is your surname’.The word э�то means ‘this/that/it’, but since the present tense of ‘to be’ is
usually omitted, it will generally be translated as ‘it is, this is’ etc.:
э�то ру�сский журна�л
‘It is a Russian magazine’.
э�то ва�ша профéссия
‘It is your profession’.Вот translates as ‘here is/here are’:
вот ва�ша маши�на
‘Here is your car’.Note the use of нe in the negative form:
Я нe тури�ст
‘I am not a tourist’,
Э�то нe о�чень типи�чно
‘That is not very typical’.Interrogative sentences
You can ask a question in Russian simply by putting a question mark at
the end of a statement or by changing your intonation if you are speaking:
Э�то ва�ша профéссия
‘It is your profession’.
Э�то ва�ша профéссия?
‘Is it your profession?’
Э�то ру�сский журна�л?
‘Is it a Russian magazine?’