Travel, City and Real-Life Scenarios

Биле́т до Москвы́, пожа́луйста.

A ticket to Moscow, please.

до + genitive names the destination of a ticket: билет до Москвы, билет до Питера. The genitive Москвы́ throws its stress onto the ending, as вода does (Lesson 8). You can also say билет в Москву (в + accusative); both are normal, and до is the one you will hear most at a ticket window.

Рейс но́мер семь, поса́дка в два часа́.

Flight number seven, boarding at two o’clock.

A departure-board sentence. рейс takes a plain number in the nominative — рейс номер семь, not a case ending. посадка covers both boarding and landing; here, boarding. After a number, час goes to the genitive singular: два часа́, with the stress on the ending, exactly as in Lesson 11.

Где па́спортный контро́ль?

Where is passport control?

The fixed name for the border desk; паспортный контроль is a single idea, "passport control". The adjective паспортный is built straight off паспорт. Таможенный контроль is the customs desk, and both sit between you and the выход в город.

У меня́ то́лько ручна́я кладь.

I only have hand luggage.

The у + genitive possession frame of Lesson 4: у меня (есть) …, with есть understood. ручная кладь — literally "hand freight" — is the fixed term for cabin baggage; кладь is feminine, so ручная agrees. Say this when you have nothing to check in.

Мой бага́ж потеря́лся.

My luggage has gone missing.

потеряться is потерять + the -ся of Lesson 18, turned round onto the subject: the luggage "lost itself". багаж stays grammatically singular whether it is one case or five, so the verb is потерялся, not *потерялись.

Ско́лько сто́ит биле́т до Пи́тера?

How much is a ticket to Saint Petersburg?

The price question of Lesson 11 pointed at a ticket. стоит keeps its stress on the first syllable here (сто́ит), unlike the plural стоя́т. Питер is the everyday spoken name for Санкт-Петербург; both take до + genitive.

Вы́ход в го́род — там.

The way out into the city is over there.

выход в город is the signed route from arrivals out into the city — literally "exit into town". город after в is the accusative, which for an inanimate masculine looks just like the nominative, so the ending gives nothing away; the preposition and the question word (куда?) do the work.

У меня́ заброниро́ван но́мер.

I have a room booked.

The single most useful hotel sentence. забронирован is the short passive participle of забронировать — learnt whole, not built, and it agrees with the masculine номер. The у + genitive frame (Lesson 4) again: "at me there is a booked room".

Вот мой па́спорт.

Here is my passport.

вот hands something over — "here is / here you are" — and takes the nominative, not a case ending. At check-in the receptionist asks for the паспорт and you hand it across with this line.

За́втрак включён?

Is breakfast included?

включён is another short participle, masculine to agree with завтрак, and its ё is always stressed, so it carries no acute (§13). Intonation alone makes it a question (ИК-3): the voice rises sharply on включён.

Мой но́мер на пя́том этаже́.

My room is on the fifth floor.

на + prepositional for a floor, the "where?" case of Lesson 5. The ordinal пятый agrees with the masculine этаж in the prepositional: на пятом этаже. этаж moves its stress onto the ending in every oblique form — этаже́ — the same pattern as стол → столе́.

Да́йте, пожа́луйста, ключ.

The key, please.

дайте is the вы imperative of дать (Lesson 13), the polite way to ask for something by name. ключ is the accusative here, which for an inanimate masculine equals the nominative. пожалуйста, placed before the noun, softens the request.

Во ско́лько вы́езд?

What time is check-out?

во сколько — "at what time" — is the question frame from Lesson 11; во is the lengthened form of в used before the ск- cluster. выезд is the noun "departure / check-out", built on вы- + ездить. The answer uses the same frame: выезд в одиннадцать.

У вас есть э́тот разме́р?

Do you have this size?

у + genitive for what a shop has in stock (Lesson 4): "at you, is there this size?". этот and размер are both accusative, matching the nominative because they are inanimate. The reply is often just the number: сорок восемь, сорок два.

Где приме́рочная?

Where is the fitting room?

примерочная is an adjective standing alone for примерочная комната, exactly like русская for a Russian woman in Lesson 3. From примерить, "to try on", so «Можно примерить?» — "may I try it on?" — is built from the same root.

Опла́та ка́ртой и́ли на́личными?

Payment by card or in cash?

The cashier’s question, and both means of payment are in the instrumental of manner (Lesson 10): картой, наличными, with no preposition. наличные is really an adjective ("cash [money]"), so it declines in the plural only. The stress follows Lesson 11’s на́личные.

Мне ну́жен чек, пожа́луйста.

I need a receipt, please.

нужен is the short adjective that goes with мне (Lesson 9), and it agrees in gender with the thing needed: нужен чек (masc.), нужна помощь (fem.). Without a чек a возврат is usually impossible, so ask for it before you leave the till.

Я хочу́ сде́лать возвра́т.

I would like to make a return.

The aspect pair of Lesson 13 in a shop: хочу (imperfective, the standing wish) + сделать (perfective, the single completed act). возврат is the noun behind вернуть; the sign you will read is «Возврат только с чеком».

Помоги́те!

Help!

The вы imperative of помогать used as a bare cry for help — the same word Lesson 16 gave you, now heading the emergency set. One word, loud, understood everywhere. To say who needs it, add the dative: помогите мне, помогите ему.

Вы́зовите поли́цию!

Call the police!

вызвать governs the accusative, so the -ия noun полиция becomes полицию (Lesson 22 vocabulary, -ия → -ию). вызовите is the вы imperative; the present stem is вызов-, off звать, which is why it is not *вызавите.

Вы́зовите ско́рую!

Call an ambulance!

скорая is скорая помощь with the noun dropped, so it declines as a feminine adjective: the accusative is скорую. «Вызовите скорую помощь» is correct but twice as long — in an emergency you want the short one. The number is 112 from any phone.

Я потеря́лся.

I’m lost. (said by a man)

потеряться, "to lose oneself", is how Russian says "to be lost". The past carries gender, not person: a man says я потерялся, a woman я потерялась. Add где and a place to say where you have lost your way: я потерялся в городе.

Где посо́льство?

Where is the embassy?

посольство is neuter, so the zero-copula "where is" question needs no verb (Lesson 1): где + nominative. A consulate is консульство, the same shape. This is the question that solves a lost-passport evening.

Мне нужна́ по́мощь.

I need help.

The dative + short-adjective state of Lesson 9: literally "to me help is needed". нужна agrees in the feminine with помощь. помощь is third declension, like ночь, and its verb помогать takes the dative — so "help me" is помогите мне.