Lesson 14
Stating Your Intentions: Future Tense & Plans in Russian
You will learn
- to answer questions about vacation plans
- to talk about buying an apartment
- to describe your work or studies
- to talk about plans for the future
- to invite somebody out
and you will read about life in a Russian city.
Study guide
Dialogues: Vacation Plans
1. Where are Larisa Alekseevna and her family going on vacation?
речка Ахтуба a (small) river, the Akhtuba
купаться/плавать to swim
куда вы поедете в отпуск? where will you be going on your vacation? The verb поехать ends in exactly the same way as ехать ‘to go by vehicle’. The по- in front puts it into the future. Thus:
ты поедешь you will go
он/она поедет he/she will go
вы поедете you will go (pl. or formal)
они поедут they will go
в этом году this year
в следующем году next year
Как вы там будете проводить время? how will you spend your time there? To say what you will be doing in Russian, you use, as appropriate, я буду, ты будешь,... followed by an infinitive verb, i.e. я буду читать, а ты будешь купаться ‘I shall read and you will swim’ (there is more about the future in the grammar section).
утром in the morning. Other times of the day:
днём during the day
вечером in the evening
мы с дочерью my daughter and I. Similarly: мы с мужем / с женой my husband / wife and I. The verb takes the normal ending after мы.
заниматься любимыми своими делами to be occupied with our favorite pastimes
2. Misha is going further away.
Дания Denmark
страна country
Какие у тебя планы на лето? what plans do you have for the summer? You can use this construction just to find out about somebody’s plans for the evening, i.e. какие у тебя / у вас планы на вечер?
со школой, где я раньше учился with the school, where I previously studied. The verb учиться means ‘to study, to be student’. The present tense is:
ты учишься
он/она учится
вы учитесь
они учатся
мы будем жить в семьях to live with families. If he already knew the family he was staying with, he could say:
мы будем жить у друзей we will live with friends.
что ты хочешь там посмотреть? what do you want to see there? If Misha had no particular idea, he might ask: что можно посмотреть? what is there to see?
посмотреть to look at on a specific occasion. This is the perfective form of смотреть. (See grammar section.)
Practice what you have learned
1. Кто куда? or Who is going where? Listen to your recording then note the mistake in each of the following statements.
2. You are going on holiday with your husband and daughter. You will be asked where you are going and what you’d like to do there. As always, listen for Andrei’s prompts.
Dialogues: Buying an Apartment
3. Pavel is planning to buy an apartment.
уже already
готов (f. готова) ready
балкон/лоджия balcony
через год in a year
безумно дорого ‘madly’ expensive
миллион million
ты снимаешь квартиру? do you rent an apartment? The infinitive is снимать квартиру.
с родителями with my parents. The nominative - ‘parents’ - is родители.
собираюсь купить квартиру I plan to buy an apartment. Собираться ‘to plan, intend’ is another way of expressing the future. It too is always followed by an infinitive verb.
дом сейчас строится the apartment building is being built at the moment. Дом can refer to a simple ‘house’, but in cities it more often refers to an apartment building.
я надеюсь (, что...) I hope (that...). The infinitive is надеяться.
12 квадратных метров 12 square meters
разводить цветы to grow flowers. A garden сад is no more than a dream for most Russian city dwellers, but one might also grow flowers in a garden, в саду.
как долго ждать? how long will you have to wait? (The word надо ‘necessary’ is understood.)
половину мне даст в кредит моё предприятие my firm will lend me half. Предприятие ‘business, enterprise’ comes at the end of the sentence as the most important element. This is a principle worth remembering when searching for the subject of a complicated sentence! Pavel is lucky here: some companies do occasionally help employees with housing, but this is rare – nowadays people usually take out a bank mortgage (ипотека) instead.
Practice what you have learned
3. Aleksey is answering some questions about his present and future homes. Listen to your recording, then choose the correct answers below.
I. Aleksey and his wife are living with:
II. They plan to buy:
III. The building is:
IV. They should be there:
4. You will be talking about the apartment you would like to buy.
3-х комнатную квартиру / 44 кв. м : 20+14+10 /, комнаты изолированные, кухня 7,5 м, 5 этаж 9-тиэтажного дома, рядом станция метро «Отрадное»
2 отдельные квартиры
Возможны варианты
тел: 404-22-76
Dialogues: Work, Studies and Ambitions
4. What is Kolya’s ambition?
кем ты хочешь стать? what would you like to become? The verb стать ‘to become’ is followed by the same instrumental case endings as заниматься (see dialogue 1 in lesson 13 and the grammar summary).
получится шофёром I’ll end up a driver. Any noun after получиться ‘to turn out’ is also in the instrumental case.
5. Dima asks Lyena whether she works or is studying.
больница hospital
медицинское училище medical school for nurses, midwives etc.
думать to think
трудно difficult
врач doctor
медицинская сестра (or медсестра) nurse
сначала first of all
потом же then
вы что делаете, учитесь или работаете? what do you do, study or work?
я и учусь, и работаю I both study and work. The easiest way to express ‘both (... and...)’ is by putting и before each of the two. Another example: я хочу стать и инженером, и балериной I want to be both an engineer and a ballerina.
я работаю санитаркой I work as a hospital attendant. Any occupation following работать has instrumental endings (i.e. the same endings as after заниматься). Thus:
работать врачом to work as a doctor
работать инженером to work as an engineer
работать шофёром to work as a driver
работать учителем (f. учительницей) to work as a teacher
мне нравится I like it (lit. ‘it is pleasing to me’). The question ‘do you like...?’ begins вам нравится...?
иногда я очень устаю sometimes I get very tired. On any particular occasion, Lyena would say я устала ‘I’m tired’, while a man would say я устал.
занятия начинаются в 6, а заканчиваются в 9 lectures begin at 6 and end at 9.
Заканчиваться is another word for кончаться.
даже позже even later
занятия медициной требуют очень много времени medical studies take a lot of time
если получится if it works out
я попробую поступать в медицинский институт I will try to get into a medical institute (for doctors). Поступать is used with any educational institution, e.g. поступать в университет, в институт. Я попробую ‘I shall try’ is important here since without connections the competition for higher education is fierce.
Practice what you have learned
5. ‘What would you like to be when you grow up?’ is a question children will always willingly answer! Look at the pictures below and see if you can fill in the missing professions (with the right endings).
Professions:
балерина
космонавт
писатель (m.) / писательница (f.) writer
I. Я мечтаю стать
II. Я мечтаю стать
III. Я мечтаю стать
IV. Я мечтаю стать
V. Я мечтаю стать
VI. Я мечтаю стать
6. Vladimir Dmitrievich has met some of his ex-pupils at the school New Year concert and asks them what they do now. Listen to their replies, then match the statements in each list which go together.
New words:
педагогический институт teachers’ training college
исторический факультет history department
| I. | утром я работаю в больнице | a) | я изучаю иностранные языки | |
| II. | я актёр | b) | а работаю вечером в магазине | |
| III. | я учусь в педагогическом институте | c) | а вечером учусь в медицинском училище | |
| IV. | я учусь в университете | d) | я работаю в театре в Москве |
7. Your name is Dima, and, while working as a driver, you are studying at a medical college. Listen for Andrei’s prompts.
Dialogues: Inviting Somebody Out
6. Dima invites Lyena to the theater MKhAT.
замечательно marvelous
как вам удобно as you wish
договорились agreed
до встречи! until we meet!
вы не хотите пойти со мной в театр? would you like to come with me to the theater?
со мной with me. Other useful forms are: с нами with us, с вами with you (formal or plural), с тобой with you (singular, informal).
на какой спектакль? to what production?
я с удовольствием пойду I’ll go with pleasure. The verb идти ‘to go by foot’ also has a form used for specific future actions - пойти. The endings are the same as for идти:
ты пойдёшь you will go
он/она пойдёт he/she will go
вы пойдёте you will go (pl. or formal)
они пойдут they will go
а где мы встретимся? where shall we meet? The infinitive of this perfective verb is встретиться.
лучше в пятнадцать минут седьмого better at a quarter past six
(click to enlarge)
(click to enlarge)
Practice what you have learned
8. There must be something in the air... Three people have confused their respective arrangements for going to the theater. Listen to the dialogues on your recording, then look at the pictures below and explain the mistake each person has made.
I.
II.
III.
9. You are visiting Moscow and a new acquaintance has managed to obtain tickets to the theater. Listen to Andrei’s prompts.
Key words and phrases
To use
в следующем году
next year
утром
днём
вечером
учиться (я учусь, ты учишься)
что можно посмотреть?
жить в семьях
жить у друзей
жить с родителями
снимать квартиру
in the morning
in the daytime
in the evening
to study
what is there to see?
to live with a family
to live with friends
to live with (one’s) parents
to rent an apartment
я стану, ты станешь...
I will become, you will become...
работать врачом
to work as a doctor
мне нравится...
уставать (я устаю, ты устаёшь)
I like...
to get tired (I get tired, you get tired)
поступать в институт
to enter an institute
договорились
agreed
To understand
Useful today
To say that an action will be taking place, or that it will happen more than once, the future of быть (to be) is used, followed by an infinitive verb, e.g.:
No indication is given as to whether the action will be completed; all the speaker indicates is that it will be occurring.
Even if you are not talking about an action, but rather a state, you still use the future of быть, for example:
Квартира будет готова через год The apartment will be ready in a year
A different form of the future is used, however, in order to talk about a specific single action in the future. Typical examples where such a form would be used are: ‘I will finish that book tonight’, ‘He will set off for Moscow tomorrow’, ‘We will buy him a small present’. In Russian, this type of future action is expressed by the perfective aspect of the verb. It is most common for perfective verbs to be formed by adding по- to the verb, for example:
поехать to go by vehicle
пойти to go on foot
пообедать to have lunch
посмотреть to have a look
я поеду I will go by vehicle
я пойду I will go on foot
я пообедаю I will have lunch
я посмотрю I will have a look
You will see that the verb endings are those with which you are already familiar.
Without the prefix по- the form of the verb used is, in fact, the imperfective aspect.
Unfortunately not all these perfective forms begin with по-. There are a number of other possible prefixes and sometimes the verb itself changes. Compare the following:
Утром я буду читать книгу. In the morning I will be reading a book.
Я прочитаю книгу (и пойду в кафе). I will finish the book (and go to the café).
В Москве я буду встречаться с друзьями каждый день. In Moscow I will meet with friends every day.
Где мы встретимся? Where shall we meet?
There is also one exception (only one!) to the rule that adding по- makes a verb perfective. It is the verb ‘to buy’ where the form of the verb with по- is actually the imperfective, i.e. покупать, while the perfective is купить, for example:
I won’t buy that paper any more. It’s not very interesting.
Я сегодня куплю платок.
I will buy a scarf today.
Since it is rather a tall order to learn the perfective form of every verb, try to concentrate on becoming familiar with those which you are most likely to need.
10. Irina Petrovna is trying to persuade a friend and her family to join a group heading to the river on vacation. In the box below is information about how each person normally spends his or her vacation. Bearing it in mind, fill in the missing verbs in the dialogue using the future tense.
11. Pick the verb most appropriate for each of the following sentences.
| I. | Куда вы в отпуск в следующем году? | (будете ехать — поедете) |
| В отпуск мы на рыбалку. | (будем ехать — поедем) | |
| II. | Куда ты после работы сегодня? | (будешь идти — пойдёшь) |
| Наверно, я домой. | (буду идти — пойду) | |
| III. | Я обычно газету в этом киоске. | (покупаю — куплю) |
| Но сегодня я её по дороге на работу. | (буду покупать — куплю) | |
| IV. | Я пообедаю, газету и пойду на работу. | (буду читать — прочитаю) |
| Я буду немного по-русски каждый день. | (читать — прочитать) |
Read and understand
12. Что вы будете делать, если вам дадут 100 миллионов рублей?
What will you do if you are given a hundred million rubles? This question was put to some ordinary Russians. Match the replies to the pictures.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
New words:
учить уроки do homework
(играть) на нём (to play) on it
общага (full form: общежитие) (student) dormitory, hostel
Before you leave this section, see if you can think of five things you would do if you had a million rubles, and express your ideas in Russian.
Did you know?
Life in a Russian city
Жилищная проблема (the housing problem) has been a theme in Russian literature, songs and jokes for over a hundred years. The jokes are often extremely funny; however, it cannot be denied that the housing situation still has a real effect on people’s lives, and especially upon the family.
In the Soviet era, many families lived in a коммуналка (a communal flat shared by several unrelated families). Communal flats have almost disappeared today – although a fair number still survive in the centre of St Petersburg – but the memory of them lives on in countless films and anecdotes. Students, however, still very often live in an общежитие (short form: общага, a student dormitory or hostel), especially when they come to study in another city.
Today most city dwellers live in an apartment block (многоэтажка). Many families still own a modest квартира from Soviet times, but younger people increasingly buy new flats with a ипотека (a mortgage) or rent (снимать квартиру). Housing in big cities like Moscow and St Petersburg is very expensive, so it is still common for young couples – and even grown-up children – to go on living with their parents for years.
Lack of adequate accommodation also affects family life: the high cost of a bigger flat is one of the reasons why many couples put off having children, or decide to have just one.
Perhaps there are some reasons for optimism. In recent years huge numbers of new residential districts have been built around the major cities, and government programmes offering cheaper mortgages to young families have made it a little easier to solve the eternal жилищный вопрос (the “housing question”).
An advertisement for а new development of flats
Your turn to speak
You have won a considerable amount of money in the State lottery. Consider what you would like to do with it. You may find the words below useful. As usual, try it by yourself, before listening to one possible response on your recording.
я хочу посмотреть...
я буду купаться, читать,...
I want to see...
I will swim, read...
FAQ
How do you talk about future plans in Russian?
You can use the verb собираться (to plan/intend) followed by an infinitive, or use the future tense (e.g., я буду + infinitive, or a perfective verb form like я поеду).
What case is used for professions with verbs like "работать" or "стать"?
In Russian, professions that follow verbs like работать (to work as), стать (to become), or получиться (to end up as) must be put into the Instrumental case (e.g., работать врачом, стать инженером).
What is the difference between imperfective and perfective future?
The imperfective future (formed with буду + infinitive) shows that an action will be occurring or repeated in the future (e.g., I will be reading). The perfective future consists of a single word (usually prefixed, like прочитаю) and shows that a specific action will be completed in the future.
How do you politely invite someone out in Russian?
A common way to invite someone is by asking: Вы не хотите пойти со мной в...? (Would you like to come with me to...?). To accept, you can reply С удовольствием (With pleasure).