Russian A1, Unit 5: I, you, he, she

I, you, he, she

Russian A1 · Unit 5

GoalUse the Russian words for I, you, he, she, we and they.

New words

я (ya) · Iты (ty) · you (one friend)он (on) · heона́ (oná) · sheмы (my) · weвы (vy) · you (polite, or many people)они́ (oní) · they

Explanation

Russian has a word for each person: я (I), ты (you, one friend), он (he), она́ (she), мы (we), вы (you) and они́ (they). Use ты for one close person: a friend, a family member or a child. Use вы for several people, and also for one person you do not know well or want to respect. Он and она́ are for men and women; они́ is for several people. Notice that я is written with a small letter, unlike the English “I”, unless it starts a sentence.

	One person	More people
I / we	я	мы
you	ты (friend), вы (polite)	вы
he, she / they	он, она́	они́

Worked examples

The people words. Press each card and say it aloud.

Али́

Приве́т! Я Али́. А ты?

Ма́ша

Я Ма́ша.

Two young people introduce themselves. In Russian you can just say я and the name.

Saying who is here and who is there.

Class activity

Pronoun walk. Point to yourself and say я. Point to a friend and say ты. Point to a man and say он, to a woman and say она́. Point to a group of friends and say вы, to yourself and them and say мы, and to other people and say они́. Do it with photos if nobody is near.

Practice

Press Listen. Is this a boy or a girl? Say “he” or “she” in Russian.

How do you say “we” and “they”?

You talk to your teacher. Do you use ты or вы?

You talk to your younger brother. Do you use ты or вы?

Which word fits: Ди́ма — it is a boy — … здесь?

I, you, he, she; countries

I, you, he, she