☰ Units · Russian A1

I, you, he, she; countries

Unit 5 · Part B · Russian A1 (Beginners)
3

Countries and nationalities

Russian A1 · Unit 5
GoalSay the names of some countries and the words for Uzbek and Russian people.
New words
Узбекиста́н (Uzbekistán) · UzbekistanРосси́я (Rossíya) · RussiaЕги́пет (Yegípet) · EgyptГерма́ния (Germániya) · Germanyузбе́к (uzbék) · Uzbek (man)узбе́чка (uzbéchka) · Uzbek (woman)ру́сский (rússkiy) · Russian (man)ру́сская (rússkaya) · Russian (woman)
Explanation

Countries are names, so they start with a capital letter: Узбекиста́н, Росси́я, Еги́пет, Герма́ния. A nationality tells who comes from a country. In Russian it is written with a small letter, unlike in English: узбе́к, ру́сский. Men and women use different words: узбе́к and узбе́чка, ру́сский and ру́сская. You say it like a job: Я узбе́к, Она́ ру́сская. The table shows more nationalities to learn as blocks.

CountryManWoman
Узбекиста́нузбе́кузбе́чка
Росси́яру́сскийру́сская
Еги́петегиптя́нинегиптя́нка
Герма́нияне́мецне́мка
Worked examples
Four sentences. Press Listen and repeat.
Кари́м

Я Кари́м. Я узбе́к.

А́нна

А я А́нна. Я ру́сская.

Karim and Anna say who they are.
Three country names to repeat.
Class activity

Country cards. Make a card for each country and nationality pair in the table. On one side write the country, on the other the man’s and the woman’s word. Test yourself. Then say about yourself: Я узбе́к or Я узбе́чка, or the nationality that fits you.

Practice
1
Press Listen. Which country do you hear?
2
Say in Russian: “She is Uzbek” and “He is Uzbek”.
3
What is the feminine form of ру́сский?
4
Does a nationality start with a capital letter in Russian?
5
Write in Russian: “Germany”.