II. Intermediate course

In this course, you will improve your grammar, start speaking more naturally, and discover how Russian really works through useful vocabulary and common patterns.

But before we fully dive into the course, let’s warm up with some common verbs and phrases that you probably already know. If not, don’t forget to add them to your learning list for later! :)

Choosing between ты and вы is important, because it shows your relationship with the person and how polite you want to be.

Use ты with friends, family, children, or people you know well. It sounds friendly, relaxed, and personal. Use вы with strangers, older people, or in formal situations (for example at work, in a shop, or when speaking to a teacher). It shows respect and distance.

The same word вы is used for:
- plural (you = more people)
- formal singular (you = one person, politely)

Switching from вы to ты usually happens only when people agree to be more informal. Starting with ты can sound rude if you don’t know the person well. When you are not sure, stick with вы, it is always safe and polite.

In Russian, verbs change their endings depending on who is doing the action. Because of this, the verb itself already shows the subject. That is why you will often hear Russians not say я, ты, or мы. For example, Работаю already means 'I work.'

If it feels more comfortable, you can still use pronouns like я or ты, it's completely correct. You might notice that it can sometimes become more difficult in the third person (he/she/it), because the verb form does not show gender clearly. In these cases, Russians rely on context to understand who is being talked about.

Let’s learn some common Russian adjectives to expand your vocabulary.
Remember: Russian adjectives change depending on the gender and number of the noun they describe. To make adjectives plural, you usually remove the singular ending (like -ый, -ой, -ий) and replace it with -ые or -ие.

Let’s explore the seasons and practical vocabulary connected to them. In Russian, when people talk about weather, they don’t say a direct word for outside. Instead, they use the expression на улице, which literally means on the street.

In Russian, some everyday words are closely connected to culture and lifestyle. Learning them helps you understand how people live and spend time together.

A самовар is a traditional container used to boil water for tea, often placed on the table during gatherings. Tea is very important in Russian culture. You can find those even in trains in Russia, free to use.
A дача is a small country house where people go to relax, especially in summer.
A баня is a traditional sauna, used not only for washing, but also for relaxing and socializing.
Food is also important: борщ is a famous beet soup, and пельмени are dumplings usually filled with meat.

нет is used to say no, but also there is no or I don’t have.

For example:
Нет. → No.
У меня нет машины. → I don’t have a car. Literally, it could be translated as I have no car.
Notice that after нет, the noun often changes its form. This is because a different case is used (genitive in this case).
For now, you don’t need to learn all the rules, just try to remember common phrases:

нет времени → no time
нет денег → no money

In Russian, nationalities change depending on gender and number, just like adjectives. For example, the word русский (Russian) changes like this:

русский → masculine (a Russian man) - Он русский. (He is Russian.)
русская → feminine (a Russian woman) - Она русская. (She is Russian.)
русские → plural (Russians) - Они русские. (They are Russian.)

Let's go through some common nationalities.

Let's talk about friendship дружба and related vocabulary!

In Russian, when you ask about someone’s job, you say Кем ты работаешь?, which literally means As what do you work? To answer this question, Russian uses the instrumental case. This means that the profession changes its ending.

For example:
Я работаю врачом. → I work as a doctor.
Она работает учителем. → She works as a teacher.

Notice the endings:
врач → врачом
учитель → учителем

These endings ( -ом / -ем) are very common in the instrumental case.
You can also ask more formally:

Кем вы работаете? → What do you do?
In modern Russian, the language is starting to distinguish more between male and female forms of some professions. For example, alongside программист, you may also hear программистка for a woman.

You will often see a dash (—) in Russian, called тире, where English would normally use the verb to be (is/are). The reason is simple: in the present tense, Russian usually does not use the verb to be. Instead, it is just understood.
For example:
Он врач.→ He is a doctor.
Москва - столица России.→ Moscow is the capital of Russia.

Russian prepositions do not always match English directly, so it’s best to learn them in common phrases. We will start with в, на, and с.

в → in
Used for cities, buildings, and enclosed spaces. In many cases, it works like English in:
Я в городе. → I am in the city.
Мы в доме. → We are in the house.

на → on / at
Used for surfaces, but also for many places where English uses at:
Книга на столе. → The book is on the table.
Я на работе.→ I am at work.

с → with
Used to show that you are together with someone, just like in English.
Я с другом. → I am with a friend.
Мы с друзьями. → We are with friends.

Good news: all continents are feminine nouns, so you don’t need to worry about learning the gender of each one. As you now know, this is important because in Russian, the gender of a noun affects the form of verbs and adjectives used with it. When we talk about continents, we use the prepositions в (in).

Я живу в Европе. (I live in Europe.)
Ты хочешь поехать в Африку? (Do you want to go to Africa?)
Он мечтает об Австралии. (He dreams about Australia.)

Now let’s learn some useful words and phrases for real-life travel situations. Imagine you’ve just arrived in a new country and need to find your way around - in Russian.

Let’s learn some common body parts. These words are useful when describing people or talking about health. In Russian, the structure У меня болит... (I have pain in... / …hurts), is used instead of saying my … hurts directly.

For plural, we use болят : глаза, уши. У меня болят уши.

Numbers from 20 to 100 follow a simple pattern. First, you say the tens, and then you add the smaller number (just like in English).

десят comes from an old word meaning ten. So пятьдесят literally means five tens (50).
Number 40 breaks the pattern and is simply called “сорок.”

Verbs ending in -ить

You already know how to conjugate verbs ending in -ать, like работать. Now we will learn verbs from another important group - verbs ending in -ить. These verbs follow a different conjugation pattern, so the endings are not the same as with -ать verbs.

You already know the verb любить, now we will learn to conjugate говорить - to speak.

To conjugate a verb like говорить (to speak), remove -ить to get the stem: говор-. Then add the new endings depending on the subject.

- я → -ю → говорю (I speak)
- ты → -ишь → говоришь (you speak, informal)
- он/она → -ит → говорит (he/she speaks)
- мы → -им → говорим (we speak)
- вы → -ите → говорите (you speak, formal/plural)
- они → -ят → говорят (they speak)

You’ve made it to the final section of the Second Intermediate Russian Course!
“Ты молодец!” is a super common phrase in Russian. It’s a warm, informal way to say well done, good job, or even good boy/girl or smart cookie. There’s no perfect literal translation, but it’s all about praising someone’s effort, behavior, or smarts. You’ll hear it all the time in everyday Russian.

Just a few more flashcards to review-and you’re done. Молодец!