Семья́ и друзья́
Chapter Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Name immediate family members and describe basic friendships.
- Say what someone has or does not have, using у меня́ есть and у меня́ нет.
- Ask and answer У тебя́ есть...? and У вас есть...? about family, friends, and pets.
- Use possessive words мой, твой, его́, её, наш, ваш, их to identify whose family member or object something is.
- Ask and state age using the dative formula Мне... год/го́да/лет.
- Make adjectives agree with the nouns they describe, in the nominative case, for common descriptive words.
- Talk about pets using the same possession and description patterns.
Communication Scenario
The video call with the partner class in Kazan went well, and now Anna's classmates are preparing short family photographs to share with their new pen pals. Sonya has brought in a photograph of her own family, and the class uses it, along with Dima's and Maria's stories from earlier chapters, to practice talking about who is in a family, how old people are, and what belongs to whom.
- You will learn the fixed pattern у меня́ есть / у меня́ нет for possession and absence, without yet studying the full genitive case as a system.
- You will use the dative case for the first time, but only in the fixed age formula Мне... год/го́да/лет, as formulaic language.
- You will begin making adjectives agree with nouns in gender and number, for the descriptive words in this chapter.
Core Vocabulary
The words below continue your productive Russian vocabulary. As in earlier chapters, each new multisyllabic word is marked with an acute stress mark.
| Russian | English |
|---|---|
| семья́ | family |
| ма́ма | mom |
| па́па | dad |
| роди́тели | parents |
| сын | son |
| дочь | daughter |
| брат | brother |
| сестра́ | sister |
| ба́бушка | grandmother |
| де́душка | grandfather |
| муж | husband |
| жена́ | wife |
| Russian | English |
|---|---|
| друг | friend (male) |
| подру́га | friend (female) |
| соба́ка | dog |
| ко́шка | cat |
| ребёнок | child |
| де́ти | children |
| Russian | English |
|---|---|
| молодо́й / молода́я | young |
| ста́рый / ста́рая | old |
| высо́кий / высо́кая | tall |
| небольшо́й / небольша́я | small, not large |
| краси́вый / краси́вая | pretty, handsome |
| до́брый / до́брая | kind |
| весёлый / весёлая | cheerful |
| Russian | English |
|---|---|
| мой / моя́ / моё | my |
| твой / твоя́ / твоё | your (informal singular) |
| его́ | his |
| её | her |
| наш / на́ша / на́ше | our |
| ваш / ва́ша / ва́ше | your (formal or plural) |
| их | their |
| у меня́ есть | I have |
| у меня́ нет | I do not have |
| ско́лько тебе́ лет | how old are you (informal) |
| ско́лько вам лет | how old are you (formal or plural) |
| двадцать оди́н, два́дцать два, три́дцать | twenty-one, twenty-two, thirty |
All vocabulary in this chapter is productive. Greetings, present-tense verbs, and numbers 0 to 20 from Chapters 1 through 3 remain active and are recycled below.
Pronunciation: Stress in Family Words
Several family words in this chapter carry stress on an unexpected syllable for an English speaker, and one word, ребёнок, contains the letter ё, which is always stressed. This section continues the vowel reduction awareness from Chapter 3 and applies it to new vocabulary.
Notice that the stress in семья́ and сестра́ falls on the final syllable, so the earlier vowels are unstressed and weakened, following the same reduction pattern you practiced with Москва́ in Chapter 3. Compare this with ба́бушка and де́душка, where the stress falls on the first syllable and the later syllables are weak.
- Say семья́ and сестра́ slowly, then at a natural pace, keeping the final syllable clear and full.
- Say ба́бушка and де́душка the same way, keeping the first syllable clear and letting the later syllables weaken.
- Remember that ё, as in ребёнок, is always stressed and is never marked with an additional accent mark.
Language Focus: My Family, My Friends
Purpose: describe family, friends, ages, and possessions, using genitive possession with у, есть/нет, possessive words, dative age formulas, and adjective agreement.
4.1 У меня́ есть... — a formulaic pattern for possession
To say that you have something or someone, use у меня́ есть followed by the person or thing. To say that you do not have it, use у меня́ нет followed by a changed form of the word, such as бра́та instead of брат. This changed form belongs to the genitive case, which is introduced here only as a fixed pattern tied to this chapter's vocabulary, not as a system you apply freely to new words. The full genitive case is developed later in the volume.
| Person | у меня́ есть... | у меня́ нет... |
|---|---|---|
| брат | у меня́ есть брат | у меня́ нет бра́та |
| сестра́ | у меня́ есть сестра́ | у меня́ нет сестры́ |
| соба́ка | у меня́ есть соба́ка | у меня́ нет соба́ки |
| ко́шка | у меня́ есть ко́шка | у меня́ нет ко́шки |
- У тебя́ есть брат и́ли сестра́? — У меня́ есть сестра́, а бра́та у меня́ нет. Do you have a brother or a sister? — I have a sister, but I do not have a brother.
- У вас есть соба́ка? — Нет, у нас есть ко́шка. Do you have a dog? — No, we have a cat.
Use у тебя́ есть...? with someone you address as ты, and у вас есть...? with someone you address as Вы or with more than one person, exactly as you learned for ты and вы in Chapters 1 and 2.
4.2 Possessive words: мой, твой, его́, её, наш, ваш, их
- Моя́ сестра́ живёт в Москве́. My sister lives in Moscow. моя́ + сестра́ (feminine)
- Его́ де́ти говоря́т по-англи́йски. His children speak English. его́ does not change for de children
- Как зову́т ва́шу ба́бушку? — Мою́ ба́бушку зову́т Ната́лья. What is your grandmother's name? — My grandmother's name is Natalya.
Only мой, моя́, моё, твой, твоя́, твоё, наш, на́ша, на́ше, ваш, ва́ша, ва́ше, его́, её, and их are productive in this chapter. Other case forms of these possessives, such as мою́ in the last example above, are recognition-only until case is developed later in the volume.
4.3 Age: Мне... год/го́да/лет
To ask or state age in Russian, use the dative pronoun мне, тебе́, ему́, ей, нам, вам, or им followed by the number and the correct word for "year(s)." This dative pattern is introduced here only as a fixed formula. The full dative case is developed later in the volume.
| Number | Word for "year(s)" | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1, 21, 31... | год | Мне два́дцать оди́н год. |
| 2–4, 22–24, 32–34... | го́да | Ей два́дцать два го́да. |
| 5–20, 25–30, 35... | лет | Ему́ два́дцать пять лет. |
- Ско́лько тебе́ лет? — Мне два́дцать лет. How old are you? — I am twenty years old.
- Ско́лько лет ва́шей ба́бушке? — Ей се́мьдесят лет. How old is your grandmother? — She is seventy years old.
Only the dative pronouns мне, тебе́, ему́, ей, нам, вам, and их-equivalent им are productive, and only within this fixed age formula. Do not extend the dative case to new functions until it is developed in Chapter 13.
4.4 Adjective agreement in the nominative case
- Мой брат высо́кий и весёлый. My brother is tall and cheerful. высо́кий, весёлый: masculine
- Моя́ сестра́ высо́кая и краси́вая. My sister is tall and pretty. высо́кая, краси́вая: feminine
- На́ша ко́шка небольша́я, но о́чень до́брая. Our cat is small, but very kind.
Only nominative singular and plural adjective endings for the adjectives in this chapter's vocabulary are productive. Oblique adjective case forms are recognition-only until Chapter 9 develops them further.
Model Dialogue: У тебя́ есть бра́т и́ли сестра́?
Context: Sonya shows Anna a photograph of her family before class, and they talk about who is in it.
Anna takes out her phone to show her own photograph.
Notice that сестры́ у меня́ нет places the genitive-form noun before у меня́ нет for emphasis, while у меня́ нет бра́та in Language Focus 4.1 places it after. Both orders are natural; word order for focus is developed further in later chapters.
Listening Practice
If no audio recording is available, ask a partner, instructor, or text to speech tool to read the lines below aloud, or read them aloud to yourself slowly, paying attention to the marked stress.
- Listen to (or read aloud) the script above, and list every family member Pyotr mentions.
- Write down each person's age, using digits.
- Does Pyotr's family have a dog, a cat, or both? How do you know?
Speaking Practice
Управля́емая пра́ктика — Controlled practice: family and age
Using the possession and age formulas from Language Focus 4.1 and 4.3, name three family members, one detail about each, and their age, choosing only from this chapter's vocabulary and numbers.
Коммуникати́вное зада́ние — Communicative task: У тебя́ есть...?
With a partner, ask and answer У тебя́ есть брат и́ли сестра́?, Ско́лько тебе́ лет?, and У тебя́ есть соба́ка и́ли ко́шка? If your real family or pets fall outside the chapter's vocabulary, choose a plausible answer from this chapter's material.
Самостоя́тельная пра́ктика — Solo alternative
Record yourself describing three people in your family, or three imagined people, using a possessive word, a descriptive adjective, and an age for each. Listen back and check your adjective agreement, your possessive words, and your stress.
Reading Practice
Семья́ Мари́и — Maria's family
Меня́ зову́т Мари́я. Моя́ семья́ небольша́я. У меня́ есть па́па, ма́ма и брат, а сестры́ у меня́ нет. Моего́ бра́та зову́т Хосе́, ему́ два́дцать пять лет. Он весёлый и до́брый. Моя́ ма́ма молода́я и краси́вая, ей со́рок два го́да. У нас есть соба́ка, её зову́т Ро́за, ей два го́да. Ро́за небольша́я, но о́чень до́брая.
Задание по чтению — Reading task:
- List every family member Maria mentions, and who is missing from her family, according to the text.
- Write down the ages of every person and animal mentioned.
- Find one masculine adjective and one feminine adjective in the passage, and identify the noun each one describes.
Writing Workshop
Complete the following linked writing tasks in order.
Зада́ние 1 — Copy and mark stress: Copy each word from the Core Vocabulary tables by hand, including its stress mark, three times each.
Зада́ние 2 — Complete the sentence: Fill in the missing possessive word or adjective ending so that each sentence matches its noun.
Зада́ние 3 — Short written family description: Write four or five sentences that name two or three family members or friends, describe each with an adjective, and state each person's age, using only this chapter's vocabulary and formulaic phrases. If your real family or friends fall outside the vocabulary, invent a plausible description using this chapter's material.
- Copy the vocabulary with stress marks first. Include every family term, adjective, and possessive word.
- Complete the possessive and adjective ending exercise. Check each ending against its noun's gender.
- Draft your family description. Keep every word within this chapter's vocabulary and earlier chapters' vocabulary.
- Read your description aloud once. Listen for the stressed syllable in each word.
- Check your у меня́ есть/нет phrases and age formulas against the Language Focus tables. Correct any phrase that does not match.
Спи́сок прове́рки — Editing checklist:
- Every word is written in Cyrillic, with no Latin letters.
- Stress marks are included where the vocabulary tables show them.
- Each possessive word and each adjective matches the gender and number of its noun.
- Every у меня́ есть/нет phrase and every age formula matches the forms given in this chapter, not an invented ending.
- No new vocabulary from outside this chapter or earlier chapters has been used.
Culture and Communication
Sharing a family photograph and naming who is in it, as Sonya and Anna do in this chapter, is a common way to get to know someone in many Russian-speaking settings, just as it is in many other communities. Asking someone's age directly, using Ско́лько тебе́ лет?, is generally comfortable among peers and with children, though it becomes a more careful question with people you do not know well or with older adults, where Вы and a more indirect approach are often preferred.
Family structures, living arrangements, and the roles of grandparents vary widely among Russian-speaking families in Russia, Kazakhstan, the Baltic states, North America, and elsewhere. This chapter's vocabulary describes immediate family members in general terms, and it does not represent any single family structure as the only correct or typical one.
Common Mistakes
Error: Saying моя́ сестра́ молодо́й instead of моя́ сестра́ молода́я.
Correction: Match the adjective ending to the gender of the noun it describes, using -ая for feminine nouns like сестра́ and -ый or -о́й for masculine nouns like брат.
Error: Saying у меня́ есть нет бра́та instead of у меня́ нет бра́та.
Correction: Use есть only for possession and нет alone for absence. The two words never appear together in the same phrase.
Error: Saying мне два́дцать пять год instead of мне два́дцать пять лет.
Correction: Check the age formula table in Language Focus 4.3 and choose год, го́да, or лет according to the last digit of the number, remembering that eleven through fourteen always take лет.
Chapter Review
Часть A — Понимание (Comprehension)
1. Return to the Model Dialogue, and answer these short questions.
- Who is in Sonya's family photograph, and how old is her brother?
- What is Anna's dog's name, and how old is she?
Часть B — Пи́сьменная речь (Writing)
1. Write three sentences, each naming a different family member, one adjective describing them, and their age.
2. Give the possessive words for мой, твой, and наш in their masculine, feminine, and plural forms.
Часть C — Чте́ние (Reading)
1. Return to the reading passage, and list every у меня́ есть/нет phrase and every age formula that appears in it.
Часть D — Говоре́ние (Speaking)
1. Ask a partner У тебя́ есть брат и́ли сестра́? and Ско́лько тебе́ лет?, then switch roles.
Practical Performance Task
Chapter 4 Practical Check
Sharing a Family Photograph
Complete the following connected tasks, in order, treating them as one short family-introduction routine.
- Read the model dialogue and the reading passage. Answer the comprehension questions above before continuing.
- Name two or three family members or friends. Use possessive words correctly for each person.
- Describe each person with one adjective. Match the adjective ending to the person's grammatical gender.
- State each person's age. Use the correct form of год/го́да/лет for each number.
- Say whether you have a pet, using у меня́ есть or у меня́ нет. If you have one, describe it with an adjective and give its age.
- Write your four or five sentence family description from the Writing Workshop. Apply the editing checklist.
| Criterion | What is assessed |
|---|---|
| Possession accuracy | The learner correctly uses у меня́ есть and у меня́ нет with the formulaic forms taught in this chapter. |
| Possessive words | The learner selects the correct possessive word for the owner and matches it to the noun where relevant. |
| Adjective agreement | The learner matches adjective endings to the gender and number of the noun described. |
| Age formulas | The learner selects the correct dative pronoun and the correct form of год/го́да/лет. |
| Stress and pronunciation | The learner produces the marked stress on practiced vocabulary with reasonable accuracy. |
| Cyrillic control | The learner writes practiced vocabulary in accurate Cyrillic. |
This checkpoint uses only material introduced in this chapter and Chapters 1 through 3. No item on this rubric requires a system that has not yet been taught.
Answer Key
Model Dialogue — Comprehension
- Sonya's photograph shows her dad, mom, and brother. Her brother, Misha, is twenty-two years old.
- Anna's dog is named Lucky, and she is three years old.
Writing
- Sample answers: Мой брат высо́кий и весёлый, ему́ два́дцать три го́да. Моя́ ба́бушка ста́рая и до́брая, ей се́мьдесят пять лет. На́ша ко́шка небольша́я, ей четы́ре го́да. Other combinations from this chapter's vocabulary are also correct.
- мой: мой (masculine), моя́ (feminine), мои́ (plural, recognition-only). твой: твой, твоя́, твои́ (recognition-only). наш: наш, на́ша, на́ши (recognition-only). Only the masculine and feminine singular forms are productive in this chapter; plural possessive forms are recognition-only until later development.
Reading
- у меня́ есть па́па, ма́ма и брат; сестры́ у меня́ нет; у нас есть соба́ка; ему́ два́дцать пять лет; ей со́рок два го́да; ей два го́да
Looking Ahead
Что вы уже уме́ете — What you can do now
You can name immediate family members and friends, say what you have or do not have using у меня́ есть/нет, use possessive words to say whose family member or object something is, ask and state age using the dative age formula, and describe people and animals with adjectives that agree in gender and number.