House and apartment

Unit 13. House and apartment. Дом и кварти́ра. The two main words for where you live. Both are common — but in everyday Russian conversation, кварти́ра — apartment — comes up more often than дом. Most Russians live in apartments, especially in cities. We'll explore that more in lesson 5. Let's start with five foundational words. Дом. *House, or home.* — Дом. One syllable. Дом covers both 'house' as a building and 'home' as the place you live. Russians use дом for both, and context tells you which is meant. Кварти́ра. *Apartment.* — Кварти́ра. Three syllables, stress on the second. Where most Russians actually live. Feminine noun. Ко́мната. *Room.* — Ко́мната. Stress on the first syllable. The general word for any room — bedroom, living room, kitchen, study. You'll meet specific rooms in lesson 2. Окно́. *Window.* — Окно́. Stress on the second syllable. Neuter noun. Дверь. *Door.* — Дверь. One syllable with a soft sign at the end. Feminine despite the consonant ending — same pattern as тетра́дь from Unit 10. So our five foundations: дом, кварти́ра, ко́мната, окно́, дверь. In lesson 2, we move into specific rooms — kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, living room.

house / home

dom — one syllable; covers both 'house' and 'home'

apartment

kvar-TI-ra — stress on the second syllable; feminine noun

room

KOM-na-ta — general word for any room

window

ak-NO — stress on the second syllable; neuter noun

door

dvyer' — feminine despite consonant ending; same pattern as тетрадь

Say it back.

Try saying 'apartment' — kvar-TI-ra

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Say it back.

Try saying 'room' — KOM-na-ta

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Say it back.

Try saying 'door' — dvyer'

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

house / home

apartment

Lesson 2. From the building to the rooms inside. Five specific room words. Ку́хня. *Kitchen.* — Ку́хня. Stress on the first syllable. The kitchen — and in Russian homes, the kitchen carries weight beyond just cooking. We'll come back to that in lesson 5. Спа́льня. *Bedroom.* — Спа́льня. Stress on the first syllable. From спать — to sleep. So спа́льня literally means 'the sleeping place.' Ва́нная. *Bathroom.* — Ва́нная. Three syllables. Notice the ending sounds a bit different — э́то adjective ending. Same with the next word. Гости́ная. *Living room.* — Гости́ная. Four syllables, stress on the second. Also an adjective-style ending. Here's the thing about ва́нная and гости́ная — Russians treat them as ordinary room names, but the unusual endings come from the words' history as adjective forms. Originally they were 'bathing one' and 'guest one' with ко́мната — room — implied and dropped. The endings will look adjective-like in case forms. Just notice — no need to figure out why right now. And one more — кабине́т. Study, or home office. — Кабине́т. Stress on the last syllable. The room where you work from home, or where your books and computer live. Макси́м has a кабине́т — we'll meet him in his study in the final lesson. All five rooms follow the possessive patterns you know from Unit 5 — моя́ ку́хня, моя́ спа́льня, моя́ ва́нная, моя́ гости́ная, мой кабине́т. Most are feminine; кабине́т is masculine. So our five rooms: ку́хня, спа́льня, ва́нная, гости́ная, кабине́т. In lesson 3, we learn how to say where you are and where things are — в ку́хне, на столе́. The prepositions that handle location.

kitchen

KUKH-nya — stress on the first syllable

bedroom

SPAL'-nya — from спать (to sleep); literally 'the sleeping place'

bathroom

VAN-na-ya — adjective-style ending from 'bathing one'

living room

gos-TI-na-ya — adjective-style ending from 'guest one'

study / home office

ka-bi-NYET — stress on the last syllable; masculine noun

This is my kitchen

E-ta ma-YA KUKH-nya — feminine possessive (Unit 5)

This is my study

E-ta moy ka-bi-NYET — masculine possessive (мой, not моя́)

Say it back.

Try saying 'kitchen' — KUKH-nya

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Say it back.

Try saying 'bedroom' — SPAL'-nya

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Say it back.

Try saying 'study' — ka-bi-NYET

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

kitchen

study

Lesson 3. At home — where things are. You already own the pattern: в шко́ле, from Unit 9. In something — в. Today it moves into the home. — Я в спа́льне. I'm in the bedroom. Спа́льня became спа́льне — the same -е ending you met with в шко́ле. The pattern carries forward. — Я в кабине́те. I'm in the study. Кабине́т became кабине́те. — Я в гости́ной. I'm in the living room. Гости́ная becomes гости́ной — the adjective ending shows up, as we noticed in lesson 2. So в + room: в спа́льне, в кабине́те, в гости́ной. Inside rooms — the location pattern extends naturally. Now — when something is on a surface, Russian uses a different preposition. На. — Кни́га на столе́. The book is on the table. Стол becomes столе́ — the -е ending again, but with на instead of в. — Ко́шка на дива́не. The cat is on the sofa. — Тетра́дь на крова́ти. The notebook is on the bed. Крова́ть becomes крова́ти. Notice — feminine words with the мя́гкий знак ending shift to -и, not -е. So — в for being inside something, на for being on a surface. Russians use both constantly. One quirky thing — ку́хня can take на as well as в. На ку́хне and в ку́хне both work — you'll hear на ку́хне more often, and both are correct. In the next lesson — the furniture itself gets its names.

I'm in the bedroom

ya v SPAL'-nye — в + room pattern from Unit 9

I'm in the study

ya v ka-bi-NYE-tye

I'm in the living room

ya v gos-TI-noy — adjective ending, as noticed in L2

The book is on the table

KNI-ga na sta-LYE — на + surface pattern; стол becomes столе

The cat is on the sofa

KOSH-ka na di-VA-nye

I'm in the kitchen.

Say it back.

Try saying 'I'm in the bedroom' — ya v SPAL'-nye

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Say it back.

Try saying 'I'm in the kitchen' — ya na KUKH-nye

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Say it back.

Try saying 'The book is on the table' — KNI-ga na sta-LYE

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

I'm in the bedroom

The book is on the table

Lesson 4. Furniture. Ме́бель. The rooms have their names — now the things inside them. Four pieces, and you've already met them all standing on surfaces in the last lesson. — Стол. *Table.* Masculine. The surface everything lands on — books, cups, conversations. — Стул. *Chair.* Masculine. One letter from стол — стол, стул. The table and its companion. — Дива́н. *Sofa.* Masculine. Stress on the second syllable. Where the cat was sitting last lesson — ко́шка на дива́не. — Крова́ть. *Bed.* Feminine — despite the consonant ending, because of the мя́гкий знак. The same pattern as тетра́дь from Unit 10: the soft sign at the end, and the word is feminine. That's why last lesson it was на крова́ти — feminine words with the мя́гкий знак ending shift to -и. So four pieces of furniture: стол, стул, дива́н, крова́ть — three masculine, one feminine with the soft sign. Put them together with the places and you can already say where everything in a home is: кни́га на столе́, ко́шка на дива́не, я в спа́льне. In the next lesson, we look at Russian home culture — what walking into a Russian home actually feels like.

Table

Chair

Sofa

Bed

Say it back.

Try saying 'chair' — stool

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Say it back.

Try saying 'sofa' — di-VAN

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Say it back.

Try saying 'bed' — kra-VAT'

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Lesson 5. The Russian home. Ру́сский дом. The first thing you notice walking into a Russian home is the та́почки by the door. — Та́почки. *Slippers.* You take your shoes off when you come in — every time, no exception, even briefly — and you put on та́почки. Hosts may offer a fresh pair to guests. Walking on a Russian floor in your outside shoes feels wrong to a Russian; it's just not done. This is one of the small everyday details that shapes how Russian homes feel — physical, careful, intentional. Another shaping detail — most Russians live in apartments, not detached houses. Кварти́ры, not до́ма in the standalone-building sense. Russian cities are built up rather than out; кварти́ра is the default way of life. This shapes what 'home' feels like — neighbors close, common entrances, life lived vertically rather than spread across a yard. And one more — the kitchen carries social weight that other rooms don't quite match. Ру́сские ку́хни are where conversations happen. Friends visiting? You sit at the kitchen table. Family discussions? Ку́хня. Late-night talks over tea? Ку́хня. It's smaller than the living room often, but it's where the real time is spent. These three details — та́почки by the door, кварти́ра as default, ку́хня as social center — paint a picture of how Russians inhabit their homes. Physical, communal, grounded. In the final lesson, Макси́м takes us on a tour of his кварти́ра, and all the threads from earlier units come together — family, work, study, hobbies, the body parts that ache in the mornings, all of it set in actual rooms.

The Russian home

The first thing you notice walking into a Russian home is the тапочки by the door. You take your shoes off coming in, every time, and put on тапочки. Hosts may offer a fresh pair to guests. Walking on a Russian floor in outside shoes feels wrong; it's just not done. Most Russians live in квартиры — apartments — not detached houses. Russian cities are built up rather than out; квартира is the default way of life, with neighbors close and life lived vertically. The kitchen carries social weight other rooms don't match. Русские кухни are where conversations happen — friends visiting, family discussions, late-night talks over tea. It's often smaller than the living room, but it's where the real time is spent. Together: тапочки, квартира, кухня — these three everyday details paint a picture of how Russians inhabit their homes. Physical, communal, grounded.

slippers

TA-poch-ki — by the door of every Russian home

At home I wear slippers

DO-ma ya na-SHU TA-poch-ki — shoes off, slippers on

Russian home

RUS-skiy dom

Say it back.

Try saying 'slippers' — TA-poch-ki

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Final lesson of Unit 13. До́ма — At home. Макси́м walks us through his кварти́ра — and every room is built from words you already know. — Меня́ зову́т Макси́м. Я программи́ст. Я рабо́таю в о́фисе. My name is Макси́м. I'm a programmer. I work at an office. — Э́то моя́ кварти́ра. Она́ ма́ленькая, но э́то мой дом. This is my apartment. It's small, but it's my home. — Э́то моя́ ку́хня. Э́то гости́ная. Э́то спа́льня. А э́то мой кабине́т. This is my kitchen. This is the living room. This is the bedroom. And this is my study. Макси́м names his rooms — all the vocabulary from lessons one and two. — У́тром я на ку́хне. Я ем за́втрак. Хлеб, сыр, чай. In the morning I'm in the kitchen. I eat breakfast. Bread, cheese, tea. — Днём я в кабине́те. Я рабо́таю. На столе́ — моя́ кни́га, слова́рь и тетра́дь. During the day I'm in the study. I work. On the table — my book, dictionary, and notebook. — Ве́чером я в гости́ной. Я слу́шаю му́зыку. Я игра́ю в ша́хматы. In the evening I'm in the living room. I listen to music. I play chess. — Сего́дня немно́го боли́т спина́. Я на дива́не. Чай с мёдом — и хорошо́. Today my back hurts a little. I'm on the sofa. Tea with honey — and all's well. — Э́то мой дом. Ма́ленький, но мой. This is my home. Small, but mine. — А у вас? Где вы у́тром? Где вы ве́чером? And you? Where are you in the morning? Where are you in the evening? Макси́м closes by turning to you — your rooms, your day, your home. Unit 13 complete. Every word here you've built across thirteen units. Real Russian for real homes.

My name is Макси́м. I live with my wife and younger sister.

mi-NIA za-VOOT mak-SIM. ya zhi-VU s zhe-NOY i MLAD-shey sis-TROY.

In the morning I'm in the kitchen. I have breakfast.

U-tram ya na KUKH-nye. ZAV-tra-ka-yu.

In the evening, in the living room. I play chess.

VYE-che-ram v gos-TI-noy. i-GRA-yu v SHAKH-ma-ty.

Макси́м's home tour

Где…? — ask it about any room.

Here's my apartment. It's small, but it's our home.

Макси́м

Where do you listen to music?

Ка́тя

In the living room! In the evening we play chess there.

Макси́м