How Many?

Ten words, and you can count. Russian numbers come back constantly — prices, ages, addresses — so you'll hear these far more than you say them. We'll meet one through ten, each tied to its digit. No grammar, no counting of things yet — just the names. Listen, and watch the number. 1 - оди́н 2 - два 3 - три 4 - четы́ре 5 - пять 6 - шесть 7 - семь 8 - во́семь 9 - де́вять 10 - де́сять

1 — one

a-DEEN

2 — two

dva

3 — three

tree

4 — four

chi-TY-rye

5 — five

pyat'

6 — six

shest'

7 — seven

syem'

8 — eight

VO-syem'

9 — nine

DYE-vyat'

10 — ten

DYE-syat'

Say it back.

Try it — chi-TY-rye

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

Say it back.

Try it — syem'

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

Say it back.

Try it — DYE-syat'

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

Say it back.

Try it — chi-TY-rye

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

Say it back.

Try it — chi-TY-rye

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

Say it back.

Try it — chi-TY-rye

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

Say it back.

Try it — chi-TY-rye

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

Say it back.

Try it — chi-TY-rye

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

Say it back.

Try it — chi-TY-rye

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

Say it back.

Try it — chi-TY-rye

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

One to ten

оди́н, два, три, четы́ре, пять — and on to де́сять. These ten are the building blocks for every number you'll meet: the teens, the tens, the hundreds all lean on them. Tie each sound to its digit now — пять is 5, во́семь is 8 — and the rest of the system clicks into place fast. Hear them, point at the number; you don't need to produce them perfectly yet.

Two patterns and the next ninety numbers open up. From eleven to nineteen, listen for -надцать tacked on the end — that's the 'teen'. четы́ре becomes четы́рнадцать, *fourteen*. And the tens — два́дцать, три́дцать — carry their own -дцать or -десят ending. You're not memorising forty separate words; you're hearing two families. Listen for the endings. 11 - оди́ннадцать 12 - двена́дцать 13 - трина́дцать 14 - четы́рнадцать 15 - пятна́дцать 16 - шестна́дцать 17 - семна́дцать 18 - восемна́дцать 19 - девятна́дцать 20 - два́дцать 30 - три́дцать 40 - со́рок 50 - пятьдеся́т 60 - шестьдеся́т 70 - се́мьдесят 80 - во́семьдесят 90 - девяно́сто 100 - сто

11

a-DEEN-na-tsat'

12

dvi-NA-tsat'

13

tri-NA-tsat'

14

chi-TYR-na-tsat'

15

pyat-NA-tsat'

16

shes-NA-tsat'

17

sim-NA-tsat'

18

va-sim-NA-tsat'

19

di-vit-NA-tsat'

20

DVA-tsat'

Say it back.

Try it — chi-TYR-na-tsat'

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

30

TRI-tsat'

40

SO-rak

50

pit-di-SYAT

60

shiz-di-SYAT

70

SYEM-di-syat

80

VO-syim-di-syat

90

di-vi-NO-sta

100

sto

Say it back.

Try it — pit-di-SYAT

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

Teens and tens

Here's the honest shortcut: -надцать on the end means 'teen' (трина́дцать = 13), and -дцать or -деся́т means a round ten (три́дцать = 30, пятьдеся́т = 50). Once your ear catches those two endings, you can place almost any number you hear in the right ballpark without learning each as a fresh word. Two patterns, ninety numbers. Two break the pattern, and it's worth knowing them by name: со́рок (40) takes neither ending — it's simply its own word — and девяно́сто (90) starts with девя- but lands on -носто rather than the -деся́т you'd expect. Learn those two as faces you recognise; the rest follow the endings.

Now the big ones — and a small trick that builds the rest. The hundreds run сто, две́сти, три́ста, четы́реста… up to ты́сяча, *a thousand.* And here's the build: Russian numbers just stack, biggest first. два́дцать plus пять is два́дцать пять — *twenty-five.* сто plus пятьдеся́т is сто пятьдеся́т — *a hundred fifty.* No glue words; you say the parts in order. Listen. 100 - сто 200 - две́сти 300 - три́ста 400 - четы́реста 500 - пятьсо́т 600 - шестьсо́т 700 - семьсо́т 800 - восемьсо́т 900 - девятьсо́т 1000 - ты́сяча *Twenty-five.* — два́дцать пять *A hundred fifty.* — сто пятьдеся́т *Two hundred forty.* — две́сти со́рок

100

sto

200

DVYE-sti

300

TREE-sta

400

chi-TY-ri-sta

500

pit-SOT

600

shis-SOT

700

sim-SOT

800

va-sim-SOT

900

di-vit-SOT

1000

TY-si-cha

Say it back.

Try it — chi-TY-ri-sta

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

Say it back.

Try it — TY-si-cha

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

25 — twenty-five

DVA-tsat' pyat'

150 — a hundred fifty

sto pit-di-SYAT

240 — two hundred forty

DVYE-sti SO-rak

Say it back.

Try it — DVA-tsat' pyat'

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

Building a number

Russian builds numbers the way English does — biggest piece first, then the rest, no 'and' in between. сто пятьдеся́т is literally 'hundred fifty'. две́сти со́рок is 'two-hundred forty'. So every number up to a thousand is just pieces you already own, said in order. Hear the whole thing; you'll start to pick out the parts.

Here's where numbers earn their keep: price. You already own the question — Ско́лько сто́ит? 'How much does it cost?' from Unit 4. The answer is a number plus рубль — *the ruble.* One small thing your ear will pick up: the word for 'rubles' shifts with the number — оди́н рубль, два рубля́, пять рубле́й. Don't learn it as a rule yet; learn the three as chunks. Listen. *How much is it?* — Ско́лько сто́ит? *A hundred rubles.* — Сто рубле́й. *Twenty rubles.* — Два́дцать рубле́й. *One ruble.* — оди́н рубль *Two rubles.* — два рубля́ *Five rubles.* — пять рубле́й *Kopeck.* — копе́йка

How much is it?

SKOL'-ka STO-it

A hundred rubles.

sto rub-LYEY

Twenty rubles.

DVA-tsat' rub-LYEY

one ruble

a-DEEN rubl'

two rubles

dva rub-LYA

five rubles

pyat' rub-LYEY

kopeck

ka-PYEY-ka

Say it back.

Try it — sto rub-LYEY

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

Say it back.

Try it — SKOL'-ka STO-it

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

Twenty rubles.

What does it cost?

Ско́лько сто́ит? — the question from Unit 4 — meets your new numbers, and out comes a price: Сто рубле́й. The only wrinkle is the word 'ruble', which leans on the number in front of it: оди́н рубль (1), два рубля́ (2), пять рубле́й (5). Russians don't think about it; they just say it. Learn the three forms as fixed chunks now — the full rule (which number takes which) comes with the Shopping unit. A копе́йка is the small coin, a hundredth of a ruble.

How much is the juice?

Ка́тя

A hundred rubles.

Макси́м

How much?

A full shopping exchange — the tea, then the coat, then the decision. Ско́лько сто́ит, and an answer you can act on.

How much is the tea?

Ка́тя

A hundred roubles.

Макси́м

And the coat? How much is the coat?

Ка́тя

The coat costs two hundred and forty roubles.

Макси́м

Good! I want the coat.

Ка́тя

One last piece before we finish with numbers: the ordinals — first, second, third. — пе́рвый, второ́й, тре́тий, четвёртый, пя́тый. They behave like adjectives you already know — that -ый ending is the one from — све́тлый, тёмный. Listen, then tell me your own. 1st - пе́рвый 2nd - второ́й 3rd - тре́тий 4th - четвёртый 5th - пя́тый 6th - шесто́й 7th - седьмо́й 8th - восьмо́й 9th - девя́тый 10th - деся́тый

1st — first

PYER-vy

2nd — second

fta-ROY

3rd — third

TRYE-ti

4th — fourth

chit-VYOR-ty

5th — fifth

PYA-ty

6th — sixth

shis-TOY

7th — seventh

sid'-MOY

8th — eighth

vas'-MOY

9th — ninth

di-VYA-ty

10th — tenth

di-SYA-ty

Say it back.

Try it — PYER-vy

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

Order and age

First and fifth, twenty years old, a hundred rubles — numbers turn into the things you actually say. Ordinals (пе́рвый, второ́й…) are adjectives in disguise, with the -ый ending you already use. Age leans on the same chunk trick as price: оди́н год, два го́да, пять лет. The word for 'years' follows the last digit, in three chunks: **1 год**, **2/3/4 го́да**, **5–20 лет**. After twenty it starts again — 21 год, 22 го́да, 23 го́да, 25 лет, 30 лет. Hear the chunk, not the number.

Now the question you'll be asked everywhere: how old are you? — Ско́лько вам лет? That's the polite one. To a friend or a child you'd say — Ско́лько тебе́ лет? And you answer — Мне два́дцать лет. Like the rubles, the word for 'years' follows the last digit, in three chunks. — оди́н год, два го́да, пять лет. One year, two years, five years. And after twenty it starts again — twenty-one takes the first shape, twenty-two the second, twenty-five the third. Hear the chunk, not the number. Listen, then tell me your own. How old are you? — Ско́лько вам лет? And to a friend? — Ско́лько тебе́ лет? I'm twenty. — Мне два́дцать лет. 1 - оди́н год 2 - два го́да 5 - пять лет

How old are you?

SKOL'-ka vam lyet

How old are you? (informal)

SKOL-ka ti-BYE lyet — the ты version, for friends and children

I'm twenty.

mnye DVA-tsat' lyet

one year

a-DEEN got

two years

dva GO-da

five years

pyat' lyet

Say it back.

Try it — mnye DVA-tsat' lyet

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

I'm twenty.

How old are you?

Two people, two ages, and the word for 'years' changes between them: во́семьдесят пять **лет**, but четы́ре **го́да**. That's the same chunking you met with roubles — 1 год · 2/3/4 го́да · 5–20 лет — and it restarts after twenty: 21 год, 22 го́да, 25 лет. Notice the courtesy too: he says **вам** to Мари́я Григо́рьевна, and she says **тебе́** back.

Maria Grigoryevna, how old are you?

Макси́м

I'm eighty-five. And how old are you?

Maria

I'm four.

Макси́м