How to Ask for a Word in Russian – Examples and Variations

Let’s look at some examples. Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers. Как будет “book” на русском? (Kak budet “book” na russkom?) Книга. (Kniga.) Как будет “book” на русском? (Kak budet “book” na russkom?) Как будет “pen” на русском? (Kak budet “pen” na russkom?) Ручка. (Ruchka.) Как будет “pen” на русском? (Kak budet “pen” na russkom?) Как будет “bag” на русском? (Kak budet “bag” na russkom?) Сумка. (Sumka.) Как будет “bag” на русском? (Kak budet “bag” na russkom?) Как будет “pencil” по-русски? (Kak budet “pencil” po-russki?) Карандаш. (Karandash.) Как будет “pencil” по-русски? (Kak budet “pencil” po-russki?) Как сказать “How are you?” по-русски? (Kak skazat’ “how are you?” po-russki?) Как дела? (Kak dela?) Как сказать “How are you?” по-русски? (Kak skazat’ “how are you?” po-russki?) Did you notice how I used a different sentence pattern? Как сказать “How are you?” по-русски? (Kak skazat’ “How are you” po-russki?) How do you say ‘How are you?’ in Russian? Как сказать “How are you?” по-русски? (Kak skazat’ “How are you?” po-russki?) First is Как (Kak), “How.” Как. Next is сказать (skazat’), “to say”. Сказать. Сказать. Together, Как сказать, literally “how to say,” but translates as “How do you say…” Как сказать. Next is the English phrase, “How are you?” After this is по-русски (po-russki), “in Russian”. По-русски. По-русски. All together, Как сказать “How are you?” по-русски? (Kak skazat’ “How are you?” po-russki?), literally, “How to say ‘How are you’ in Russian? But it translates as “How do you say ‘How are you?’ in Russian?” The pattern is, Как сказать “ENGLISH” по-русски? (Kak skazat’ “ENGLISH” po-russki?) How do you say “ENGLISH” in Russian? To use this pattern, simply replace the ENGLISH placeholder with the phrase you want to know. Note, this pattern is usually used to ask for the translation of longer phrases. This is a very useful pattern for using Russian to learn Russian. Remember this pattern. You will need it for this lesson.