Cough tablets in Russian
A neighborhood pharmacy, the third day of a cough in Russian. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Добрый день! Что у вас болит?» — Good afternoon! What hurts?; «Болит горло, и кашель уже три дня.» — My throat hurts, and the cough has lasted three days.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a neighborhood pharmacy, the third day of a cough. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Добрый день! Что у вас болит?Dobryy den! Chto u vas bolit?Good afternoon! What hurts?
- Болит горло, и кашель уже три дня.Bolit gorlo, i kashel uzhe tri dnya.My throat hurts, and the cough has lasted three days.
- Температура есть?Temperatura est?Do you have a temperature?
- Вчера была, сегодня нет.Vchera byla, segodnya net.Yesterday I did, today I don't.
- Вот лекарство без рецепта. Два раза в день, после еды.Vot lekarstvo bez retsepta. Dva raza v den, posle edy.Here's medicine without a prescription. Twice a day, after meals.
- Спасибо. Сколько с меня?Spasibo. Skolko s menya?Thanks. How much do I owe you?
- Сто рублей. Если не будет лучше, идите к врачу.Sto rubley. Esli ne budet luchshe, idite k vrachu.A hundred rubles. If it doesn't get better, see a doctor.
Lines one by one
| Russian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Добрый день! Что у вас болит? | Dobryy den! Chto u vas bolit? | Good afternoon! What hurts? |
| Болит горло, и кашель уже три дня. | Bolit gorlo, i kashel uzhe tri dnya. | My throat hurts, and the cough has lasted three days. |
| Температура есть? | Temperatura est? | Do you have a temperature? |
| Вчера была, сегодня нет. | Vchera byla, segodnya net. | Yesterday I did, today I don't. |
| Вот лекарство без рецепта. Два раза в день, после еды. | Vot lekarstvo bez retsepta. Dva raza v den, posle edy. | Here's medicine without a prescription. Twice a day, after meals. |
| Спасибо. Сколько с меня? | Spasibo. Skolko s menya? | Thanks. How much do I owe you? |
| Сто рублей. Если не будет лучше, идите к врачу. | Sto rubley. Esli ne budet luchshe, idite k vrachu. | A hundred rubles. If it doesn't get better, see a doctor. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Russian in this situation?
“Добрый день! Что у вас болит?” (Dobryy den! Chto u vas bolit?) — Good afternoon! What hurts? The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.