Haggling at the stall in Russian
Saturday, the apple stall at the market in Russian. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Добрый день! Хотите яблоки?» — Good afternoon! Would you like some apples?; «Да, один килограмм. Они спелые?» — Yes, one kilogram. Are they ripe?
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: saturday, the apple stall at the market. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Добрый день! Хотите яблоки?Dobryy den! Khotite yabloki?Good afternoon! Would you like some apples?
- Да, один килограмм. Они спелые?Da, odin kilogramm. Oni spelye?Yes, one kilogram. Are they ripe?
- Самые спелые на рынке. Что-нибудь ещё?Samye spelye na rynke. Chto-nibud eshchyo?The ripest at the market. Anything else?
- Нет, спасибо. Сколько с меня?Net, spasibo. Skolko s menya?No, thanks. How much do I owe you?
- Сто рублей за килограмм.Sto rubley za kilogramm.A hundred rubles a kilogram.
- А можно дешевле? Я беру два килограмма.A mozhno deshevle? Ya beru dva kilogramma.Can you make it cheaper? I'll take two kilograms.
- Ладно. Два килограмма — сто восемьдесят.Ladno. Dva kilogramma — sto vosemdesyat.All right. Two kilograms for one hundred and eighty.
Lines one by one
| Russian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Добрый день! Хотите яблоки? | Dobryy den! Khotite yabloki? | Good afternoon! Would you like some apples? |
| Да, один килограмм. Они спелые? | Da, odin kilogramm. Oni spelye? | Yes, one kilogram. Are they ripe? |
| Самые спелые на рынке. Что-нибудь ещё? | Samye spelye na rynke. Chto-nibud eshchyo? | The ripest at the market. Anything else? |
| Нет, спасибо. Сколько с меня? | Net, spasibo. Skolko s menya? | No, thanks. How much do I owe you? |
| Сто рублей за килограмм. | Sto rubley za kilogramm. | A hundred rubles a kilogram. |
| А можно дешевле? Я беру два килограмма. | A mozhno deshevle? Ya beru dva kilogramma. | Can you make it cheaper? I'll take two kilograms. |
| Ладно. Два килограмма — сто восемьдесят. | Ladno. Dva kilogramma — sto vosemdesyat. | All right. Two kilograms for one hundred and eighty. |
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! Хотите яблоки?” (Dobryy den! Khotite yabloki?) — Good afternoon! Would you like some apples? 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.