An incident by the store in Russian
Two neighbors discuss an incident by the store: one saw it himself, the other only heard in Russian. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Ты слышал, что случилось у магазина?» — Have you heard what happened at the store?; «Только понаслышке. Расскажи по порядку.» — Only by hearsay. Tell it in order.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: two neighbors discuss an incident by the store: one saw it himself, the other only heard. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Ты слышал, что случилось у магазина?Ty slyshal, chto sluchilos u magazina?Have you heard what happened at the store?
- Только понаслышке. Расскажи по порядку.Tolko ponaslyshke. Rasskazhi po poryadku.Only by hearsay. Tell it in order.
- Дело было так: иду мимо, и вдруг хлопнуло.Delo bylo tak: idu mimo, i vdrug khlopnulo.Here is how it went: I am walking past, and suddenly there was a bang.
- И что вслед за этим? Кто-нибудь пострадал?I chto vsled za etim? Kto-nibud postradal?And what came after it? Did anyone get hurt?
- Никто. Но я такого честно не ожидал.Nikto. No ya takogo chestno ne ozhidal.No one. But I honestly did not expect such a thing.
- Со слов очевидца, это был газовый баллон.So slov ochevidtsa, eto byl gazovyy ballon.By the account of an eyewitness, it was a gas cylinder.
- Как я понял, баллон уже увезли.Kak ya ponyal, ballon uzhe uvezli.As I understand, the cylinder has already been taken away.
- Надеюсь, больше такого не повторится.Nadeyus, bolshe takogo ne povtoritsya.I hope nothing like it happens again.
Lines one by one
| Russian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Ты слышал, что случилось у магазина? | Ty slyshal, chto sluchilos u magazina? | Have you heard what happened at the store? |
| Только понаслышке. Расскажи по порядку. | Tolko ponaslyshke. Rasskazhi po poryadku. | Only by hearsay. Tell it in order. |
| Дело было так: иду мимо, и вдруг хлопнуло. | Delo bylo tak: idu mimo, i vdrug khlopnulo. | Here is how it went: I am walking past, and suddenly there was a bang. |
| И что вслед за этим? Кто-нибудь пострадал? | I chto vsled za etim? Kto-nibud postradal? | And what came after it? Did anyone get hurt? |
| Никто. Но я такого честно не ожидал. | Nikto. No ya takogo chestno ne ozhidal. | No one. But I honestly did not expect such a thing. |
| Со слов очевидца, это был газовый баллон. | So slov ochevidtsa, eto byl gazovyy ballon. | By the account of an eyewitness, it was a gas cylinder. |
| Как я понял, баллон уже увезли. | Kak ya ponyal, ballon uzhe uvezli. | As I understand, the cylinder has already been taken away. |
| Надеюсь, больше такого не повторится. | Nadeyus, bolshe takogo ne povtoritsya. | I hope nothing like it happens again. |
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?
“Ты слышал, что случилось у магазина?” (Ty slyshal, chto sluchilos u magazina?) — Have you heard what happened at the store? 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.