Let us move it to Thursday in Russian
A phone call between two colleagues about a meeting in Russian. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Добрый день! Можно перенести встречу?» — Good afternoon! Can we move the meeting?; «Да, конечно.» — Yes, of course.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a phone call between two colleagues about a meeting. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Добрый день! Можно перенести встречу?Dobryy den! Mozhno perenesti vstrechu?Good afternoon! Can we move the meeting?
- Да, конечно.Da, konechno.Yes, of course.
- Давайте перенесём встречу на четверг?Davayte perenesyom vstrechu na chetverg?Shall we move the meeting to Thursday?
- Четверг у меня занят.Chetverg u menya zanyat.Thursday is busy for me.
- А во второй половине дня?A vo vtoroy polovine dnya?And in the afternoon?
- Ближе к вечеру я свободен. После пяти — хорошо?Blizhe k vecheru ya svoboden. Posle pyati — khorosho?Toward evening I'm free. After five — does that work?
- Хорошо, в пять. И напомни мне об этом.Khorosho, v pyat. I napomni mne ob etom.Good, at five. And remind me about it.
- Договорились, до четверга!Dogovorilis, do chetverga!Agreed, see you Thursday!
Lines one by one
| Russian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Добрый день! Можно перенести встречу? | Dobryy den! Mozhno perenesti vstrechu? | Good afternoon! Can we move the meeting? |
| Да, конечно. | Da, konechno. | Yes, of course. |
| Давайте перенесём встречу на четверг? | Davayte perenesyom vstrechu na chetverg? | Shall we move the meeting to Thursday? |
| Четверг у меня занят. | Chetverg u menya zanyat. | Thursday is busy for me. |
| А во второй половине дня? | A vo vtoroy polovine dnya? | And in the afternoon? |
| Ближе к вечеру я свободен. После пяти — хорошо? | Blizhe k vecheru ya svoboden. Posle pyati — khorosho? | Toward evening I'm free. After five — does that work? |
| Хорошо, в пять. И напомни мне об этом. | Khorosho, v pyat. I napomni mne ob etom. | Good, at five. And remind me about it. |
| Договорились, до четверга! | Dogovorilis, do chetverga! | Agreed, see you Thursday! |
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! Можно перенести встречу?” (Dobryy den! Mozhno perenesti vstrechu?) — Good afternoon! Can we move the meeting? 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.