The sweater is too small in Russian
A fitting room in a clothing store, a customer and a clerk in Russian. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Добрый день! Я хочу тёплый свитер, серый или чёрный.» — Good afternoon! I want a warm sweater, gray or black; «Вот чёрный, он тёплый. И серый есть.» — Here's the black one, it's warm. And there's gray.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a fitting room in a clothing store, a customer and a clerk. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Добрый день! Я хочу тёплый свитер, серый или чёрный.Dobryy den! Ya khochu tyoplyy sviter, seryy ili chyornyy.Good afternoon! I want a warm sweater, gray or black.
- Вот чёрный, он тёплый. И серый есть.Vot chyornyy, on tyoplyy. I seryy est.Here's the black one, it's warm. And there's gray.
- Свитер хороший, но он длинный, а я хочу короткий.Sviter khoroshiy, no on dlinnyy, a ya khochu korotkiy.The sweater is nice, but it is long, and I want a short one.
- Тогда этот, короткий. И узкий, и широкий есть.Togda etot, korotkiy. I uzkiy, i shirokiy est.Then this one, the short one. There is a narrow one and a wide one too.
- Этот хорош. Сколько стоит?Etot khorosh. Skolko stoit?This one is good. How much is it?
- Три тысячи рублей.Tri tysyachi rubley.Three thousand rubles.
- Хорошо, этот. Спасибо!Khorosho, etot. Spasibo!Good, this one. Thank you!
Lines one by one
| Russian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Добрый день! Я хочу тёплый свитер, серый или чёрный. | Dobryy den! Ya khochu tyoplyy sviter, seryy ili chyornyy. | Good afternoon! I want a warm sweater, gray or black. |
| Вот чёрный, он тёплый. И серый есть. | Vot chyornyy, on tyoplyy. I seryy est. | Here's the black one, it's warm. And there's gray. |
| Свитер хороший, но он длинный, а я хочу короткий. | Sviter khoroshiy, no on dlinnyy, a ya khochu korotkiy. | The sweater is nice, but it is long, and I want a short one. |
| Тогда этот, короткий. И узкий, и широкий есть. | Togda etot, korotkiy. I uzkiy, i shirokiy est. | Then this one, the short one. There is a narrow one and a wide one too. |
| Этот хорош. Сколько стоит? | Etot khorosh. Skolko stoit? | This one is good. How much is it? |
| Три тысячи рублей. | Tri tysyachi rubley. | Three thousand rubles. |
| Хорошо, этот. Спасибо! | Khorosho, etot. Spasibo! | Good, this one. Thank you! |
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! Я хочу тёплый свитер, серый или чёрный.” (Dobryy den! Ya khochu tyoplyy sviter, seryy ili chyornyy.) — Good afternoon! I want a warm sweater, gray or black. 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.