вы говорите по-английски?
“вы говорите по-английски?” (vy govorite po-angliyski?) — do you speak English? in Russian. Phrase, level A0, topic — phrases that save you. Language names turn into adverbs: the question says "you speak in-the-English-way". No helper verb is needed for the question — intonation alone does the job. In a live sentence: “Извините, вы говорите по-английски?” — Excuse me, do you speak English? Written with the characters в, ы, г, о, в, о, р, и, т, е, п, о…
In short
| Written in Russian | вы говорите по-английски? |
| Read in Latin letters | vy govorite po-angliyski? |
| Translation | do you speak English? |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A0 |
Why it looks that way
Language names turn into adverbs: the question says "you speak in-the-English-way". No helper verb is needed for the question — intonation alone does the job.
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Извините, вы говорите по-английски?Izvinite, vy govorite po-angliyski?Excuse me, do you speak English?
Nearby words: phrases that save you
“I don't understand”, “say that again”, “slower, please”, “help”. They are learned first for a reason: they bring back a conversation that has already gone wrong.
- я не понимаюya ne ponimayuI do not understandThe little ne stands before the verb as a word of its own. In speech the I is dropped: Ne ponimayu! does the whole job.
- повторите, пожалуйстаpovtorite, pozhaluystarepeat, pleaseThe -te ending is the polite "you" built into the verb. The laziest way to ask again is a bare Chto? — "what?".
- медленнееmedlenneeslowerOne word where English needs "more slowly": the -ee ending is the comparative. Govorite medlennee — "speak slower".
- помогите!pomogite!help!The imperative of pomoch. The -te form is polite, but people shout it at one person too — it carries farther.
- я потерялсяya poteryalsyaI am lostThe result verb: lost and done, no process. A woman says ya poteryalas — the past tense knows the speaker's gender.
- не работаетne rabotaetit does not workThe universal diagnosis: Metro ne rabotayet? — "the metro is not running?" — for machines, plumbing and plans alike.
- подождите минутуpodozhdite minutuwait a minutePodozhdite minutu, pozhaluysta — the polite wait; podozhdi is its informal twin.
- я не могу открытьya ne mogu otkrytI cannot open itMogu plus the infinitive, and no preposition between them: ya ne mogu otkryt dver.
- скорая помощьskoraya pomoshchambulanceLiterally "quick help": the vehicle named by its job. Skoraya pomoshch u doma.
- мне нужен врачmne nuzhen vrachI need a doctorLiterally "to me is needed a doctor": the person in the to-form, the need impersonal. Mne nuzhen vrach, zub bolit.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “phrases that save you”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “do you speak English?” in Russian?
Language names turn into adverbs: the question says "you speak in-the-English-way". No helper verb is needed for the question — intonation alone does the job.
- How do you say “wait a minute” in Russian?
Podozhdite minutu, pozhaluysta — the polite wait; podozhdi is its informal twin.
- How do you say “slower” in Russian?
One word where English needs "more slowly": the -ee ending is the comparative. Govorite medlennee — "speak slower".
- How do you say “I need a doctor” in Russian?
Literally "to me is needed a doctor": the person in the to-form, the need impersonal. Mne nuzhen vrach, zub bolit.
- How do you say “it does not work” in Russian?
The universal diagnosis: Metro ne rabotayet? — "the metro is not running?" — for machines, plumbing and plans alike.
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “do you speak English?” in Russian?
«вы говорите по-английски?», read “vy govorite po-angliyski?” In a live sentence: “Извините, вы говорите по-английски?” — Excuse me, do you speak English? Phrase, level A0, from the set “phrases that save you”; written with the characters в, ы, г, о, в, о, р, и, т, е, п, о…
How is “вы говорите по-английски?” written in Latin letters?
vy govorite po-angliyski? This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Language names turn into adverbs: the question says "you speak in-the-English-way". No helper verb is needed for the question — intonation alone does the job. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.