Transcript

Let’s look at the dialogue in Audio 2 in more detail. Dobryi den means ‘good afternoon’.

Let’s repeat it together: Dobryi den.

Then first person says Ya Natalia, a vy?, which means ‘I am Natalia, and you?’ Ya means ‘I’, vy means ‘you’.

And then we hear the answer: Ya Meri, which means ‘I am Mary’.

The dialogue continues: Duzhe pryiemno! – ‘Nice to meet you!’ The finishing phrase is Meni tezh – ‘Me too.’

You’ll notice that the word for ‘you’ is vy.

Ukrainians often use so called ‘polite plural’ when they address only one person. This shows respect to another person. Polite plural is used when you talk to people who are older than you and pretty often generally to adults.

For example, teachers in universities normally address their adult students using vy, while school teachers use ‘normal’ singular ‘you’ –ty when they address children. However, adults use ‘ty’ talking to their friends.

Now listen to the dialogue again.