1.5 Mary makes some new friends
Now we meet English host Mary again. Today, she is out shopping. She meets her new Ukrainian friend Olena, who lives nearby. Olena is with her family, who Mary has not met before.
Transcript: Audio 6
| Ukrainian | Transliteration |
|---|---|
| Мері Привіт, Олено! | Meri Pryvit, Oleno! |
| Оленa Привіт, Мері! | Olena Pryvit, Meri! |
| Мері Як справи? | Meri Yak spravy? |
| Оленa Дякую, добре, а як ти? | Olena Diakuiu, dobre, a yak ty? |
| Мері Теж добре. Вибач, а хто це? | Meri Tezh dobre. Vybach, a khto tse? |
| Оленa Це моя мама, Олександра, і мій брат Олег. | Olena Tse moia mama, Oleksandra, i mii brat Oleh. |
| Мері Дуже приємно. А хто вони? | Meri Duzhe pryiemno. A khto vony? |
| Оленa Моя мама – учителька, а мій брат – школяр. | Olena moia mama – uchytelka, a mii brat – shkoliar. |
| Мері Гарна сімʼя! | Meri Harna simia! |
| Оленa Дякую! | Olena Diakuiu! |
Transcript: Audio 7
Take a closer look (Audio 7 transcript)
Now let’s look at this dialogue closely. It starts with phrases already known to you: with informal greetings – Pryvit, Oleno! – Pryvit, Meri! – which shows that two friends have met. It continues with usual phrase Yak spravy? ‘How are you?’ Olena answers: Diakuiu, dobre, a yak ty? which means ‘Thank you, I am good, and how are you?’ Mary answers: Tezh dobre. It means ‘I am also good.’ And here Mary has noticed some people with Olena and she asks: Vybach, a khto tse? ‘Excuse me, and who is this?’ Let’s repeat this together: Vybach, a khto tse? Vybach means ‘excuse me’ and ‘sorry’. This is normal singular. Its plural form is vybachte. Please repeat once again: vybach, vybachte.
Olena introduces her family: Tse moia mama, Oleksandra, i mii brat Oleh, which means ‘This is my Mum Oleksandra and my brother Oleh’. Mary says Duzhe pryiemno. A khto vony? (‘Nice to meet! And who are they?’) Olena says that her mother is a teacher, and her brother is a schoolboy. Mary finishes with Harna simia! This means ‘nice family.’ Now listen to the dialogue once again.
Formal or informal you?
As you have seen in the last dialogue, Mary and Olena use informal way of communication: they say to each other ‘pryvit’ and singular ‘ty’. This implies that they have met and agreed to use informal ‘ty’. Usually the older person makes the first step by asking ‘Можна на ти?’ ‘Mozhna na ty?’
This means ‘May I say ty?’