Chapter 8

Asking for Directions

In This Chapter

Asking questions with “where” and “how”

Understanding the directions you’re given

For anyone in an unfamiliar place, asking for directions (and understanding them) is an indispensable skill. In this chapter, we give you the words and phrases you need in order to get to your destination without getting lost in the process. As exciting as exploring a new place may seem, being lost in a strange city can be scary. We give you the info you need to get wherever you want to go.

Using “Where” and “How” Questions

In Russia, most passers-by — who at first may seem to be preoccupied with their own business — are actually very happy to help you if you don’t know where a place is or how to get there. As a matter of fact, you may even be doing them a favor by distracting their attention from their routine duties. When in doubt, just ask! In the following sections you discover how to ask for directions with two simple words: “where” and “how.”

Asking where a place is

Russian uses two words to translate the English where — где (gdyeh) and куда (kooh-dah) — but you can’t use these words interchangeably. The following is what you need to know about them:

If “where” indicates location rather than direction of movement and you aren’t using the so-called verbs of motion (to go, to walk, to drive, and so on), use the word где.

If “where” indicates direction of movement rather than location or is used in a sentence with verbs of motion (to go, to walk, to drive, and so on), use the word куда.

Here are a couple examples:

Где Саша работает? (gdyeh sah-shuh ruh-boh-tuh-yeht?) (Where does Sasha work?)

Куда Саша идёт? (kooh-dah sah-shuh ee-dyoht?) (Where is Sasha going?)

When we say verbs of motion, we mean any verb that’s associated with motion: going, walking, running, jogging, swimming, rowing, crawling, climbing, getting to, and so on. Flip to Chapter 16 for details on different verbs of motion.

Imagine you’re looking for the nearest bus stop to get to a museum that’s first on the list of places you want to see in a certain city. There you are, helplessly standing on the corner of a crowded street, looking for the person with the friendliest expression to approach with your question. You spot a young woman who seems nice. Why not ask her?

Hold on! What exactly do you intend to ask her? If you’re planning to ask “Where is the bus stop?” first think about how you’re going to translate the word “where.” Are you inquiring about location or destination here? Obviously, your question is about location — the location of the bus stop. Go back to the rule we just provided you. In a sentence or question asking about location, you use где. Now you can go ahead and ask your question:

Где остановка автобуса? (gdyeh ahs-tuh-nohf-kuh uhf-toh-booh-suh?) (Where is the bus stop?)

Now, imagine a slightly different situation. You’re at the bus station. A bus has just arrived and you want to know where it’s going. The best person to ask is probably the driver himself: He should know where the bus is headed, even if today is his first day on the job. Before you ask your question, think first about how to begin it: with где or куда? Is your question “Where is the bus going?” about location or destination? Yes, you’re asking a question about the destination! Go back to the earlier rules: If the main point of your question is destination, you should use the word куда. Here’s your question:

Куда идёт этот автобус? (kooh-dah ee-dyoht eh-taht uhf-toh-boohs?) (Where is this bus going?)

Inquiring how to get to a place

You’re standing at the corner of a crowded street, and a young woman is passing by. You want to ask her how you can get to the музей (mooh-zyehy) (museum) you planned to see today. To ask this question, you need the verb попасть (pah-pahst’) (to get to). The phrase How do I get to is Как я отсюда могу попасть (kahk ya aht-syooh-duh mah-gooh pah-pahst’). The following is what you want to ask:

Как я отсюда могу попасть в музей? (kahk ya aht-syooh-duh mah-gooh pah-pahst’ v mooh-zyehy?) (How do I get to the museum from here?)

Russian uses the same prepositions, в and на, to express both “to (a place)” and “in/at (a place).” When you use в or на to indicate movement, the noun indicating the place of destination takes the accusative case. If you use в or на to denote location, the noun denoting location is used in the prepositional case. (For more on cases, see Chapter 3.)

At this point, you may be wondering when you use на and when you use в. The choice of the preposition depends on the noun it’s used with. With most nouns, Russian uses в (to mean to, into, in, or inside). But a number of nouns require на (to mean to, onto, at, or on). Note that the meaning of в or на depends on the case: In the accusative case it means to; in the prepositional case, it means at or in. Here are a few useful phrases using в and на with the accusative case referring to destination:

в университет (v ooh-nee-veer-see-tyeht) (to the university)

в школу (v shkoh-looh) (to school)

в магазин (v muh-guh-zeen) (to the store)

на стадион (nuh stuh-dee-ohn) (to the stadium)

на вокзал (nuh vahk-zahl) (to the railway station)

на фабрику (nuh fah-bree-kooh) (to the factory)

на завод (nuh zuh-voht) (to the industrial plant)

на площадь (nuh ploh-sh’eet’) (to the square)

The Next Step: Understanding Specific Directions

When you’re asking for directions, it’s important to understand what you’re being told. In the following sections, you find out how to understand verbs in the imperative mood as well as prepositions and other phrases that often are used in giving and receiving directions.

Curiously enough, Russians don’t like to indicate directions with the words восток (vahs-tohk) (east), запад (zah-puht) (west), север (syeh-veer) (north), and юг (yoohk) (south). They avoid them when explaining how you can reach your destination.

Making sense of commands in the imperative mood

Usually, when somebody gives you directions, they tell you where to go, not just where something is located. The imperative mood is the form of the verb in which you hear and give directions. It’s indispensable for making polite requests, giving commands, and generally ordering people around.

Here are some useful phrases in the imperative mood that you may hear or want to use when giving and receiving directions:

Идите прямо (ee-dee-tee prya-mah) (Go straight)

Идите обратно (ee-dee-tee ahb-raht-nah) (Go back)

Идите прямо до (ee-dee-tee prya-muh duh) (Go as far as) + the noun in the genitive case

Подойдите к (pah-dahy-dee-tee k) (Go up to) + the noun in the dative case

Идите по (ee-dee-tee puh) (Go down along) + the noun in the dative case

Пройдите мимо (prahy-dee-tee mee-mah) (Pass by) + the noun in the genitive case

Поверните налево (puh-veer-nee-tee nuh-lyeh-vah) (Turn left or Take a left turn)

Поверните направо (pah-veer-nee-tee nuh-prah-vah) (Turn right or Take a right turn)

Заверните за угол (zuh-veer-nee-tee zah ooh-gahl) (Turn around the corner)

Перейдите улицу (pee-reey-dee-tee ooh-lee-tsooh) (Cross the street)

Listening for prepositions

When people provide you with directions, they often use prepositions that you need to recognize in order to understand the directions you’re given:

около (oh-kah-lah) (near) + a noun in the genitive case

рядом с (rya-dahm s) (next to) + a noun in the instrumental case

напротив (nuh-proh-teef) (opposite, across from) + a noun in the genitive case

за (zah) (beyond) + a noun in the instrumental case

позади (puh-zuh-dee) (behind) + a noun in the genitive case

перед (pyeh-reet) (in front of) + a noun in the instrumental case

между (myehzh-dooh) (between) + a noun in the instrumental case

внутри (vnooh-tree) (inside) + a noun in the genitive case

снаружи (snuh-rooh-zhih) (outside) + a noun in the genitive case

над (naht) (above) + a noun in the instrumental case

под (poht) (below) + a noun in the instrumental case

When you ask a simple question like Где музей? (gdyeh mooh-zyehy?) (Where is the museum?), you may get a response like this:

Музей рядом с театром, за магазином, между аптекой и почтой, напротив универмага. (mooh-zyehy rya-dahm s tee-aht-rahm, zuh muh-guh-zee-nahm, myehzh-dooh uhp-tyeh-kahy ee pohch-tahy, nuh-proh-teef ooh-nee-veer-mah-guh.) (The museum is next to the theater, beyond the store, between the pharmacy and the post office, opposite the department store.)

Note that each of the prepositions in the preceding sentence requires a different case for the noun or phrase following it. Do we really expect you to be able to juggle all these cases? No, not at all. Your modest task for now is only to be able to understand the directions rather than provide them — unless, of course, you’re planning on moving to Russia to become a traffic police officer. For more info on cases, see Chapter 3.

Keeping “right” and “left” straight

When people give you directions in Russian, they often use phrases that use the words left and right:

справа от (sprah-vuh aht) (to the right of) + a noun in the genitive case

направо (nuh-prah-vah) (to the right)

слева от (slyeh-vuh aht) (to the left of) + a noun in the genitive case

налево (nuh-lyeh-vuh) (to the left)

на левой стороне (nuh lyeh-vahy stah-rah-nyeh) (on the left side)

на правой стороне (nuh prah-vahy stah-rah-nyeh) (on the right side)

Peter the Great’s training methods

Peter the Great, the creator of the regular Russian Army, often trained the new recruits himself. The young recruits, who were often illiterate peasants, had an extremely hard time distinguishing between the two military commands — направо (nuh-prah-vah) (to the right) and налево (nuh-lyeh-vah) (to the left). To overcome this problem, the great tsar was said to have invented a new method of training new soldiers. He used two words the young peasants could distinguish very well: солома (sah-loh-muh) (straw) to indicate направо and сено (syeh-nah) (hay) to indicate налево. And guess what? The method worked very well!

Here’s a short exchange that may take place between you and a friendly-looking Russian woman:

You: Извините, где магазин? (eez-vee-nee-tee, gdyeh muh-guh-zeen?) (Excuse me, where is the store?)

The woman: Mагазин справа от аптеки. (muh-guh-zeen sprah-vuh aht uhp-tyeh-kee.) (The store is to the right of the pharmacy.)

Going here and there

The English word here has two different Russian equivalents:

Use Здесь (zdyehs’) to indicate location — in other words, when you’re not dealing with a verb of motion.

Use сюда (syooh-dah) if here indicates destination and is used with a verb of motion, such as go, come, drive, and so forth.

Likewise, the word there has two Russian equivalents:

Use там (tahm) to indicate location.

Use туда (too-dah) to indicate destination.

Compare these examples:

Остановка автобуса здесь. (ahs-tah-nohf-kuh uhf-toh-booh-suh zdyehs’.) (The bus stop is here.)

Иди сюда! (ee-dee syooh-dah!) (Come here!)

Магазин там. (muh-guh-zeen tahm.) (The store is there.)

Иди туда! (ee-dee tooh-dah!) (Go there!)

Traveling near and far

Sometimes you don’t want detailed information about directions. You just want to know whether someplace is near or far and how long it takes to get there. The Russian word for near is близко (blees-kah), and the Russian word for far is далеко (duh-lee-koh).

In giving directions, Russians usually like to indicate distance in terms of the time it takes to get there. Outdoorsy, younger people may say, for example:

Это близко. Минут пятнадцать пешком. (eh-tah blees-kah. mee-nooht peet-naht-suht peesh-kohm.) (It’s near. About 15 minutes’ walk.)

Those people who don’t fancy walking that much may see the same distance differently and say:

Это далеко. Минут пятнадцать пешком. (eh-tah duh-lee-koh. mee-nooht peet-naht-suht’ peesh-kohm.) (It’s far. About 15 minutes’ walk.)

You may notice that in both the preceding responses, the word минут (minutes) is placed before the numeral пятнадцать (15), and you may be wondering whether it’s an error. Nope! Russian has a very special way of indicating approximate time, weight, distance, and even prices. Where English uses the word “about,” Russian may simply reverse the order of words, as in Минут пятнадцать пешком (mee-nooht peet-naht-suht’ peesh-kohm) (About 15 minutes’ walk). To be more exact, a Russian would say Пятнадцать минут пешком (peet-naht-suht’ mee-nooht peesh-kohm) (Exactly 15 minutes’ walk).

A very popular way of indicating the distance in Russia is to count the number of bus, tram, trolleybus, or subway stops to the place you’re inquiring about. If you think a 15-minute walk is a big deal, especially if you’re tired, you may say in response:

Это довольно далеко. Две остановки на трамвае/автобусе/троллейбусе/метро. (eh-tah dah-vohl’-nah duh-lee-koh. dvyeh ahs-tuh-nohf-kee nuh truhm-vah-ee/uhf-toh-booh-see/trah-lyehy-booh-see/meet-roh.) (That’s quite far away. Two stops by the tram/bus/trolleybus/metro.)