How to say "and you?", something like that, at 2am/pm in Russian.

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Common mistakes in Russian: how to say “and you”, something like that and how to talk about specific time

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How to say and you, somthing like this/like that common russian mistakes grammar how to say and you

HOW TO SAY "AND YOU?", SOMETHING LIKE THAT, AT 2AM/PM IN RUSSIAN

Today I would like to talk about common mistakes I hear from people who learn Russian. Many speak the language fluently but still say some things wrong. 

 

I know many people, including my students, who feel uncomfortable because they’re not confident about particular patterns. Most often, those are patterns we use every day. 

 

I hope you’ll feel better when speaking after reading this post. 

Let’s start!


 

 

“Что-то как это” (Something like this/that)

 

I guess it’s the number one thing I hear from my students. When you say “Что-то как это” I can immediately understand that you’re an English speaker!

 Why?

 

Because you translate this phrase literally, and you do this correctly. However, that’s not how we say it in Russian! So how do we say “Something like this/that”?

 

  • Что-то вроде этого/того – Something like this/that
  • Что-то типа этого/того – Something “kind of”  this/that

 

We also drop “Что-то” when we want to say “Kind of” as a response.
In this case, we always say:

 

 

  • Типа того/вроде того (correct)
  • Типа этого/вроде этого (incorrect)

     

    -Ты знаешь как работает эта кофемашина? (Do you know how this coffee machine works?
    -Вроде того / типа того (Kind of)


10 вечером, 5 утром, 2 часа днём (10 in the evening, 5 in the morning, 2pm)


Do you say:

Я встаю в 5 утром каждый день?

I hope you’re sitting now because this is incorrect!

No worries, you’re not the only one. 70% of students say it like that! 


You are probably surprised because we all know that we use the Instrumental case to say in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, and at night. 

So what’s wrong here?

 

 

!  When it comes to time and specific parts of the day (as a clarification), we use the Genitive case !
Are you shocked? 

We literally say:

 

 

  • 5 of the morning
  • 10 of the evening
  • 2 of the day

     

 

And now I hope it’s clear why it’s the Genitive case. (*spoiler: because of “of”)

We don’t think about it as in the morning, etc. we think about it as of the morning, etc.

 

 

 

  • Я встаю в 5 утра каждый день (I get up at 5 in the morning every day, 5am)
  • Я ложусь спать в 10 вечера (I go to sleep at 10 in the evening, 10pm)
  • Мы начинаем презентацию в 2 часа дня (We start the presentation at 2 of the day, 2pm)


     

 

Here is the complete list with all possible forms:

 

 

 

  • В час дня/ночи (at 1pm/1am) *We don’t say В один час дня/ночи
  • В два часа утра/ночи (at 2pm/2am)
  • В три часа дня/ночи (at 3pm/3am)
  • В четыре часа дня/утра (at 4pm/4am)
  • В пять часов вечера/утра (at 5 pm/5am)
  • В шесть часов вечера/утра (at 6pm/6am)
  • В семь часов вечера/утра (at 7pm/7am)
  • В восемь часов вечера/утра (at 8pm/8am)
  • В девять часов вечера/утра (at 9pm/9am)
  • В десять часов вечера/утра (at 10pm/10am)
  • В одиннадцать часов вечера/утра (at 11pm/11am)
  • В двенадцать часов ночи/дня (at 12am/12pm)

 

* In colloquial Russian we can skip the word час/часа/часов with 2-12 o’clock.


 

 

Как дела? …- А ты? 

 

It’s classic.
Even people who’ve been learning Russian for many years start sweating when it comes to “And you?” in Russian.

How does it work?

 

Since we have 6 cases, we have SIX possible ways of saying You which means you need to choose the correct case for your sentence. 

 

If you want to feel like a pro when it comes to cases try my video course “Hack Russian cases” for free here! 


 

 

“And you” is always different.

 

 

Classic mistakes:
________________________________________
– привет, как дела?
– привет, хорошо! А ты? (incorrect)

– привет, как дела?
– привет, хорошо! А у тебя? (correct)
_________________________________________

– как тебя/вас зовут?
– Дима, а ты/вы? (incorrect)

– как тебя/вас зовут?
– Дима, а тебя/вас? (correct)
_________________________________________


 

 

Those were common mistakes from the A1 level. But even students with B1-B2 still make them. 

And now let me explain why it’s like that.

 

You always pick the same form of You as they used in the question.

 

 

  • Как дела? (full version is Как у тебя/вас дела) –> А у тебя/а у вас?
  • Как тебя/вас зовут? –> А тебя/вас?
  • Я работаю инженером! –> А ты/вы?


     

 

 

I hope it makes more sense now, and there will be no sweating anymore, haha.
I will continue writing about common mistakes because I think we learn much faster through our mistakes. 


Did you learn something new today?

I would be happy to see your comments and answer your questions.



Happy studying,
Ana