Money and banking
Each word shows its gender (m., f., n.) or that it exists only in the plural. счёт has two everyday meanings, a bank account and a bill in a restaurant; context makes it clear. Tap any word to hear it. For shopping and prices, see shopping vocabulary.
| Word | Meaning | Gender | In a phrase |
|---|---|---|---|
| money | pl. only | ||
| rouble | m. | ||
| kopeck (1/100 rouble) | f. | ||
| cash | pl. only | ||
| (bank) card | f. | ||
| account; bill | m. | ||
| bank | m. | ||
| loan, credit | m. | ||
| debt | m. | ||
| percent; interest | m. | ||
| salary, wages | f. | ||
| price | f. |
Paying, saving, borrowing, lending
English uses “borrow” and “lend” for opposite directions; Russian uses one phrase, в долг (“as a debt”), with брать (take) or дава́ть (give). The pattern each verb needs is in blue. Verbs are given as aspect pairs: ongoing / completed.
The economy
The vocabulary of business news and economics lectures. Many terms come in opposite pairs, shown side by side: дохо́д / расхо́ды (income / expenditure), при́быль / убы́ток (profit / loss), спрос / предложе́ние (demand / supply).
Describing rises and falls
Two prepositions carry the numbers. на + accusative gives the size of the change (“by”); до + genitive gives the level reached (“to”); с + genitive gives the starting point (“from”). The noun after a number follows the usual counting rules: 1 проце́нт, 2 проце́нта, 5 проце́нтов.
| Verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| расти́ / вы́растиras-TEE / VY-ras-ti | to grow, rise | |
| увели́чиваться / увели́читьсяu-vi-LEE-chi-va-tsa | to increase | |
| па́дать / упа́стьPA-dat’ / u-PAST’ | to fall | |
| снижа́ться / сни́зитьсяsni-ZHAT-sa / SNEE-zit-sa | to decrease, decline | |
| остава́ться / оста́ться на у́ровнеas-TAT-sa na U-rav-nye | to stay at the level (of) | |
| вдво́еVDVO-ye | twice, by half |
Big numbers and percentages
Large numbers behave like nouns: ты́сяча is feminine, миллио́н and миллиа́рд are masculine, and the counted noun goes into the genitive plural after them. In writing, Russian puts a space between thousands and a comma before decimals: 1 500,5.
Check yourself
Say the Russian out loud, then reveal it.