# The word "есть" and "дoлврa"



## fwoo2003

I am learning speaking Russian from Pimsleur Approach (a set of disks teaches you learn how to speak Russian by listening to the disks).  I am a little confused about when to use or not to use the word "*есть*".  Also Pimsleur use a word sounds "*дoлврa*" for dollar.  I couldn't find this word anywhere in dictionaries.

According to what I have heard from the disks I summarized the rules of using "*есть*" or not as follows:

A. You don't need to add "*есть*" when you are
  1.  using the word "*cколько*" to ask.  For instance: *Сколько у вас?  Сколько у ва*
*       рублей?*
  2.  answering above questions even the answer has specific amount.  For instance: *У*
*       меня четырнадцать рублей.*
  3.  using the word "*много*", "*достаточно*" to describe non-specific amount.  For
       instance: *У меня много рублей.  У вас достаточно денег?
*

B. You need to add "*есть*" when you are
  1. talking about specific amount.  For instance: *У вас есть пятнадцать рублей?  У*
*      меня есть пятнадцать рублей.  *
  2. using the word "*несколько*" which has the meaning of certain amount. For instance:
*У вас есть несколько рублей?  У меня есть несколько рублей.*
  3. asking a question with the meaning of "is there any at all?"  For instance: *У вас есть*
*      рублей?  У вас есть вино?*
  4. answering above questions.  For instance: *У меня есть рублей.  У меня есть*
*      вино.*

Am I doing this all right?  I found some dictionary still add "*есть*" anyway to above mentioned A category. Are there  general rules at all?  I found sentence "*У меня только несколько рублей.*"  using the word "*несколько*" should belong to category B, but by adding the word "*только*" it becomes to belong category A.


----------



## morzh

fwoo2003 said:


> Also Pimsleur use a word sounds "*дoлврa*" for dollar.  I couldn't find this word anywhere in dictionaries.



Cannot. Not Pimsleur. Unless you use one of those "fly-by-nite" pimsleur companies.

A dollar is "доллар". Exact transliteration.


----------



## morzh

fwoo2003 said:


> A. You don't need to add "*есть*" when you are
> 1.  using the word "*cколько*" to ask.  For instance: *Сколько у вас?  Сколько у ва*с
> *       рублей?* - *ОК*
> 2.  answering above questions even the answer has specific amount.  For instance: *У*
> *       меня четырнадцать рублей.* -* ОК*
> 3.  using the word "*много*", "*достаточно*" to describe non-specific amount.  For
> instance: *У меня много рублей.  У вас достаточно денег?
> *
> 
> B. You need to add "*есть*" when you are
> 1. talking about specific amount.  For instance: *У вас есть пятнадцать рублей?  У*
> *      меня есть пятнадцать рублей.   *- *ОК*
> 2. using the word "*несколько*" which has the meaning of certain amount. For instance:
> *У вас есть несколько рублей?  У меня есть несколько рублей.* - *ОК* but never heard "несколько рублей".
> 3. asking a question with the meaning of "is there any at all?"  For instance: *У вас есть*
> *      рублей? - No. Not possible. Wrong case. У вас есть рубли?
> 
> У вас есть вино?* - OK
> 4. answering above questions.  For instance: *У меня есть рублей. - Same - wrong case. У меня евть рубли.
> У меня есть* *вино. ОК*
> 
> Am I doing this all right?  I found some dictionary still add "*есть*" anyway to above mentioned A category. Are there  general rules at all?  I found sentence "*У меня только несколько рублей.*"  using the word "*несколько*" should belong to category B, but by adding the word "*только*" it becomes to belong category A.


----------



## Cientifico

I can't tell the difference in pronunciation between рублей and рубли. 

http://www.forvo.com/search/рубли/
http://www.forvo.com/word/пять_рублей/#ru

They sound the same.


----------



## morzh

Cientifico said:


> I can't tell the difference in pronunciation between рублей and рубли.
> 
> http://www.forvo.com/search/рубли/
> http://www.forvo.com/word/пять_рублей/#ru
> 
> They sound the same.



Man, if you can't tell these two apart, you have a serious hearing problem.  Can't help you here.

In short, "рубли"="roo-blee", and "рублей"="roo-bleigh" (leigh - as in "sleigh").


----------



## Cientifico

Ah, that helps. In the Forvo recordings, I can't really hear the pure "sleigh"-like eigh sound, but more of a mix between the и "ee" sound and the eigh sound. I will listen more carefully to some other -ей words.


----------



## Maroseika

morzh said:


> Man, if you can't tell these two apart, you have a serious hearing problem.  Can't help you here.



Now I see how they lost their declention endings.


----------



## Albertovna

У меня *только несколько* рублей.
У меня *есть только несколько* рублей.  
I think they are both correct, but the first (shorter) one is better.

 Yes, "доллар," and only "доллар". We decline this as a usual Russian word. I suppose you misheard the genitive "доллара" as "долвра". 

*fwoo2003, *I think there are no strict general rules governing the use of "есть" in your examples. These examples are just contexts. Study Russian contexts, and this is all I can say. Good luck!


----------



## Explorer41

Albertovna said:


> *fwoo2003, *I think there are no strict general rules governing the use of "есть" in your examples. These examples are just contexts. Study Russian contexts, and this is all I can say. Good luck!


Meseems, it is a gentle way to say "there are some rules, but nobody really knows what" 

Also, for unknown reason nobody mentioned that we don't say "у меня есть рубли" -- almost never. We say only "у меня есть деньги". Or "у меня нет денег" ::-(|


----------



## Albertovna

Explorer41 said:


> Meseems, it is a gentle way to say "there are some rules, but nobody really knows what"


No, it is a gentle way of saying that we do not have (and do not really need) rules for EVERYTHING.  People are not robots. 


Explorer41 said:


> Also, for unknown reason nobody mentioned that we don't say "у меня есть рубли" -- almost never. We say only "у меня есть деньги". Or "у меня нет денег" ::-(|


  Thank you for pointing this out. Yes, normally the Russians say "У меня есть деньги". "У меня есть рубли" is a possible phrase, for example, for foreign guests in Russia. They might have dollars, euros, yuans, yens, reais, etc., on them, but not always rubles. In this case they have to exchange their money.


----------



## Explorer41

Albertovna said:


> No, it is a gentle way of saying that we do not have (and do not really need) rules for EVERYTHING.  People are not robots.


Well, I believe people are. Or else it becomes strange and ill-logical (or "illogical" -- read it as you like ;-) ): stars are "machines", planets are "machines", lakes are "machines", bacteria are "machines", humans aren't. Why?

But OK, it is about to go off-topic ;-) . Though it can be interesting.


----------



## gvozd

morzh said:


> Man, if you can't tell these two apart, you have a serious hearing problem.



No, it's just the ears of a foreigner. Non-English speakers have some difficulties when try to distinguish short and long vowels, for example. I read that in German there are short, long and half-long vowels It would be a real nightmare for me if I tried to study German.


----------



## Syline

gvozd said:


> I read that in German there are short, long and half-long vowels


It is not true. In German like in English: long vowels, short vowels and diphthongs.


----------



## Albertovna

gvozd said:


> It would be a real nightmare for me if I tried to study German.


I thoroughly recommend that you try. German is a wonderful and not very difficult language to learn.


Syline said:


> In German like in English: long vowels, short vowels and diphthongs.


Aha.


----------



## morzh

Meine nächste Sprache zu lernen ist Deutsch.

Beautiful language. It has that robustness, that English lacks.

Zeit...das habe ich fiel


----------



## Syline

Albertovna said:


> I thoroughly recommend that you try. German is a wonderful and not very difficult language to learn.


Adding my recommendations )) German language is just heavenly


----------



## morzh

Hat man nicht mit seiner sprahen hunderttausend hudelei  (singing)

All those capital letters usage is what I dread.


----------



## gvozd

Albertovna said:


> I thoroughly recommend that you try. German is a wonderful and not very difficult language to learn.



I wish I had abilities to learn more than 1 foreign language. The more I learn English the less I know it


----------



## morzh

gvozd said:


> I wish I had abilities to learn more than 1 foreign language. The more I learn English the less I know it



Stop learning. Go practice.


----------



## gvozd

morzh said:


> It has that robustness, that English lacks.



You mean English is too soft? Without hardness and liveliness?


----------



## morzh

No, I don't mean "with no liveliness".
But hardness....it's hardly there


----------



## morzh

English is beautiful, but sound-wise it's a bit (just a bit, no offense - I love it) on the bland side.


----------



## Explorer41

morzh said:


> English is beautiful, but sound-wise it's a bit (just a bit, no offense - I love it) on the bland side.


Well... This thread did go off-topic. OK.
As for me, I always liked the sound of English more than, say, the sound of French.

Of course, it all depends on an author of a concrete document... When I write English, it's bad; when Byron writes English, it's good; and when Tolkien writes English, it's good. In all the levels: meanings and language constructs are beautiful as well as its sound.

I like very much the English ways of organizing thought and sound; the latter is especially true, when a text doesn't contain too much of latin-like words.


----------

