Немно́го о языке́ 5.5 Мобильная жизнь

Being in a Location vs. Heading to a Destination

You already know that when we want to express where someone or something is located, we can use the prepositions в and на with the prepositional case of a place.

Ама́нда сейча́с нахо́дится в Петербу́рге, а Дени́с в Москве́.
Amanda is now located in Petersburg, while Denis is in Moscow.

In addition to being used as locations, places can also be destinations to which people go. In Russian destinations can be expressed with the prepositions в and на with the accusative case.

Дени́с е́дет в Петербу́рг, а Ама́нда хо́чет е́хать в Москву́.
Denis is heading to Petersburg, while Amanda wants to go to Moscow.

Locational phrases are often used with verbs that suggest a relatively static state, while destinational phrases are often used with verbs that suggest motion toward a specific destination.  Although the verb itself suggests the type of action, you will still need to use the correct complement, either a locational phrase (в/на plus the prepositional case) or a destinational phrase (в/на plus the accusative case).

Verbs that Require Locational Phrases
	где?
быть	в па́рке	to be at the park, in the park
жить	в Ирку́тске	to live in Irkutsk
рабо́тать	в шко́ле	to work in a school, at a school
учи́ться	в университе́те	to be a (university) student
находи́ться	на Большо́м проспе́кте	to be located on the Big Prospect
отдыха́ть	на Чёрном мо́ре	to vacation on the Black Sea

Verbs that Require Destinational Phrases
	куда?
и́дти	в парк	to go/walk to the park
е́хать	в Ирку́тск	to go to Irkutsk
спеши́ть	в библиоте́ку	to hurry to the library
опа́здывать	на заня́тия	to be late to class

Special Locational and Destinational Forms

There are some words with special locational and destinational forms that do not require the use of в/на.

где? (locational)	куда́? (destinational)
здесь Я живу́ здесь. I live here.	сюда́ Иди́ сюда́! Come here!
там Библиоте́ка нахо́дится там. The library is located (over) there.	туда́ Серге́й е́дет туда́. Sergei is on his way there.
до́ма Том рабо́тает до́ма. Tom works at home.	домо́й Са́ра спеши́т домо́й. Sara is hurrying home.

Note that three of the destinational forms end in –да́ (куда́, сюда́, туда́)

Но́вые глаго́лы. New First-Conjugation Verbs: The  –ова– Type

In this part of the unit, you encounter several verbs whose infinitives end in –ова–ть.  To make the present tense stem of these verbs, we replace the –ова– suffix with –уй– and add first conjugation endings.

целова́ть	(stem: целу́й- )	= to kiss
зави́довать	(stem: зави́дуй- )	= to envy
фотографи́ровать	(stem: фотографи́руй- )	= to photograph
организова́ть	(stem: организу́й- )	= to organize

Infinitive	целова́ть         to kiss	фотографи́ровать         to photograph, take pictures
Stem:	целуй-	фотографи́руй-
я	целу́ю	фотографи́рую
ты	целу́ешь	фотографи́руешь
он/она́	целу́ет	фотографи́рует
мы	целу́ем	фотографи́руем
вы	целу́ете	фотографи́руете
они́	целу́ют	фотографи́руют

The past tense of verbs in –ова–ть is formed regularly from the infinitive, so you will have: Он фотографи́ровал, она фотографи́ровала, etc.

Unlike the –ава-ть verbs, the stress in –ова–ть verbs can stays in the same place in all forms.

Глаго́л мочь

The verb мочь is equivalent to the English “can” in the sense of “be able to,” most often in the sense of “to be physically able.”  It is one of a very small group of verbs whose infinitives end not in the regular –ть, but  in –чь. Its stem is мог- and it takes first conjugation endings -у, -ешь, etc.  However, the stem undergoes a consonant mutation, with the г turning into ж, before every ending that starts with -е.

Stem	Mutation	Endings	Conjugated Forms	Meanings
мог-	ø	+ у	→ я могу́	I can, am able, etc.
	г >ж	+ ешь	→ ты мо́жешь	You can, am able, etc.
	г >ж	+ ет	→ он/она́/онó мо́жет	He/she/it can, is able, etc.
	г >ж	+ ем	→ мы мо́жем	We can, are able, etc.
	г >ж	+ ете	→ вы мо́жете	You can, are able, etc.
	ø	+ ут	→ они́ мо́гут	They can, are able, etc.

The typical complement for the verb мочь is an infinitive.

Ты мо́жешь рабо́тать в пя́тницу?

            Да, могу́.

Мочь or мо́жно? 

Russian tends to be more precise than English about distinguishing “can” from “may.”  If you talking about “can” in the sense “to have the time/physical ability” to do something, then you want the verb мочь.  If you mean “can” in the sense of “may, is there permission” to do something, then you will use the word мо́жно with an infinitive.

	— Ты мо́жешь игра́ть в футбо́л в пя́тницу? — Да, могу́. — Нет, не могу́. У меня́ в пя́тницу заня́тия.	— Can you play soccer on Friday? — Yes, I can. — No, I can’t.
	— Здесь мо́жно игра́ть в фу́тбол? — Да, мо́жно.  — Нет, нельзя́.	— Can/may one play soccer here? — Yes, one can/may. — No, one can’t/may not.