Russian Intermediate Mini-Lesson: Career and Connections

This online lesson is based on a short passage taken from Russian with Native Speakers (Book 1). This resource features real survey responses from 14 native speakers on 30 different topics, helping intermediate learners bridge the gap between textbook grammar and natural, idiomatic expression.

Let’s meet Kristina, a contributor from Rostov-on-Don, a major city in Southern Russia where she was born and raised. Kristina is answering the question, “What do you do?” (Чем вы занимаетесь?). She describes her professional life and why she finds it fulfilling.

 

The Sentence

Я рабо́таю перево́дчиком. Я о́чень люблю́ свою́ рабо́ту, потому́ что я мно́го путеше́ствую и знако́млюсь с но́выми людьми́.

“I work as an interpreter. I really love my job because I travel a lot and meet new people.”

The Breakdown

• рабо́таю перево́дчиком — I work as a translator/interpreter. In Russian, when you state your profession after the verb “to work” (рабо́тать), the profession must be in the instrumental case.
• свою́ рабо́ту — my job. The word свой is a “reflexive possessive.” It is used instead of “my,” “your,” or “his” when the object belongs to the person who is the subject of the sentence.
• путеше́ствую — I travel. This comes from the verb путеше́ствовать. Notice how the -ова- suffix in the infinitive changes to -у- in the present tense.
• знако́млюсь с — I get to know / I meet. This verb is used with the preposition с (with) followed by the instrumental case.
• но́выми людьми́ — new people. Both the adjective and the noun are in the plural instrumental case to match the requirement of the verb.

Natural Usage Tip: To sound like a native, get comfortable using the reflexive possessive свой. While you could technically say мою́ рабо́ту, using свою́ is the standard way to indicate that you are doing something to your own thing. It signals to the listener that the “owner” and the “doer” are one and the same.

Source: Russian with Native Speakers (Book 1)