Kilo Lingo
Russian grammar Part of Chapter 3

CEFR A1

5 min read

Test yourself (21 questions)

Ordering in Russian: есть, сколько стоит and Prices in Roubles

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 12 October 2026

Russian shopping runs on four phrases: ...? to ask whether they have something, , ... or , ... to ask for it, ? for the price, and , to pay. Learn those and you can buy bread, order lunch and settle the bill on your first day.

Quick check

Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.

Spot the mistake

0/3

Tap the mistake.

The whole exchange on one screen

WhenRussianEnglish
first ?Do you have bread?
the answer. / .We do. / We don't.
at a counter, , .Bread, please.
in a café, , .A tea for me, please.
the price ?How much is it?
the answer .A hundred roubles.
to pay, .The bill, please.

Two grammar points do most of the work: the thing you ask for goes in the accusative, and the number in a price decides the ending of .

У вас есть...? Asking if they have it

...? is literally by you there is...? Russian says what is at someone rather than using a verb for have. The thing stays in its dictionary form:

  • ? - Do you have tea?
  • ? - Do you have milk?
  • ? - Is there a shop here?

The short answer reuses the same word: ., we have. If not, ., or in full Хле́ба , there is no bread. That хле́ба is the genitive, the case that follows there is no; for now, learn it as a phrase.

Food and drink to know first

RussianSay itEnglish
khlyepbread
ma-la-KOmilk
syrcheese
MYA-sameat
RY-bafish
supsoup
sa-LATsalad
YA-bla-kaapple
tortcake
ma-RO-zhy-na-yeice cream
pil-MYE-nidumplings
bu-ter-BROTsandwich

To drink:

RussianEnglish
tea
coffee
water

A is an open sandwich: one slice of bread with cheese or sausage on top. is masculine and never changes its ending:

  • - black coffee

Tea is the default drink in a Russian home, often with lemon or a spoonful of jam:

  • , . - Tea with lemon, please.

Asking for it: дайте and я возьму

Colour marks the accusative ending:

accusativeWhat do the colours mean?

Three ways to ask, each right in its place:

WhereRussianEnglish
a shop, , .Water, please.
a café, , .The soup for me, please.
from a menu .I'll have the fish.

is the polite command of to give. With it is a normal, friendly request, not a bark. For small things, ...? (may I have) works too: ?

The thing you ask for is the direct object, so it takes the accusative. Only nouns in -а and -я change:

вода becomes воду: Дайте, пожалуйста, воду.
NominativeAsked forChanges?
-а to -у
-а to -у
no
no

Сколько стоит? Prices in roubles

Colour marks one thing against several, and the case after the number:

one thingseveralafter the numberWhat do the colours mean?

? asks the price of one thing; ? of several. The stress in is on the first syllable: STO-it.

  • ? - How much is the bread?
  • ? - How much are the apples?

Russian money is the , and after a number it follows the same rule as every counted noun in Russian numbers and case:

NumberRouble formExample
1, 21, 31
2-4, 22-24
5-20, 25-30, 100

So a price in the hundreds almost always ends in : , . The hundredth of a rouble is the копейка, which you will see on receipts but rarely say.

  • . - That's expensive.
  • . - That's cheap.

How much: a kilo, a litre, a piece

Colour marks the genitive after the quantity:

genitiveWhat do the colours mean?

A quantity word comes first, and the thing after it goes into the genitive, the Russian of:

RussianEnglish
a litre of milk
a glass of water
a piece of cake
a packet of tea
100 grams of cheese
a kilo of apples

Learn these as fixed phrases until the genitive arrives. At a market you will hear shortened to кило, and prices are given per kilo.

Paying and the bill

EnglishRussian
The bill, please., .
May I have the bill? ?
Card or cash? наличными?
By card..
Here's your receipt. .

In a supermarket you pay the (cashier) at the till; in a small shop the (shop assistant) who serves you usually takes the money too. At a (market) you pay the seller directly.

A café exchange, start to finish

Inside a cafe: a woman with long hair and a bow and a man with a moustache sit at a round white table with a blue cup and a yellow cup of coffee and a green menu standing between them; a waiter, a man with a moustache, a bow tie and an apron, stands at the side writing on a notepad.

официант, the waiter; меню, the menu; кофе, the coffee.

SpeakerRussianEnglish
You! ?Hello! Could I have the menu?
Waiter. ?Here you are. What would you like?
You ?Do you have soup?
Waiter.We do.
You, , .Soup and a tea for me, please.
Waiter ?Tea with lemon?
You, .Yes, thanks.
You, . ?The bill, please. How much is it?
Waiter .Two hundred roubles.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
several things take
five and up take
. .the thing asked for is accusative
after a quantity, the genitive
is masculine in writing

What to do next

  1. Say the price of five things around you, choosing , or .
  2. Order a full café lunch out loud, from to , .
  3. Do the drill below.

Practise: test yourself

Sort into groups

0/6

Which form of рубль comes after each number?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Spot the mistake

0/3

Tap the mistake.

Complete the story

0/4

Choose the right form for each gap.

In a café

У вас есть ? Есть. Я возьму суп и . А сколько рыба? Двести .

Gap 1 of 4

Matching

0/5

Match each word to its English.

Translation drill

0/3

Write the English.

  1. У вас есть чай?

  2. Сколько стоит кофе?

  3. Счёт, пожалуйста.

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Frequently asked questions

How do you ask how much something costs in Russian?
? (Skolko stoit?) for one thing, and ? (Skolko stoyat?) for several: ?, ?. The verb is , to cost, and the stress in falls on the first syllable. The answer is just the price: .
How do you say roubles after a number in Russian?
The number decides the ending. After one (and 21, 31...) it is ; after two, three and four it is ; after five to twenty, and after every round hundred, it is . So , , , . It is the same rule as every other counted noun.
How do you order politely in a Russian café?
, , (for me, please, tea) is the everyday café order, and (I'll take the soup) works as well. , ... (give me, please) is normal in a shop and at a counter, not rude: the does the softening. To sound extra polite, use (a man) or (a woman).
Is masculine or neuter in Russian?
Traditionally masculine, so and , and that is still the form to write. In everyday speech many people say , and dictionaries now accept the neuter in casual speech, but a learner who says is never wrong. The word never changes its ending either: is the same in every case.
How do you ask for the bill in Russian?
, (Schyot, pozhaluysta), or ? In a café the waiter may then ask наличными?, by card or in cash. The receipt is . You do not have to leave a tip, but in a city restaurant many people leave about ten per cent when the service was good.