Lesson 012

Here and there in Russian

Today we will learn some language formulas that you can use talking about the location of objects or when pointing at things.

Here and there in Russian

Remember the following words:

здесь [zdyes’]here
тут [tut]here / right here
там [tam]there

When you want to say that something is here or there, use the following formulas:

Твоя́ су́мка тут.
[tva-yá súm-ka tut]
Your bag is here.

Его́ маши́на там.
[ye-vó ma-shée-na tam]
His car is there.

Такси́ уже́ здесь.
[tak-sée u-zhé zdyes’]
The taxi is already here.

Russian Pod 101

Pointing at things

When pointing at things, you can use the words вот and вон.

These words don’t have a direct translation in English. Вот is used for something around you, and вон points at something further.

Вот мой дом.
[vot moî dom]
Here is my house.

Вон твоя́ маши́на.
[von tva-yá ma-shée-na]
There is your car. (Your car is over there.)

You can use вот and вон when you see the object at which you are pointing.

If you only want to point to a direction or locate an area, use вот тут / вот здесь (something nearby) or вон там (something far away).

Вот тут мы обе́даем.
[vot tut my a-byé-da-eem]
Here we have lunch.

Вот здесь я рабо́таю.
[vot zdyés’ ya ra-bó-ta-ty]
I work here.

Апте́ка вон там.
[ap-tyé-ka von tam]
The pharmacy is over there.

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You can also use вот тут / вот здесь to point back at what has been said:

Вот здесь я c ва́ми не согла́сна.
[vot zdyes’ ya s vá-mee nye sag-lás-na]
Here I do not agree with you.

Sometimes you can hear Russians saying вот там. In certain cases, it is accepted, for example:

Здесь всё про́сто, а вот там уже́ всё сложне́е.
[zdyes’ fsyo prós-ta, a vot tam u-zhé fsyo slazh-nyé-ye]
Here everything is simple, but there everything is more complicated.

Kalinka Russian Course

Giving things to people

Вот is often used when giving things to somebody:

Вот ва́ши ключи́.
[vot vá-shee klyu-chée]
Here are your keys.

Вот ва́ша сда́ча.
[vot vá-sha sdá-cha]
Here is your change.

Вот, держи́.
[vot, deer-zhée]
Here you are. (informal)

Вот, держи́те.
[vot, deer-zhée-tye]
Here you are. (formal or plural)

Practice the examples of this lesson with the audio recording.

The offline version of this lesson is available here

Start the quiz
  • Question # 1
    Say it in Russian:
    Уour documents are here (informal, singular).
    • Твои документы здесь.
    • Твой документы тут.
    • Ваши документы там.
    • Ваш документы здесь.
    Answered: 0 out of 10
    Correct answers: 0 (0%)
    Next
  • Question # 2
    Translate to English:
    Ваша сумка здесь.
    • Your dog is there.
    • Your dog is there.
    • Your bag is here.
    • Your bag is there.
    Answered: 0 out of 10
    Correct answers: 0 (0%)
    Next
  • Question # 3
    Translate to English:
    Вот моя школа.
    • My school is here.
    • My school is over there.
    • Here is my school.
    • Your school is there.
    Answered: 0 out of 10
    Correct answers: 0 (0%)
    Next
  • Question # 4
    Translate what you hear
    • Your car is here.
    • Here is our car.
    • Your car is over there.
    • Our car is over there.
    Answered: 0 out of 10
    Correct answers: 0 (0%)
    Next
  • Question # 5
    Say it in Russian:
    The taxi is already here.
    • Вот такси уже здесь.
    • Такси вон здесь.
    • Такси уже здесь.
    • Такси уже там.
    Answered: 0 out of 10
    Correct answers: 0 (0%)
    Next
  • Question # 6
    Which option is correct?
    • Вон здесь я работаю.
    • Здесь тут я работаю.
    • Я работаю там вон.
    • Вот здесь я работаю.
    Answered: 0 out of 10
    Correct answers: 0 (0%)
    Next
  • Question # 7
    Translate to English:
    Вот, держи.
    • Here is my house.
    • Here you are.
    • Here is your change.
    • Here are your keys.
    Answered: 0 out of 10
    Correct answers: 0 (0%)
    Next
  • Question # 8
    Say it in Russian:
    He is already there.
    • Он уже вон там.
    • Он уже тут.
    • Он уже здесь.
    • Он уже там.
    Answered: 0 out of 10
    Correct answers: 0 (0%)
    Next
  • Question # 9
    Say it in Russian:
    I'm here.
    • Я тут.
    • Я уже здесь.
    • Я там.
    • Я вон там.
    Answered: 0 out of 10
    Correct answers: 0 (0%)
    Next
  • Question # 10
    Which option is correct?
    • Аптека уже вон там.
    • Аптека здесь вот.
    • Вон там аптека.
    • Там аптека вот.
    Answered: 0 out of 10
    Correct answers: 0 (0%)
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14 comments on “012 – Here and there in Russian”

  1. Miguel says:

    Hello there,

    I have a question about possessive pronouns, In a previous lesson this example has been posted

    его́ па́спорт – his passport (passport is masculine)

    is его́ also used if the passoport belongs to a lady? or shall I say её па́спорт?

    And in this lesson, this example confused me more,
    Его́ маши́на там.

    Is маши́на feminine, right?, Why not её маши́на? because маши́на is feminine gender

    1. Learn Russian Step by Step says:

      Hello Miguel,

      Thanks for the question.

      If the passport belongs to a lady, we say её паспорт. The pronouns его, её and их do not take into account the gender of the object, only the gender and number of the “owner”.

      So, taking машина as an example…

      This group of pronouns takes into account the gender the “owner”, not the object:

      – его машина – his car
      – её машина – her car
      – их машина – their car

      The following group of pronouns takes into account the gender of the object, not the “owner”. I.e. in all examples below, it does not matter if the “owner” is male, female or mixed (for plural forms):

      – моя машина – my car
      – твоя машина – your car
      – наша машина – our car
      – ваша машина – your (plural) car

      I think we should elaborate the lesson a bit more so it clear. I will add it into the TO-DO list. 🙂

  2. Kai says:

    Are there any significant differences between здесь and тут? Are they interchangeable?

    1. Learn Russian Step by Step says:

      Hello Kai,

      Yes, you can say that they are interchangable in most cases.

      Maybe тут is a little bit more local than здесь: it refers to a very localized spot, while здесь rather refers to an area that’s here.

      Тут can also refer to a moment in time, while здесь is almost never used in this sense:

      – И тут мы все засмеялись. – And at this moment we all started laughing.

  3. Oksana says:

    Thanks a lot for the great explanation.

  4. Ozoda says:

    Thanks a bundle for all lessons

  5. Sachin says:

    Why is my query omitted?

    1. Learn Russian Step by Step says:

      A comment has to be approved before it’s published. It takes a bit of time.
      We do not omit comments, the opposite, we try to answer them all as comprehensive as possible. 🙂

  6. Sachin says:

    здра́вствуйте

    I am a bit confused now.
    BOT means HERE.
    BOH means THERE.
    TAM means THERE.
    BOH TAM means Over there/Out there.

    If all of these are correct, then how can the following sentence be correct?
    Вот там апте́ка, а вон там метро.
    Here There paharmacy, and metro is over there.
    Why Here There together?

    &
    Здесь есть стол. There is a table here.
    есть means ‘There is’
    стол means table
    Then according to the statement Здесь should mean Here, Right?

    If yes, then why cant the statement be like ‘BOT есть стол’ whats the difference?

    Здесь = BOT = TyT when all mean the same, why use them differently at different places?

    спаси́бо

    1. Learn Russian Step by Step says:

      Hello Sachin,

      Thank you for the question.

      It is a bit tricky, as ВОТ and ВОН are not literally HERE and THERE. There don’t have a direct translation in English and are used to give a hint of a location when you point on something.
      ВОТ сan mean HERE and can mean THERE, at the same time ВОТ is closer than ВОН. ВОН ТАМ is further away than ВОТ ТАМ.

      We will think about how to correct the lesson to make it clearer.

      To answer your second question:

      ВОТ is only used when you point at something. You can say СТОЛ ВОН ТАМ or СТОЛ ВОТ ТУТ (meaning “the table is there” or “the table is here”) when someone asks “Where is the table?”.

      If you just want to say that there is a table here, ВОТ is not an option. You say “здесь есть стол”.

      I hope it helps. Thanks for the questions, they make us to make the course better.

  7. blackcat says:

    thank you very much for these all russian lessons. I really love these all.. 🙂

    but i want to ask, for this lesson i can’t download this audio, it will go to error 404.

    1. Learn Russian Step by Step says:

      Sorry, the error is fixed now.
      Thanks for your comment.

      1. blackcat says:

        Thank you very much 🙂

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