Have you had a chance to watch some of the episodes on YouTube? Some, like the one above, from the scene in the Alexandrovsky Garden, even have English subtitles.
For those of the blog readers who’ve taken up our challenge to read «Мастер и Маргарита» [Master and Margarita] «по-русски» [in Russian], congratulations! We are now officially done with «часть первая» [part one] of the novel and are moving on into a very exciting «часть вторая» [part two].
It is only here, in Chapter 19 that we get to meet Master’s mysterious lover and his eternal love. We finally get to find out what flowers she carried on that fateful day when she met Master:
«Что нужно было этой… ведьме, украсившей себя тогда весною мимозами?» [What did she want, this witch… who adorned herself with mimosa in springtime?]
And we do get to learn her name – «Маргарита Николаевна» [Margarita Nikolayevna]. Now, throughout the book we’ve met a lot of different characters and all were addressed differently. Some were addressed by their full names, others – by last names only, still others – by first names or their diminutives only, etc. This naming diversity raises a very «практичный вопрос» [practical question]: Just how should you address someone in Russian?
The most formal way to «представиться людям» [to introduce oneself to people] is by using the full «ФИО», an acronym that is used on a lot of documents and that stands for «Фамилия, имя, отчество» [Last name, first name, the patronymic].
«Меня зовут Бонд, Джеймс Андреевич Бонд» [My name is Bond, James Bond] – that’s how James Bond, who by the way speaks fluent Russian, would’ve introduced himself in Moscow. And in case you’re wondering, Bond’s father’s name was Andrew.
«Иван Петрович Белкин родился в 1798 году в деревне Горюхино» [Ivan Petrovich Belkin was born in 1798 in the village of Goryukhino] – that’s how A.S. Pushkin introduces one of his most famous characters in the Tales of the Late I.P. Belkin.
Uless you are calling a roll or talking about someone, you will not use this form of address. For example, Azazello answers Margarita’s unspoken question with «Берлиоза, Михаила Александровича, – послышался рядом несколько носовой мужской голос…» [“Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz”, said a somewhat nasal masculine voice beside her].
To address someone whom you’ve just met or don’t know very well as well as someone who’s older than you, your boss, your teacher, or your co-worker, you will most likely use their first name and the patronymic. Hence Azazello addresses Margarita as «Маргарита Николаевна» [Margarita Nikolayevna] at their first meeting. Anything else would be disrespectful.
But even when you are «на короткой ноге» [on friendly, informal terms] with someone, you might still address them by their first name and the patronymic. However, your pronunciation of the patronymic will likely be different, more relaxed.
Instead of pronouncing every letter in «Иван Сергеевич» [Ivan Sergeyevich], you might say it «Иван Сергеич» [Ivan Sergeich]. «Мария Ивановна» [Maria Ivanovna] might become «Мария Иванна» [Maria Ivanna] or even «Марьванна» [Mar’vanna].
There’s also an option of addressing someone by patronymic alone, but that’s really informal. For example, if James Bond were to have a few martinis with Russian friends, they might had called him «Андреевич» [Andreevich] or even pronounce it «Андреич» [Andreich] before the night was over.
However, in some cases addressing an older person by the patronymic, especially with a possessive pronoun «мой» [mine], «ваш» [yours] or «наш» [ours] only helps show respect for this person:
««Мой Петрович – на все руки мастер», - хвасталась тётя Люда» [“My Petrovich is such a handyman”, bragged aunt Lyuda]
Russians do address each other by first name only, of course, but rarely by its long form. Addressing someone as «Людмила» [Lyudmila], «Александр» [Alexandr], «Елена» [Yelena] or «Михаил» [Mikhail] or whatever other first name in its long form adds some somberness, like you’re about to either «отчитать» [to reprimand] or «провести серьёзную беседу» [have a serious conversation].
Throughout Chapter 19 Bulgakov uses this long form, «Маргарита» thus enhancing the mood and not ever allowing the reader get too «фамильярный» [unceremonious, overly familiar] with Margarita.
Instead, it is common to address someone by a short form of one’s first name – «Люда» [Lyuda], «Саша» [Sasha], «Лена» [Lena], «Миша» [Misha], etc. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you are «на ты» [using an informal “you”] with your «собеседник» [companion]. You can continue addressing the person with a formal “you” yet use a short form of their first name. It does however show that you know this person fairly well yet maintain a proper distance.
For example, while I am «на ты» [use an informal “you”] with my Russian girlfriends, I do address their husbands by the short forms of their first names, but using a formal «вы».
But what about addressing someone by last name only? Addressing someone by the last name without adding their title or the equivalents of “Mr.”, “Ms” or “Mrs” shows a certain level of familiarity with the person. You most likely know them personally or at least through a shared connection. You might be either «на ты» or «на вы» with them. Consider these examples:
«А что же Желдыбин предпринял?» [So what did Zheldybin do?] – the speaker knows Zheldybin because they work in the same organization.
«А вы, как я вижу ненавидите этого Латунского.» [And you, I can see, hate this Latunsky] – Margarita knows Latunsky (negatively) through a shared connection, Master.
Addressing someone by using «гражданин» [citizen (male)] or «гражданка» [citizen (female)] before their last name sounds very formal and is typically used in official documents, such as court documents.
Infamous and genderless «товарищ» fell out of use quite a few years ago. And «господин» [Mister] or «госпожа» [Mrs], while getting more use now aren’t universal and again, reserved mostly for very formal occasions.
Bottom Line - when in doubt, use a combination of first name and the patronymic and a formal “you” to address Russians.
