Trying on a jacket and being told it suits you sounds simple — and in Russian it quietly drills four B1 patterns at once. You need a perfective infinitive to ask "may I try it on (the once)", a fully agreeing accusative phrase to say which jacket, an ordinal to give your size, and an idiom that pairs the dative with the verb "to go" to receive the compliment "it suits you". This dialogue puts all four in a natural shop exchange, so you feel how they interlock rather than meeting them as four separate rules. Read the whole thing first, then the commentary.
The dialogue
— Извини́те, мо́жно приме́рить э́ту ку́ртку?
— Excuse me, may I try on this jacket?
— Коне́чно. Како́й у вас разме́р?
— Of course. What size are you?
— Со́рок восьмо́й.
— Forty-eight.
— Вот, пожа́луйста. Приме́рочная сле́ва.
— Here you are. The fitting room is on the left.
— Ну как? По-мо́ему, немно́го велика́.
— Well, how is it? In my view it's a bit big.
— Что вы, вам о́чень идёт! Бери́те.
— Not at all, it really suits you! Take it.
Line by line
— Извини́те, мо́жно приме́рить э́ту ку́ртку?
The customer opens with Извини́те ("excuse me", вы-imperative) and the workhorse request frame мо́жно + infinitive ("may I / is it allowed to…"). The whole grammatical payload sits in two words: the verb приме́рить and the object phrase э́ту ку́ртку.
приме́рить is perfective — and the aspect choice is deliberate. You're asking to try the jacket on once, as a single complete act ("try it on and see"). The imperfective примеря́ть would mean trying things on repeatedly or as an ongoing activity ("to be trying on / to try on [in general]"). After мо́жно, when you want permission for one bounded action, the perfective infinitive is the natural choice. This is the same logic that makes Мо́жно откры́ть окно́? ("May I open the window?", once) perfective.
э́ту ку́ртку is a model accusative noun phrase — and crucially, every word agrees. Ку́ртка ("jacket") is feminine, so:
- the noun ку́ртка → accusative ку́ртку (feminine -а → -у),
- the demonstrative э́та ("this") → accusative э́ту.
Both shift together. A learner who says э́ту ку́ртка or э́та ку́ртку has broken the agreement chain. Russian demands that the demonstrative, any adjective, and the noun all carry the same case, gender, and number — they move as a unit.
Мо́жно посмотре́ть вон ту си́нюю руба́шку?
May I have a look at that blue shirt over there?
Я хочу́ приме́рить э́ти чёрные ту́фли.
I want to try on these black shoes.
— Коне́чно. Како́й у вас разме́р?
The assistant grants it (Коне́чно "of course") and asks for the size with Како́й у вас разме́р? — literally "What/which size is at you?" Two idiomatic moves:
- Како́й ("what kind / which") is the natural question word for a size, a colour, a model — not что ("what"). Russian asks како́й разме́р the way English asks "what size", using the adjective-type "which".
- у вас ("at you", у
- genitive of вы) is the standard possession frame: Russian says "size at you" rather than "your size" for things you have. Како́й у вас разме́р? = "What's your size?"
— Со́рок восьмо́й.
Here is the size, and it reveals a quiet rule: clothing sizes in Russian are ordinals, not cardinals. The number is со́рок восьмо́й — "the forty-eighth", not "forty-eight (48)". Why? Because the full phrase is со́рок восьмо́й разме́р ("the forty-eighth size"), with the ordinal agreeing with the masculine разме́р. In compound ordinals only the last element becomes ordinal; the tens stay cardinal: со́рок (cardinal "forty") + восьмо́й (ordinal "eighth") = "forty-eighth". So a 46 is со́рок шесто́й, a 50 is пятидеся́тый, a 52 is пятьдеся́т второ́й. The customer drops the noun разме́р (it's understood), leaving the bare ordinal со́рок восьмо́й.
— Како́й у вас разме́р о́буви? — Три́дцать девя́тый.
— What's your shoe size? — Thirty-nine.
— Вот, пожа́луйста. Приме́рочная сле́ва.
Вот, пожа́луйста ("here you are") hands over the jacket. Приме́рочная ("the fitting room") is a substantivized adjective — historically приме́рочная ко́мната ("fitting room"), with the noun dropped, leaving the feminine adjective standing alone as a noun. Russian does this a lot for rooms and places: ва́нная ("bathroom"), столо́вая ("dining room/canteen"), прихо́жая ("hallway"). Сле́ва ("on the left") is a directional adverb. The whole line is again verbless — pure pointing, the natural shorthand of a shop.
— Ну как? По-мо́ему, немно́го велика́.
Out of the fitting room, the customer asks Ну как? ("Well, how is it?") — an idiomatic, verbless "so, how does it look?" Then the verdict: немно́го велика́ ("a bit too big"). Two B1 points:
- велика́ is the short-form adjective of вели́кий/большо́й used specifically to mean "too big" of clothing. Short-form size adjectives (вели́к, велика́, велико́, велики́ "too big"; мал, мала́, мало́, малы́ "too small") are the idiomatic way to say a garment doesn't fit — they carry the sense "too…" by themselves. Велика́ is feminine, agreeing with the dropped ку́ртка.
- По-мо́ему ("in my opinion / I think") is a fixed parenthetical, very common for softening an opinion.
Э́ти джи́нсы мне малы́, а та руба́шка велика́.
These jeans are too small for me, and that shirt is too big.
— Что вы, вам о́чень идёт! Бери́те.
The assistant reassures with Что вы — an idiom meaning "Not at all / come now / don't be silly", a polite brush-off of the doubt (literally "what (are) you (saying)"). Then the key compliment: вам о́чень идёт — "it really suits you."
This is one of Russian's most useful idioms and it's built on two surprises for an English speaker:
- The verb is идти́ — yes, the motion verb "to go/walk". In this idiom идти́ means "to suit, to look good on" someone. There's no logical bridge from "walk" to "suit"; it's simply a fixed, frequent idiom you memorise.
- The person flattered is in the dative: вам ("to you"). The grammatical subject is the thing (the jacket), often unstated, and the verb is 3rd-person идёт ("it goes/suits"). So literally it's "(it) goes to you" → "it suits you". With a named garment: Тебе́ идёт э́та шля́па ("This hat suits you"), subject шля́па, experiencer тебе́ (dative), verb идёт.
Finally Бери́те ("take it!") — the polite вы-imperative of брать, encouraging the sale. Note it's the imperfective imperative (бери́те, not perfective возьми́те), which here sounds warm and inviting ("go on, take it"); the perfective would be a flatter, more transactional command.
Тебе́ о́чень идёт э́тот цвет.
This colour really suits you.
Ей не идёт коро́ткая стри́жка.
A short haircut doesn't suit her.
Register: вы throughout
This is a customer and a shop assistant — strangers in a service setting — so both stay on вы: Извини́те, Како́й у вас разме́р?, вам идёт, Бери́те are all вы-forms. The tone is friendly but not familiar; the assistant's Что вы! and the encouraging imperfective Бери́те add warmth without crossing into ты. Note again the heavy, polite ellipsis typical of shop talk — Со́рок восьмо́й, Ну как?, Приме́рочная сле́ва are all verbless and perfectly courteous. A learner who insists on full sentences will sound oddly formal for a clothing shop.
Vocabulary gloss
| Word / phrase | Meaning | Note |
|---|---|---|
| приме́рить (pf.) | to try on (once) | impf. примеря́ть; perfective for a single try |
| мо́жно + inf. | may I / is it allowed | permission frame |
| ку́ртка | jacket | fem.; acc. ку́ртку |
| э́ту | this (fem. acc.) | acc. of э́та; agrees with ку́ртку |
| разме́р | size | masc.; како́й разме́р "what size" |
| со́рок восьмо́й | (size) forty-eight | ordinal; only last word is ordinal |
| приме́рочная | fitting room | substantivized fem. adjective |
| велика́ / мала́ | too big / too small (fem.) | short-form, of clothing fit |
| по-мо́ему | in my opinion | parenthetical softener |
| вам идёт | it suits you | dative + идти́ (idiom) |
| Что вы! | not at all / come now | polite brush-off of a doubt |
| бери́те | take it (impf. imperative) | warm, inviting tone |
Common Mistakes
❌ Мо́жно приме́рить э́та ку́ртка?
Incorrect — the object must be accusative throughout: э́ту ку́ртку, not nominative э́та ку́ртка.
✅ Мо́жно приме́рить э́ту ку́ртку?
May I try on this jacket?
❌ Како́й у вас разме́р? — Со́рок во́семь.
Off — Russian sizes are ordinals: the answer is со́рок восьмо́й ('the forty-eighth'), not the cardinal со́рок во́семь.
✅ Со́рок восьмо́й.
Forty-eight (size).
❌ Вы идёте в э́той ку́ртке. (meaning 'the jacket suits you')
Wrong idiom — that means 'you are walking in this jacket'. 'It suits you' is вам идёт (dative + 3rd-person идёт).
✅ Вам идёт э́та ку́ртка.
This jacket suits you.
❌ Э́та ку́ртка большо́е.
Incorrect — for clothing that's too big, use the short form велика́ (fem., agreeing with ку́ртка), and it must agree in gender.
✅ Э́та ку́ртка велика́.
This jacket is too big.
❌ Мо́жно я примеря́ю э́ту ку́ртку ка́ждый день?
Aspect mismatch for a one-off request — to try it on now (once) use the perfective infinitive приме́рить, not the imperfective process примеря́ть.
✅ Мо́жно приме́рить э́ту ку́ртку?
May I try on this jacket?
Key Takeaways
- Perfective infinitive after мо́жно for a single act: Мо́жно приме́рить? "May I try it on (once)?" — the imperfective примеря́ть would mean repeated/ongoing trying.
- The accusative phrase agrees as a unit: э́ту (краси́вую) ку́ртку — demonstrative, adjective, and noun all in the same case/gender/number.
- Sizes are ordinals: "48" = со́рок восьмо́й (разме́р); in compounds only the last word is ordinal, the tens stay cardinal.
- Вам идёт = "it suits you": dative person + 3rd-person идёт (the motion verb идти́ used idiomatically), with the garment as the subject (Тебе́ идут э́ти очки́).
- Shop Russian is polite ellipsis on вы: verbless answers (Со́рок восьмо́й, Ну как?) and short forms for fit (велика́, мала́) are normal and courteous.
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Start learning Russian→Related Topics
- Accusative: FormsA1 — The accusative (вини́тельный паде́ж) is the case of the direct object, but it has almost no endings of its own — only feminine -а/-я nouns get a distinct ending (-у/-ю: кни́га→кни́гу). Everything else borrows: inanimate nouns copy the nominative (стол, окно́), animate nouns copy the genitive (бра́та), and feminine -ь nouns don't move at all (ночь→ночь). The form of 'I see X' depends on X's gender and whether it is alive.
- Demonstratives: Этот and ТотA1 — э́тот ('this', near) and тот ('that', far/other) decline like adjectives (э́тот/э́та/э́то/э́ти, тот/та/то/те; э́того, э́той, тем, те́ми). The big trap: the agreeing neuter э́то ('this window' = э́то окно́) versus the invariable presentational э́то ('this is…': Э́то моя́ сестра́, Э́то кни́ги), which never changes before any noun. Full tables, fixed uses of тот (тот же, тот, кто, не тот), and the Э́то моя́ кни́га / Э́та кни́га моя́ contrast.
- Ordinal NumbersA2 — Ordinals — пе́рвый, второ́й, тре́тий, четвёртый, пя́тый… — answer 'which one in order?'. Grammatically they are ordinary ADJECTIVES: they decline and agree fully in gender, number, and case (пе́рвый день, пе́рвая кни́га, на пе́рвом этаже́). Most are regular hard adjectives, but тре́тий is irregular and soft (тре́тья, тре́тье, тре́тьего). The big rule for compound ordinals is the mirror image of the cardinal rule: only the LAST word becomes ordinal and declines, everything before it stays cardinal (два́дцать пе́рвый; ты́сяча девятьсо́т во́семьдесят четвёртый год). They run dates, floors, and clock-hours.
- Dative Subjects: Feelings, Age, NecessityA2 — In a signature Russian construction the logical subject — the person experiencing a state — stands in the DATIVE, not the nominative, and there is often no nominative subject and no real verb at all. Feelings: Мне хо́лодно (I'm cold), Ему́ ску́чно (he's bored). Age: Мне два́дцать лет (I'm 20). Necessity/permission: Мне на́до идти́ (I have to go), Здесь нельзя́ кури́ть (you can't smoke here). Liking: Мне нра́вится му́зыка (music is pleasing to me — the liked thing is the nominative subject!). The verb, when present, is frozen neuter. This is where English speakers most resist Russian, and mastering it is the gateway to sounding native.
- Clothes and SizesA2 — Set phrases for clothes and shopping, tied to their grammar: носи́ть ('wear', a multidirectional motion-style verb), приме́рить ('try on', perfective), размер as an ordinal (сорок восьмо́й), the dative idiom Вам идёт ('it suits you', dative + идти́), подходи́т ('fits/works'), and мне нра́вится for 'I like it' — so the everyday phrases double as case-and-aspect practice.
- The Perfective: Completion, Result, Single EventB1 — The perfective is the aspect of the action viewed from the outside as a single completed whole — finished, with a result that stands. This page maps its uses: completion-with-result, chains of events in narration, single momentary acts, and the simple future. The key insight: result-now means perfective (Я уже́ пое́л).