Breakdown of Теперь у меня серьёзный разговор с начальником, и мне немного страшно.
Questions & Answers about Теперь у меня серьёзный разговор с начальником, и мне немного страшно.
In Russian, the verb быть (to be) is usually omitted in the present tense in simple equational sentences.
- English: Now I have a serious conversation with my boss / Right now I’m having a serious talk with my boss.
- Literal Russian structure: Теперь у меня серьёзный разговор с начальником.
- There is no есть or any other form of быть.
If you added it—Теперь у меня есть серьёзный разговор с начальником—it would sound unusual or slightly awkward here. Native speakers just say the noun phrase without a present-tense быть.
Russian normally expresses “I have …” with the construction у + genitive pronoun + есть/NO VERB:
- У меня книга. – I have a book.
- У него машина. – He has a car.
In your sentence:
- У меня серьёзный разговор ≈ I have a serious conversation / I’m in the situation of having a serious talk.
Using я имею is grammatically possible, but it’s much less common and often sounds formal, bookish, or even awkward in everyday speech. For “I have a conversation / talk”, Russian prefers a noun phrase with у меня rather than a verb phrase like я имею разговор.
Начальником is in the instrumental case (singular, masculine).
The preposition с has several meanings, but when it means “with (someone)”, it normally takes the instrumental:
- с начальником – with the boss
- с другом – with a (male) friend
- с подругой – with a (female) friend
So с начальником literally means “with the boss”, and начальником must be in the instrumental to show this relationship.
Начальник is a fairly general word for a person in charge:
- (my) boss
- (my) manager
- superior
- chief / head (of some department, office, etc.)
Nuances:
- It can sound a bit formal or bureaucratic, especially in government or large organizations.
- In everyday speech about your boss at work, начальник is very common and neutral.
- There are also words like шеф (more colloquial, can be “boss” in a friendly / joking tone) and руководитель (more formal, “leader / manager / director”).
So с начальником means “with my boss / with the person who is my superior at work,” contextually usually my boss.
Russian often uses a noun + have structure where English uses a verb:
- у меня разговор с начальником – I’m going to have / I’m having a talk with my boss.
- у нас встреча – We are having a meeting.
- у него экзамен – He has an exam.
So instead of saying something like я серьёзно разговариваю с начальником, Russian prefers the noun разговор (“conversation; talk”) with у меня:
- серьёзный разговор – a serious conversation / serious talk
- Typically implies something important, possibly unpleasant, like “We need to talk.”
It’s a very natural fixed wording for this idea.
Серьёзный is:
- Masculine
- Singular
- Nominative
It agrees with разговор:
- разговор is masculine, singular, nominative (the main noun of the clause).
- So its modifying adjective must also be masculine, singular, nominative: серьёзный разговор.
If the noun changed, the adjective would change:
- серьёзная беседа (feminine, singular, nominative)
- серьёзное письмо (neuter)
- серьёзные разговоры (plural)
Both can often be translated as “now”, but they have different typical nuances:
- Теперь often implies a change of situation over time:
- Before it was different, now it’s like this.
- Сейчас focuses more on this moment, right now, without necessarily implying a contrast.
In this sentence:
Теперь у меня серьёзный разговор с начальником…
This can hint at:
Up until now things were normal, but now (at this new stage / in this new situation) I have a serious talk with my boss.
You could say Сейчас у меня серьёзный разговор с начальником, which would be fine, but теперь slightly emphasizes that some new, possibly troublesome situation has begun.
Мне немного страшно is an impersonal construction:
- мне – dative case of я (to me / for me)
- страшно – short-form adjective / adverb-like form from страшный (“scary; frightening”)
- Literally: “To me it is a bit scary.”
So:
- Мне страшно. – I’m scared / It’s scary to me.
- Мне немного страшно. – I’m a bit scared / I’m a little scared.
In such constructions:
- The feeling is treated as something that happens to you, not something you “are”:
- Мне холодно. – I’m cold.
- Мне грустно. – I feel sad.
- Мне скучно. – I’m bored.
You do not say я страшный here; that would mean “I am scary (to others)” or “I look frightening.”
Both can translate as “I’m scared / I’m afraid”, but they feel different:
- Мне страшно.
- Focuses on the emotional state as something happening to you.
- A bit more emotional / immediate.
- Very common in spoken language.
- Я боюсь.
- Literally: I fear / I am afraid.
- Often used when you specify what you’re afraid of:
- Я боюсь начальника. – I’m afraid of my boss.
- Я боюсь, что он меня уволит. – I’m afraid he’ll fire me.
- Slightly more neutral and “verby.”
In your sentence, мне немного страшно sounds very natural for expressing a bit of nervous fear about an upcoming event.
Немного here means “a little / somewhat / a bit.”
- Мне страшно. – I’m scared.
- Мне немного страшно. – I’m a bit scared / I’m somewhat scared (softer, less intense).
Similar words:
- немножко – very similar, often a bit more colloquial / softer, like “just a little bit.”
- чуть-чуть – very colloquial, usually “just a tiny bit.”
- слегка – somewhat literary, “slightly,” sounds a bit more formal or bookish.
You could say:
- Мне немножко страшно.
- Мне чуть-чуть страшно.
All are understandable; the differences are mostly in style and how strong or soft you want the feeling to sound.
Yes, you can, but the meaning shifts slightly.
Теперь у меня серьёзный разговор с начальником…
- Sounds like the conversation is basically happening now or it’s immediately about to happen (e.g., “Now I have a serious talk with my boss…”).
- Focus on the current situation.
Теперь у меня будет серьёзный разговор с начальником…
- Explicitly future: “Now I’m going to have / will have a serious talk with my boss.”
- Often implies: some new circumstance means this serious talk will take place (soon), but not necessarily right this second.
Both are correct; you choose based on whether you emphasize present situation or future event.
Yes, you can move parts around; Russian word order is flexible. For example:
- Теперь у меня серьёзный разговор с начальником.
- Теперь у меня с начальником серьёзный разговор.
Both are grammatically correct and mean roughly the same thing: “Now I have a serious talk with my boss.”
Subtle nuance:
- In (1), серьёзный разговор is together, so the “serious conversation” idea is highlighted as one unit.
- In (2), с начальником comes earlier, which can slightly emphasize “with my boss” (who the conversation is with).
These are very slight differences; in everyday speech, both sound natural and would usually be understood the same way.