Breakdown of Послушайте меня, пожалуйста.
я
I
пожалуйста
please
послушать
to listen for a while (perfective)
Questions & Answers about Послушайте меня, пожалуйста.
English says "listen TO me". Why isn't there a Russian word for "to" here?
In Russian, the verbs слушать and послушать (to listen) take a direct object in the Accusative case, without any preposition. So instead of "listen to me", you are literally saying "listen me" (меня being the Accusative form of я).
Why use the perfective verb послушайте instead of the imperfective слушайте?
In commands, the perfective aspect focuses on a single, specific result. Here, the speaker wants you to "hear them out" regarding a specific thing they are about to say. If they used the imperfective слушайте, it would mean something more like "be listening" (an ongoing process) or would be a general call for attention.
What does the -те at the end of послушайте mean?
It shows that the command is plural or formal. You are speaking to either a group of people, or to one person you address formally with вы. If you were giving this same instruction to a close friend or someone you address with ты, you would drop the -те and just say послушай.
Wait, how is пожалуйста actually pronounced? Do I say every letter?
Even though it's spelled пожалуйста, native speakers rarely pronounce every letter. The й and the у are usually dropped in natural, everyday speech, making it sound much closer to "pa-ZHAL-sta".
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