How to Say "I Don't Know" in Russian
Transcript
How to say "I don't know" in Russian. The most direct translation would be
ya nyeh zna-yoo. That's three words. The third word zna-yoo, hits the
accent on the first syllable. Putting it together, ya nyeh zna-yoo. One
more time nice and slow. Ya nyeh zna-yoo. And now, slightly quicker. ya
nyeh zna-yoo. Now, you try. Great. Another way of saying "I don't know"
would be I have no idea, which translates as pred-stav-lye-nee-ya nyeh ee-
meh-yoo. The first word of that, pred-stav-lye-nee-ya, hits the accent on
the third syllable and the third word, ye nyeh ee-meh-yoo, hits the accent
on the second syllable.
Putting it all together, pred-stav-lye-nee-ye nyeh ee-meh-yoo. One more
time, nice and slow. Pred-stav-lye-nee-ye nyeh ee-meh-yoo. And now, at a
more conversational pace, pred-stav-lye-nee-ye nyeh ee-meh-yoo. Now, you
try. Great. Finally, if you wanted to say something like I don't have a
clue, you could say byez po-nya-tsi-ya. One more time, hitting the accent
on the second syllable of the second word, byez po-nya-tsi-ya. Now,
slightly quicker, byez po-nya-tsi-ya. Now, you try. Great. There you go.
That's how you say "I don't know" in Russian.