All Questions
2
votes
1answer
98 views
Слово “Бог”: с прописной или со строчной
В классике русской литературы разных изданий встречается написание слова "бог" в сходном контексте как с прописной, так и со строчной буквы. Например,
Во главе тамошнего местного духовенства ...
2
votes
2answers
105 views
Not god-alluding expressions equivalent to “боже мой!”, “о господи!”
The Russian expressions in the title refer to god. Are there equivalent interjections that do not refer to it?
8
votes
1answer
106 views
What is the Russian equivalent for “circa”?
It's clear enough that something like "1993 г." signifies a precise year, but in English one can write "c. 1993" (i.e. "circa 1993"), indicating that the exact year is unknown. Is there an equivalent ...
4
votes
1answer
122 views
7
votes
2answers
98 views
Только три процента всей воды на Земле явля(Е/Ю)тся пресной
Только три процента всей воды на Земле явля(Е/Ю)тся пресной
What letter should I choose there? Е or Ю?
4
votes
1answer
74 views
Use of genitive in Преступление и наказание
The following quote is from the beginning of Part 1, chapter 7 (Раскольников stands at the old woman's door):
"...и опять два вострые и недоверчивые взгяда уставились на него из темноты."
Why is ...
2
votes
3answers
126 views
How should I interpret the word наверное?
When I look up the word наверное I always see two definitions:
Probably, most likely
Certainly, for sure
These two definitions mean completely different things to me but I don't know how to ...
1
vote
1answer
131 views
What does mean “математик в законе”?
I encountered a description of a person as "математик в законе". Does it mean he is a criminal?
2
votes
1answer
77 views
Fully expanded form of the dates (years, specially) and their case aspects
I want to understand the case aspects of the dates in Russian (I think that rather than learning them as a rule of thumb, after understanding them I won't forget them so easily). So far, I only came ...
2
votes
4answers
166 views
What is the modern usage of particle же?
In current Internet speech, there are a lot of colloquial phrases placing this particle at the end of a phrase, mostly in topic-commentary strategies (thematic comments) like:
Двойное отрицание же.
...
1
vote
3answers
96 views
How to find Russian sheet music?
I don’t know any Russian, but I have a CD of Russian folk songs that I’m giving to a Russian learner as a gift. The liner notes have parallel lyrics in Russian and English, which is great. But from my ...
1
vote
1answer
84 views
How to write a request letter in Russian?
I came across a Russian forum that required an invitation code (код приглашения) to be eligible for registration, so I have to write a request email in Russian to the forum admin in order to get the ...
9
votes
3answers
178 views
Why лук is a mass noun while огурец is not?
In Russian, we use some fruit and vegetable names as mass nouns and don't form plural for them:
Салат с луком / капустой / клубникой
while the others do form plural:
Салат с ...
3
votes
2answers
102 views
Как правильно: «на GitHub» или «в GitHub»?
Как правильно?
исходные тексты доступны в GitHub
или
исходные тексты доступны на GitHub
1
vote
2answers
138 views
Is there a [t͡s] in “с юга”?
In this rendition of the Весеннее танго, I hear "с юга" (for example at 1:04) pronounced as ['st͡sjʉgə]. Am I hearing it right, and, if so, what's the [t͡s] doing there? Is it part of some more ...
6
votes
4answers
257 views
Translation for “PhD”
I came across different translations of PhD. I'm always unsure how to use those. The title itself, as lingvo states, can be translated as доктор философии. I've sometimes heard доктор наук too, which ...
5
votes
4answers
224 views
Is it bad if I don't bother to pronounce 'o' correctly?
When learning Russian, the most complicated thing for me has always been the pronunciation of the Russian letter 'o'. You know, it's sometimes pronounced like 'a' (like in 'Moskva'), and sometimes ...
1
vote
0answers
36 views
How do you understend “да нет наверно”? [duplicate]
How to understend "да нет наверно" like an unswer ?
Будешь чай ?
Да нет наверно....
1
vote
4answers
182 views
Is “сноск” a correct inflection of “сноска”?
In a journal article I came across a claim that "сноск" is the "genitive plural zero ending" form of the word "сноска" (English: footnote). However, a Russian speaker I know is insistent that this is ...
3
votes
2answers
152 views
How to translate the word “cени” to English [closed]
In other words how to translate this line:
Ласточка с весною в сени к нам летит?
4
votes
3answers
109 views
Comprehensibility of “Sub-Standard” Speech?
I suspect that this question may be both too specific and too vague for this forum, but here goes...
I recently tried to watch the film "Жила-была одна баба" (2011) -- I'm not sure I'd recommend it ...
3
votes
3answers
173 views
What's the difference between помнить and вспомнить?
Looking помнить and вспомнить up in a dictionary yields the same results. Is there any difference between them?
4
votes
4answers
206 views
Russian equivalent of expression “you know”
Sometimes I feel the need to fill a gap, while conversing, with something that in English would be filled with "you know" in the sense described by thefreedictionary.com:
Used parenthetically in ...
4
votes
3answers
175 views
How to say: “instead of” + verb
Consider the following example:
Instead of going to the ball.
I know "вместо" means instead but I don't know how to translate "of doing something". Maybe there is another way of saying the same ...
2
votes
0answers
85 views
Do Russian prefixes embody event structures?
Considering words (nominals, verbs and adjectives) we can notice that lexical items derived from a same stem (e.g. -лив-/-лит-) like полив, разлив, перелив, вылить, долить, отлить, etc. suggest ...
4
votes
4answers
124 views
Вероятность and вера
In Czech language, the word "вероятность" sounds like "pravděpodobnost" [правдеподобность], and means "it is truthlike" (подобно правде). This made me look to Russian word - вероятность. Does it ...
2
votes
2answers
84 views
Translation of “Я ничего не могу с этим сделать”…?
I came across this phrase in a Russian reader I purchased and translated the phrase to mean,
I cannot do nothing with this.
The translation given by the author is
I can't do anything about ...
2
votes
3answers
124 views
Explanation of “зарыта” in “Вот где собака зарыта”
The expression "Вот где собака зарыта" can be translated, as far as I know, as (that is) where the shoe pinches. The literal translation, of course, doesn't match.
So far, my literal (vague) ...
3
votes
1answer
56 views
Abbreviations in Bus Schedules
I found the following two expressions in a bus schedule:
Время отправления с НП
Время прибытия на КП
I understand that the first means time of departure and the second time of arrival. But ...
0
votes
1answer
118 views
Is “мде”/“мдя” a gender-specific word?
It seems that in Internet discussions only women use this interjection.
Is it gender-specific?
It seems that the word "секес"/"секас" is also gender-specific.
What are other gender-specific words ...
3
votes
4answers
83 views
Уважаемые пользователи услуг/услугАМИ почтовой связи?
Which way is correct here?
... пользователь услуг почтовой связи
or
... пользователь услугами почтовой связи
3
votes
3answers
97 views
Possible meanings of “Путь ему туда заказан”
Is it like this phrase can have two almost opposite meanings in Russian (one of which would be something like "The way to that place for him has already been ordered/provided/arranged", and the other ...
1
vote
2answers
98 views
Colloquial imperative with the particle -ка
This form seems to be very common in modern conversational Russian, e.g.
Пойдём-ка, покурим-ка.
Давайте-ка не будем пороть горячку.
Подожди(те)-ка!
This form also has its more colloquial (and ...
4
votes
4answers
113 views
How do you say, “the note says”
In English we say the sign says, the letter says, etc. In Russian do you use говорить or говориться?
Example:
The sign says no smoking.
Would it be:
знак говорит не курить
Or how would ...
2
votes
1answer
79 views
What's the right spelling of (something I hear, but cannot find, as) “часно слово”?
I often hear in Russian an expression that I suppose can be translated as "I swear it", or "I give you my word". I hear something as "часно слово", "час на слово" ?
What is its right spelling and ...
-1
votes
1answer
89 views
этимология слова “ружьё”?
Кто-нибудь знает происхождение слова "ружьё"? Не смог найти ни одного однокоренного слова, кроме его производных.
0
votes
1answer
84 views
What is the rule for creating “readers” / “readees” pairs?
On twitter they say "ЧИТАЕМЫХ" and "ЧИТАТЕЛЯ" Is this pattern productive starting with the root of the verb (ЧИТА) and applicable to other verbs?
3
votes
1answer
61 views
The use of К (Dative) vs. В (Accusative)…?
In the following sentence:
Мужчина идёт к дому Павла.
Is translated as:
The man goes to Paul's house.
Could the same sentence be written as:
Мужчина идёт в дом Павла.
I don't really understand ...
1
vote
4answers
165 views
Яна and Жанна
Well, everybody knows that there exist pairings between names. For example, Александра - Александр, Виктория - Виктор etc. However, sometimes these pairs can be confusing.
It is generally accepted ...
2
votes
5answers
212 views
Pronunciation of 'Сегодня'
According to the spelling of the word, I would think it would be pronounced
Seguhdnya - Сегодня
However, i've seen several lessons in Russian where it would be pronounced
SeVuhdnya - (but ...
9
votes
2answers
134 views
Не справился с управлением транспортным средством/транспортного средства?
What way is correct here?
... водитель не справился с управлением транспортным средством
or
... водитель не справился с управлением транспортного средства
3
votes
2answers
165 views
What does “кося” in phrase “накося выкуси” exactly mean
These days I'm reading a book "История моего современника" by V. G. Korolenko (don't feel guilty for reading it online, you are not breaching any copyright laws in this case, since the author is ...
2
votes
2answers
95 views
Difference between аренда and бронирование
I am writing a database for room rent. How should I call it - аренда помещений or бронирование помещений? What is the main difference between those two words? I have always thought that it means the ...
4
votes
2answers
93 views
Use of это after a hyphen
Is there a particular significance to the use of это after a hyphen? For instance, I think Москва — столица России or Москва — это столица России mean the same thing. But I don't know the point of ...
4
votes
1answer
94 views
How to arrange declension tables in Russian
It seems that many English (online) sources list cases in the following order:
Nominative - Accusative - Genitive - Dative - Instrumental - Prepositional
I guess that this ordering is inspired ...
5
votes
4answers
235 views
Difference between “лгун” and “лжец”
Speaking of words "лгун" and "лжец", which to me as a native speaker sound quite interchangeable, which form is used more often? And which of these words of such close origin and meaning can be ...
3
votes
1answer
87 views
What are the words (and phrases) of politeness, with English equivalent?
What are the basic words and phrases of politeness in Russian, and their English equivalents (preferably explained in English)?
I know that words, phrases, and occasions for politeness differ among ...
5
votes
2answers
220 views
2
votes
1answer
178 views
How do you write 'нипочему'?
Is ни written separately or together with the main word? And is it ни, or is it не?
5
votes
8answers
426 views
How can I say “why are you making a duck face” in Russian?
How can I say "why are you making a duck face" in Russian?
