All Questions
4,665
questions
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Rules of forming Verbal Adverbs
I saw different versions for the perfective ones.
Perfective:
Masculine past tense ending in -л, remove the - л and add -в(-вши) (the ending -вши is obsolete)
Masculine past tense ending in other ...
2
votes
1
answer
118
views
Use of 'какой' in a sentence
In the sentence 'в какой стране ты живёшь', I don't understand why 'какой' is in the nominative rather than the prepositional case (like стране).
Is this a special use of the interrogative pronouns ...
- 21
1
vote
1
answer
60
views
Word order: «Я тот же, но без тебя прежним не буду». And would it be correct to use «тобой» and «таким» instead?
Does the sentence «Я тот же, но без тебя прежним не буду» ("I'm the same, but I won't be the same without you") sound natural with the words in that particular order?
Also, in this case it ...
- 13
2
votes
1
answer
154
views
Is the sentence "В комнату вошла женщина и мальчик" grammatically correct?
I'll respect each and every opinion. Today, I saw professionals opting for the following variant:
В комнату вошла женщина и мальчик.
They say it's totally correct because женщина is a feminine ...
- 1,225
4
votes
1
answer
77
views
"Вечно" + отрицание прилагательного
Как правильно писать: вечнонезабытый или вечно незабытый? Вечно неженатый или вечнонеженатый? Similar question for words with this structure.
I know that вечнозелёный (without не), for example, is ...
- 203
3
votes
1
answer
218
views
What does it mean to tell someone to take an implement в зубы and do a task with it?
I recently came across this line:
[Father to son upon seeing how messy his room is]
—Так, пылесос в зубы, и чтоб через час здесь был порядок как в
казарме!
Then, researching this idiom online ...
- 8,265
2
votes
1
answer
99
views
Instrumental for genitive construction
In a poem by Anna Akhmatova, we read:
В таком году произошло бы то-то,
А в этом — это: ездить, видеть, думать,
И вспоминать, и в новую любовь
Входить, как в зеркало, с тупым сознаньем
Измены и еще ...
- 175
3
votes
3
answers
215
views
Breadth of the word "нетство"
Those nobles who attempted to escape from obligatory military service to the Russian Empire, the "нетчики", performed "нетство".
I wonder if, with some creativity, "нетство&...
- 1,396
3
votes
1
answer
199
views
Animate accusative for countries
In Трава и камни by Boris Pasternak we read:
С действительностью иллюзию,
С растительностью гранит
Так сблизили Польша и Грузия,
Что это обеих роднит.
I'm surprised by "обеих". I would ...
- 175
7
votes
2
answers
389
views
What is the etymology of phrase "морского извозчика"
In China, the Netherlands has a very popular nickname: 海上马车夫 (literally: carriage drivers on the sea or sea coachman), it's so popular that it's printed in Chinese high school textbooks. It's also ...
- 173
2
votes
1
answer
104
views
вспоминать o + the prepositional versus вспоминать + the accusative
Apparently, вспоминать can be followed by о + the prepositional or directly by the accusative. How do I know which construction I should use? Or are both constructions possible in any context? Do they ...
- 175
-2
votes
1
answer
140
views
What does с каре mean? [closed]
I have encountered девочка с каре in a song and девушка с каре in comments on social media. I have absolutely no idea what с каре means. Clarification would be highly appreciated.
3
votes
1
answer
262
views
What is the etymology of какаовелла?
Inspired by this question, what is the etymology of какаовелла? The какао part is easy, but what about велла?
2
votes
2
answers
163
views
Будущее время для описания прошлых событий - что это за приём в лингвистике?
Рассмотрим небольшой текст, в котором идёт самое обычное перечисление исторических событий:
Весной 1820 года Александр Пушкин отправился в Кишинев, в канцелярию
главного попечителя колонистов Южного ...
- 73
2
votes
1
answer
128
views
путеводная нить meaning
What does путоводная нить mean? Here's the sentence:
"Путеводной нитью нам служила маленькая тропинка проложенная китайскими охотниками и искателями женьшеня."
- 51
3
votes
3
answers
161
views
What's the difference between "такой" and "такой же"?
I understand what the word means, but I just can't pin down any difference between the two choices. They seem absolutely identical, but Russian speakers seem to prefer the second version:
Это такая ...
- 131
2
votes
2
answers
170
views
From Фермат to Ферма
In a Russian math book published in 1888, I see that Fermat, whose name today is written as Ферма, appears in the book as Фермат. He is in the book largely because of Fermat's little theorem, now ...
- 4,964
0
votes
1
answer
96
views
Как вас зовут or как ваш зовут
If вас = personal pronoun and ваш = possessive pronoun, isn't "your name" possessive?
- 1
2
votes
3
answers
146
views
Difference of pronunciations of музей and музеи
I thought that the pronunciations of й and и were virtually the same, but the plural form of музей (museum) is музеи (museums). When I hear one of these words and can't distinguish them by context, or ...
- 121
3
votes
1
answer
120
views
Is the construction "любые шестьдесят один шарик" grammatically correct?
В коробке лежат n шариков трёх цветов: красного, синего и зелёного.
Если достать из неё любые 61 шарик, то среди них обязательно окажется
по крайней мере 15 синих и хотя бы по 7 красных и зелёных. При ...
- 1,225
1
vote
1
answer
96
views
ведомо versus знать
Is there any difference between "мне ведомо" and "я знаю"? Are they interchangeable in any situation? Is "мне ведомо" more formal?
- 175
3
votes
5
answers
485
views
What does "внушать себе" mean?
What does "внушать себе" mean?
The sentence goes as follows:
"Кровать подо мною подымалась, опускалась и вновь подымалась - плыла по синусоиде. Я внушал себе: "Ночью - нумера ...
- 51
2
votes
1
answer
140
views
Is the second locative used with при?
Grammars and various other linguistic publications generally state that the second locative is used only with в and на (e.g. в лесу, в аэропорту). However, it seems to me that I have come across ...
5
votes
1
answer
91
views
Do I need a comma before a clause consisting of only two words (preposition + pronoun)?
Примечание 2. Придаточное предложение, состоящее из одного только
союза или относительного слова, не отделяется запятой, например:
– Откуда? Я сказал откуда.
http://new.gramota.ru/biblio/readingroom/...
- 1,225
0
votes
0
answers
135
views
What is the geography of (now obsolete) usage of the word фамилия to mean 'wife'?
While Valentin Kiparsky claimed (in Omagiu lui Iordan) that this usage is a calque from Tatar and therefore found in the Russian varieties spoken in and near Kazan (the area of the Tatar-speaking ...
4
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Use of the word "грамота"
I came across the word "грамота" in the following sentence:
Он открыл школы для обучения детей грамоте.
I'm trying to understand the structures in the sentence and analyze it, but I couldn'...
- 43
2
votes
1
answer
108
views
What is the proper modern spelling of the adjective endings -ыя, -ія?
These adjective endings are from a pre-revolutionary text: сознанія, хромыя, слѣпыя, безрукія. How would they be spelled today? (I know that ѣ is now е and і is now и.)
- 49
4
votes
1
answer
216
views
Can the verb "прозябать" actually be perfectivized?
I recently came across the verb прозябать in a book. Its meaning is one of eking out an existence in the sense of enduring hardship and suffering instead of truly living. This to me, is an ongoing ...
- 8,265
6
votes
3
answers
399
views
Is the instrumental case used for comparatives?
I'm watching the 1987 James Bond movie The Living Daylights with Russian subtitles.
In the scene where Bond first spots the main female character, he says, in English:
"Sniper. Two floors up, ...
- 63
3
votes
2
answers
146
views
Пунктуация в предложениях по типу "Ну сколько их там(?) 5–6?" и ему подобных
Уважаемые пользователи.
Имеется предложение "Ну сколько DVD-дисков покупает в среднем человек за названный период(?) 5–6?", вводящее меня в заблуждение: не знаю, какой знак препинания ...
- 33
2
votes
2
answers
281
views
Why are there two н's in «c мороженной формой» and not just one?
Из-под сена виднелись: самовар, кадка с мороженной формой и ещё кой-какие привлекательные узелки и коробочки.
Why is there a double -нн- in the word „мороженной“? And, more importantly, what rule is ...
- 1,225
8
votes
4
answers
1k
views
What's the purpose of своё in this sentence?
Here's a sentence from my book: Покрытые злобными колючками ежевичные плети изгибались над отжившими своё зарослями папоротника.
Why is своё in this sentence and why does it have this specific ...
- 329
6
votes
3
answers
736
views
Will an animate Russian noun still remain animate if used to denote an inanimate object?
This may be a strange question for someone who's fluent in Russian, but we were never taught it in school, and I realized I have a problem. I'm not sure which variant to use. So I decided to ask my ...
- 1,225
9
votes
2
answers
1k
views
To say "my brother and sister," do I use мои because it's two of them or one each of моя and мой?
I'm studying Russian from a grammar for Italians.
Here's one sentence from an exercise, with slots to insert possessives:
Это моя семья. Вот ___ папа и ___ мама, а это ___ брат и сестра.
I'm pretty ...
- 250
2
votes
1
answer
102
views
Identifying Sources of Examples in Dahl's Russian Dictionary
Dahl gives two examples of a usage, now surely extinct, of the word фамилия to refer to one's wife, and at least one of them is surely from some novel or the like. Does anyone have any idea of where ...
4
votes
1
answer
94
views
«Внезапно сверкнула молния(,) и грянул гром». Do we need the comma?
Внезапно сверкнула молния(,) и грянул гром.
I suppose this is a random sentence from a dictation exercise for Russian pupils to take down. The teacher decided not to indicate any punctuation marks ...
- 1,225
4
votes
1
answer
195
views
Is it true that in Russian, one can never enclose anything written in Latin script between quotation marks?
Кавычки нужны для того, чтобы что-то выделить. А всё, что написано
латиницей, в русском языке и так уже является выделительным. Поэтому
закавычивать написанное латиницей запрещено.
I've heard this ...
- 1,225
1
vote
2
answers
133
views
Есть ли специальный термин для обозначения советского канцелярита?
Есть ли специальный термин для обозначения советского канцелярита? Который отличается от дореволюционного обилием плеоназмов и дефисов
Пример:
"формирование высоких профессиональных, морально-...
- 21
1
vote
1
answer
69
views
Сноситься / связаться
While reading a Russian language resource published in 1950, I noticed that
сноситься/ снестись
was translated as "to get in contact with."
After reviewing some online dictionaries, I ...
- 267
7
votes
1
answer
858
views
What does в сложн. сл. mean in Russian dictionary?
What does в сложн. сл. mean in below screenshot (highlighted with red rectangle)? Source
- 73
2
votes
2
answers
171
views
Is the Russian expression "мне до ней далеко" grammatical?
Is the Russian expression "мне до ней далеко" grammatical? And if so, what is this phenomenon called?
- 14.4k
13
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Distinguishing between "effectiveness" and "efficiency" in Russian
The Russian translation for "effectiveness" seems to be "эффективность", a word that sounds pretty similar to "effectiveness" and also initially would seem to be able to ...
- 131
1
vote
2
answers
155
views
How do you abbreviate the word "рубль" and its derived forms "рубля" and "рублей"?
Let me express my own personal opinion. To my mind, words such as рубль, рубля, рублей must be abbreviated as рубл. Of course, I'll provide a link to the respective rule.
При стечении двух одинаковых ...
- 1,225
1
vote
3
answers
182
views
Is the sentence "Лошадь, которая плохо везёт, нужно бить" grammatically correct?
Лошадь, которая плохо везёт, нужно бить.
Is this good Russian? Is the sentence grammatically correct?
Why yes or why no?
- 1,225
1
vote
1
answer
131
views
What does м ж.-д. stands for in the screenshot below？
What does the м ж.-д. stand for in the screenshot below? Source: brks.info
- 13
2
votes
2
answers
237
views
What's the Russian equivalent of "This song slaps!"?
What would be Russian slang equivalent of "This song slaps!" in the sense that it's excellent, really cool, fire?
The word "slap" for us native English speakers brings to mind the ...
- 123
3
votes
1
answer
124
views
Is there an equivalent of the Harvard sentences for Russian?
The Harvard sentences (Wikipedia, full list of sentences) are a set of English sentences that:
Are phonetically balanced in the sense that the phonemes that are used in the sentences appear at the ...
- 133
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
2 x 2 = 4 or 2 + 2 = 4 as an evident fact?
In Tolstoy's Исповедь one reads :
Истина эта была всегда истина, как 2 × 2 = 4, но я не признавал ее, потому что, признав 2 × 2 = 4, я бы должен был признать то, что я нехорош.
2 x 2 = 4 is ...
- 175
2
votes
1
answer
143
views
What is "ского" at the end of the name of a city?
In Пикник на обочине, the city of Harmont is introduced and it is written as Хармонтского. After a couple of days of practicing the Russian alphabet, it was easy to decipher the "Kharmont" ...
- 123
1
vote
1
answer
185
views
What is the Russian equivalent of 'perfect is as perfect does'?
I've encountered this saying multiple times in English, but even though I'm a native Russian speaker, I can't find an exact equivalent of this saying in Russian.
Perhaps someone here knows?
- 213