Questions tagged [выбор-слова]
Questions about the difference in meaning or usage between two or more words.
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questions
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The difference between "свой" and "мой"
What's the difference between свой (своя и т.д.) and мой (моя и т.д.) when Russian people speak they seem aware of the difference but still I can't wrap my head around it.
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votes
6
answers
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Possessive constructions: "мой" vs. "у меня"
What is the difference between the following sentences:
Мой папа в командировке.
У меня папа в командировке.
How can I explain to foreign students when to use "мой" or "у меня"?
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votes
3
answers
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"На английском" or "по-английски"?
I was wondering if there's any difference between
на английском
and
по-английски
(for example when asking how to say something in English).
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votes
14
answers
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41
votes
10
answers
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Usage of "про" instead of "о"
One of the prepositions I never learned in Russian courses is про, which I only met later when communicating with native speakers or when reading. Is it possible to give a good rule of thumb about ...
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votes
8
answers
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When is it more appropriate to use здравствуйте rather than привет?
As far as I understand, both of these mean more or less the same thing. Rosetta Stone, that introduced me to the Russian language seems to prefer здравствуйте, but it seems привет is more commonly ...
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votes
2
answers
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How can "to teach" and "to learn" be translated to Russian?
I know that there are several Russian verbs can be used to translate the English verbs "to teach", "to study", and "to learn", e.g. учить, выучить, научить, учиться, изучать, ...
However, I am a bit ...
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votes
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answers
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Usage patterns of "надо" vs. "нужно"
What are the mechanics behind using надо over нужно or vice versa? What governs when they are interchangeable and when not?
To be perfectly clear: I have no problems simply using whichever sounds ...
- 1,259
11
votes
3
answers
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views
Particle же vs Particle -то
What is the difference in the meaning between the particles "же" and "-то"?
For example,
Он же не пришёл.
Vs.
Он-то не пришёл.
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votes
2
answers
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Talking about perfective and imperfective verbs
Здравствуйте! I speak spanish, and I'm learning russian. We're studying perfective and imperfective verbs, like читать - прочитать. I get really confuse with some глаголы, like купить & покупать, ...
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votes
4
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Difference between "вставать" and "встать"
That's it, specifically in the sentences:
не встать!
and
не вставать!
Are they exactly the same, what are the differences?
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votes
2
answers
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views
What's the difference between "Ива́нович" and "Ивано́в"?
Are both Ива́нович and Ивано́в derived from the given name Ива́н (Ivan)? Ивано́в is a surname, how about Ива́нович?
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votes
1
answer
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views
To imply "but" when should I use "а" and when should I use "но"?
I want to imply but
Now, a can mean both and and but
And, но also means but
So, when should I use a and when should I use но?
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4
votes
2
answers
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views
Usage of "все" vs "ещё"?
So I just came across the following sentence:
Прошло 2 года,а я все слушаю
If I had to make a guess I'd translate this to something like:
It's been two years and still i'm listening
It appears ...
- 2,077
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votes
10
answers
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views
What's the difference between "лежит на столе" and "стоит на столе"?
Can anyone explain the difference between the following sentences:
"Чашка лежит на столе" vs. "Чашка стоит на столе"
"Мяч лежит на столе" vs. "Мяч стоит на столе"
"Лэптоп лежит на столе" vs. "Лэптоп ...
- 511
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votes
9
answers
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Why do Russians call their women expensive ("дорогая")?
My question is in the title of this post, and I do not know what else to say. I am just puzzled.
Okay, to avoid my post being put on hold for being too succinct, I will add a couple of naive thoughts ...
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votes
13
answers
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What is the difference between "теперь" and "сейчас"
It seems to me that these two words have the same meaning. The dictionary doesn't help much, it gives them as synonyms. Although the meaning of "сейчас" is more general and can refer to past events:
...
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votes
6
answers
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What's the difference between -либо and -нибудь?
The pairs кто-нибудь and кто-либо, когда-нибудь and когда-либо etc. have slight differences in meaning and each particle is used in specific settings, but I can't quite pinpoint what the difference is....
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votes
7
answers
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Russian words for magic. Etymology, usage and connotations
Something that I realised early on when learning Russian were the different words Russians would use where an English speaker would just say magic:
The first word I came into contact with was ...
17
votes
5
answers
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What's the difference between "вот" and "здесь"?
Both words translate as here, but in which context should I use one over the other?
There's a question about it on the Q&A of masterrussian.com that already gives me a rough understanding.
That ...
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votes
6
answers
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Why does Russian have three words for marriage?
They are свадьба, женитьба, and замужество. According to wiktionary, женитьба is marriage from a man's perspective (despite being feminine) and замужество a woman's (despite being neuter).
Is it ...
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6
answers
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What is the difference in meaning between "Это моя машина" and "Эта моя машина"?
The Memrise course "Russian grammar through sentences translates "This is my car" as "Это моя машина." I don't understand why we don't use the feminine Эта in this sentence.
Translate.Ru translates ...
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How should I translate "the fighting boar" in Grenfell's poem into Russian?
My Russian teacher, whom you know by his tough approach to teaching the language, strongly pushed me to try to translate English poems into Russian, and we agreed I'd have a look at Hymn to the Wild ...
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11
votes
4
answers
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views
Почему люди путают цифры и числа?
Очень часто наблюдаю во всевозможных источниках, что люди почему-то путают понятия число и цифра.
Например:
3 млрд. - очень большая цифра для ...
Хотелось бы озвучить цифру...
И дальше ...
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votes
4
answers
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Difference between "девушка", "девочка" and "подруга"
So, if I remember correctly, "девушка" can refer to both "girl" (of any age) or "girlfriend" (I'm not entirely sure of this, so feel free to call me out). But what about '...
- 2,077
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votes
4
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"Одену" or "надену"
I can't seem to figure out the difference between одену and надену.
Both are future tense verbs of "to put on" or "wear".
Are they both just synonyms? I fee like there is a subtle difference
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answers
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Difference between нужно и надо
Hello probably this is duplicate question but I still can't understand the difference in use between these 2 words?
Надо и нужно
Can you give me some examples please?
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votes
2
answers
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What is the difference between разве and неужели?
I know that разве has some additional meanings, for instance the expression разве что/лишь/только. However in their principal meaning, разве and неужели are somewhat synonymous.
What are the nuances ...
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votes
7
answers
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Why do you need to use Я with verbs in the present tense?
The first person singular verb conjugation in the present tense is always different from other verb conjugations, so why the need to use "Я" at all in those cases?
For example, can't you just say "...
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8
votes
1
answer
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views
"хотеть" versus impersonal "хотеться"
What is the difference in meaning between the following pairs?
1a) Я хочу овчарку.
1b) Мне хочется овчарку.
2a) Он так хотел новую машину!
2b) Ему так хотелось новую машину!
3a) Я захотел поесть.
...
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What's the difference between "дети бегают по магазину" and "дети бегают в магазине"?
What's the difference between "дети бегают по магазину" and "дети бегают в магазине"?
EDIT:
If you are about to provide some examples in your answers, please, observe the following requests:
...
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votes
3
answers
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"Что–то" or "что–нибудь"
They both mean "something" but I have seen somewhere that there is a subtle difference between their respective senses. Could someone give me a hint at the difference along with sentences?
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votes
3
answers
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The original word for a wild boar
I recently accidentally discovered that the Russians call wild boars by a word borrowed from Turkic languages - "кабан." The etymological dictionary by Preobrazhensky clearly states:
Заимств. из ...
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votes
3
answers
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Succinct and gender-neutral Russian word for "writer"
Imagine I want to translate to Russian the word "community of working writers" such that "writers" means both male and female ones.
Here are obvious variants:
Сообщество работающих литераторов и ...
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votes
3
answers
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выходить vs. уходить
I once asked a native speaker what the difference is between выходить and уходить, and I was told that выходить means to exit in a general direction, while уходить means to exit in a specific ...
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votes
7
answers
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How to address a female friend
As a man, how do I respectfully say "Hi there, friend!" to a woman?
I know to a man, I would say
привет, мой друг
Could I use the same thing for a woman? Or can I use...
привет, моя подруга
...
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2
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В чем разница между словами "подвижник" и "поборник"?
Подвижник
В словаре Ефремовой определяется как
Самоотверженный труженик.
а в словаре Ожегова:
Человек, героически принявший на себя тяжёлый труд или лишения ради
достижения высокой цели
Пример ...
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votes
3
answers
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Difference between "Я хочу" and "Мне хочется"?
Without being given a specific context, can one tell the difference between "Я хочу" and "Мне хочется"? I have already seen this question, but it didn't answer mine, which is more about a general ...
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1
answer
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How does "следует" behave towards "должен", "надо" and "нужно"
There is this question about надо and нужно, but how do
следует,
должен,
надо and
нужно
behave towards each other? For instance
Тебе следует купить новую лопату.
How would this sentence ...
user3538
5
votes
4
answers
523
views
How shall I say "star" and "unstar" (as in Github) in Russian?
Как сказать "star" и "unstar" (типа как отметить репозиторий звёздочной на GitHub'е или снять такую отметку) кратко и ясно? Желательно литературно, без "лайкнуть" и т.д.
How to say "star" and "unstar"...
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1
answer
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What is the difference between научиться and выучить?
What is the difference between научиться and выучить? I understand that they both mean "to learn" but are they used in different contexts?
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2
answers
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views
The differences among the imperatives of verbs of motion
I would like to see contrasting examples of the imperatives of to go. What are the differences among these?
ходи
иди
пойди
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5
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ходил / сходил / пошёл
I was told that :
пошёл - went somewhere and (usually) haven’t come back yet (and told that I can use ушёл here too) if you state it as a fact or as a part of a story with other actions following one ...
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4
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What's the difference between the two suffixes -то and -нибудь?
Can someone, somehow please explain what the differences are between the suffixes -то and -нибудь? They tend to decorate words like как, кто, где, что, когда́ as in
как-то, как-нибудь (somehow)
кто-...
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votes
4
answers
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Пытаться, стараться и пробовать
Лингво переводит слова пытаться и пробовать как try, attempt. С другой стороны, словарь Ефремова говорит, что пытаться значит то же, что и стараться.
Есть ли какая-то разница между этими словами?
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votes
3
answers
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Как перевести "beat that"?
Как перевести на русский разговорное восклицание "beat that!" Это сокращение от "Can you beat that?" Выражение может быть использовано в процессе игры или неформального ...
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votes
3
answers
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views
Verbs related to learning or teaching [closed]
there.
May you explain me differences between following verbs in detail?!
(Attention: For God's sake, PLEASE, Don't match them up with English words like: study, learn, teach, etc. Just please try to ...
- 41
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votes
1
answer
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views
Short- or long-form adjective?
At first I thought short-form adjectives were quite easy after seeing how they are formed. But when to use them turned out to be more complex. Here I have 5 sentences that made me confuse since they ...
- 420
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vote
3
answers
357
views
Choice of Russian words for dishes
Recently the respected user @SergeySlepov suggested that the dish for soup is тарелка or миска, not чашка. His suggestion came as a reaction to my expression чашка супу.
I have always been confused ...
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votes
2
answers
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views
How to write out the date in russian for a tattoo [duplicate]
How to write April seventeenth two thousand fifteen in Russian, im trying to figure out a interesting way to get a tattoo of the date my grandmother died
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