Questions tagged [russian-usage]
Now covers questions about the usage of the Russian language in other countries.
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Use of instrumental and nominative cases with "быть" and "стать"
I was practicing my Russian with a friend when she wrote the following:
"когда я пришёл на фестиваль, народу было не очень много, но позже очереди за едой стали слишком длинные."
In this ...
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How to translate "Adorkable" into Russian?
The word "Adorkable" is a portmanteau of "Adorable" and "Dork." That neatly encapsulates this trope. Adorkable characters are "dorky" in some fashion. Maybe ...
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Is it becoming the norm for Russians to handwrite in block letters in informal situations?
Is it more common to see block letters nowadays, especially on the internet? For example, I've linked to a Twitter artist who (among many others) seems to handwrite in block letters in their comics. I ...
user17522
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Difference between "толстовка", "свитшот", "худи", "кофта" and "пуловер"?
Could someone give me some insight on these Russian words from the perspective of a native Russian?
From what I've seen, many websites use these words interchangeably, and some of those websites even ...
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Rendering emphatic "that" in Russian
Below are two uses of that in the sense of настолько. In the first example, it just means not very, but in the second one, it means (emphatically) to the extent you’re implying(!). How is this ...
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What are the lyrics to this song translated into english? [closed]
Улыбка - Крошка енот - Moscow Boys' Choir DEBUT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANNQrVKUjws
The video says its from the song or poem Smile from "Baby Raccoon".
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About grapes (виноград) and grapes (винограды)
I understand that in Russian, виноград is a collective noun implying the plural “grapes”. However, when looking into it in Wikislovar (https://ru.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B3%D1%...
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Russian slang: "the letter Х"
Someone told me that in Russian slang, people ask each other: Kак дела? (How are you?), to which the obvious answer is Хорошо (Good).
But there's another word that starts with "x" and means ...
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Were Russian surnames in the 19th century just nicknames or actual person’s name?
Let’s say a person born in the 19th century had the name “Mikhail Shatunov”, is the surname “Shatunov” a nickname or does it mean that an actual person named “Shatun” was his (grand)father?
If it were ...
user16886
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How can I figure out if an adjective is hard or soft without seeing its ending?
I can't determine whether the adjective is hard or soft without seeing its ending. I need to be able to tell if the adjective is hard or soft without seeing its ending.
What I mean is, how can I tell ...
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Strange use of 'и': для этого и делается
I was listening at Navalny's phone call and at some point he says:
ровно для этого и делается доклад
It is supposed to translate to:
this is exactly what the report is for
What I understand so far:...
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Why has the word Жид (Jew) become a taboo in Russian?
As far as I know, it is a neutral word in some Slavic languages, and it was legal in Russian before the Russian Revolution. However, now, it's completely illegal and, thus, Russians utter it only to ...
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Kaliningrad ... may it be referred to as Kalinograd?
Kaliningrad is the Russian exclave sandwiched in between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic coast. Every time I think of it I find myself saying "Kalinograd" because in English usage ...
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The word подарок - abstract meaning?
In my Russian class, we are learning holiday vocabulary, and I am wondering if there exists an abstract meaning for “подарок». For example, could you be talking about “the gift of forgiveness” or “the ...
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Can стакан сока be used here instead of сок?
In the book Дорога в Россию - учебник русского языка, there's a conversation that describes the scene of buying food:
Мне нравится эта рыба, этот салат, этот сок. Дайте, пожалуйста.
which means the ...
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«Для» или «за»? – This store is for the purchase of
I was writing a paragraph, and a sentence within (and the previous sentence) is, in English:
(The first store sells mostly bulk produce.) The second store is (a) traditional (store), for the purchase ...
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Do Russian speakers in the former USSR countries use patronymics?
Can the general calling conventions in Russian (for example - Dimitri Ivanovich Petrov will be formally referred to as Dimitri Ivanovich) be extended to the countries of the former Soviet Union (...
user14815
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What does this expression mean in Russian? "во даёт!" [closed]
Give me some phrases examples as well plz
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The adjective "экономичный" to modify animate objects
Would it make sense to say "Я очень экономичный муж", or "У меня такая экономичная собака" when someone wishes to allude to his being frugal with apparel, meal, diversions etc. Or a dog is small and ...
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How to type "@" symbol in Russian keyboard layout? [closed]
Does a Russian keyboard layout support the "@" symbol? I had to switch to an English keyboard to type "@".
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What does "так и есть" and "ну что ж" mean?
What does "так и есть" and "ну что ж" mean, are these idioms?
How are they used in sentences?
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short, long adjective, adverb for two consecutive words
In Nicholas J. Brown's book, The New Penguin Russian Course - A Complete Course for Beginners (1996), there is an exercise (27.5 if it matters) containing a sentence;
Девяносто пять процентов тех, ...
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"Хотелось" or "хочу"
1). хотелось = мне хотелось / I wanted
2). хочу = я хочу купить что нибудь для тебя / I want to buy something for you
What is the difference between "хотелось" when used in the first scenario v.s. ...
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Why do some people pronounce "о" as "a" and some just pronounce "o" as "o"?
It makes no sense to me; when I'm listening to Russians on YouTube, they sometimes pronounce "о" as "a", and sometimes as "o" — why is this?
Another thing, if I choose to ...
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Difference Between and when to select which when they fuse. "меня" V.S "я"
I am not only confused with the overall definition and distinction between "меня" and "я" but also when to use which when 2 different phrases containing one of them each merge together.
As an example:...
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When to use which with "не" / " нет"
Why is the word "не" used in the phrase:
"мне не нравится"= "I Don't Like"
But on the contrary "нет" is used in this one:
"у меня нет"= "I Don't Have"
Is it a rule that Always "мне" goes with "не" ...
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How would I say "of the silk road" as in a male dog or horse or cat from the silk road?
How would I say "of the silk road" as in a male dog or horse or cat from the Silk Road?
By "the Silk Road" I mean the ancient general route or area stretching from Russia, Central Asia and China.
E....
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Kamchadalskii dialect
The native people of southern Kamchatka are Itelmen. The arrival of Russian men around 1700 created a mixed group called Kamchadals. By 1800, the Itelmen languages were mostly extinct and the Russian ...
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Need to recognize first name and last name
I need to recognize the first name and last name of a Russian man SEIDOV CHARY
which is first, which is last?
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How do you write a featuring artist into a song title
In English there is a convention where you can include featured artists of a song in the song's title using the format:
[Song Title] feat. [Featured Artist]
What is the equivalent of this in ...
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How do you say "I belive in you!" in russian? [closed]
It has to be 30 characters that's why this is here. And i mean "in you" not that i believe you.
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What are the Latin Transliterations of Hard Consonants Converted to Soft Consonants?
I have been studying Russian recently and I have come across a problem that I have been trying to resolve for some time now which involves the softening of consonants.
I understand that there are ...
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“Быть” with tenses, gender, number but in affirmative sentences
A homework question, exactly quoted,
В этот период у нас было много неожиданных трудностей.
but in reviewing my previous question, When to use 'не было' and 'не будет' regardless of ...
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What are the rules of the locative case?
I understood the first time I heard about the locative that it was usually reserved for monosyllabic masculine nouns (ex. чай, дом, сок) with exceptions (кровь, дверь). However, I recently saw that на ...
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clarification on the proper form of a possessive pronoun
Simple question at the end of my textbook (finally)...
I'm supposed to provide the proper form for a possessive pronoun in the blank:
Где ____ машина! Вы видели ____ машину?
Нет, я не видел ____ ...
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Очередь на Серова (=выставку Серова): A specific type of metonymy?
I'm wondering, if anybody knows, what is this type called and if there are theoretical studies and/or monographies about contexts, in which these forms could be particulary used (проходим Пушкина (=...
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Difference between царь and король?
The only sites answering this question are in Russian text, so I wanted to ask it here.
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Training books or sites [duplicate]
I'm new to Russian and started learning it about 2 or 3 months ago. Till now I've been using Duolingo to learn Russian, and as you may all know, Duolingo is not the site for 'Grammar' and I had to ...
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"for the benefit of", на благо vs для?
I've learned that when using "for", when meaning "benefit from", you would use "для + gen". But I've also just learned "на благо", meaning the same thing. Are they synonyms? How are they different?
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City name change when used in sentence?
I use Google to translate 2 sentences involving 2 cities (Liman-Лиман, Kamyzyak-Камызяк):
The distance from Liman to Kamyzyak.
The distance between Liman and Kamyzyak.
Расстояние от Лиман до ...
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"Я в состоянии" vs "я способен"?
I've come across я в состоянии плавать, I can (am able) to swim, and я способен, I can (am able)...
How are both of these used?
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Need help with declarative sentence
How would you translate this sentence: "Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov the director of Burnt by the Sun"
I thought it would be:
" <<Утомленные солнцем>> директора - Никита Сергеевич Михалов "
...
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Phrase meaning “ты мой золотой”
I have been chatting with someone for a while now and she used the phrase “ты мой золотой” we have met before but currently we are in different country. My question is what does this phrase stand for? ...
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Correct pronunciation of vowels and soft/hard consonants
I have read in several places online that it would be wrong to use the terms "soft vowels" and "hard vowels", and instead it's more correct to call them vowels which indicate a ...
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"She wants him to like her." - Where is "her"?
I saw this sentence in Charles E Townsend's, Continuing with Russian,
Она хочет ему нравиться.
She wants him to like her (in general).
and I wondered where the 'her' was. If it was a little more ...
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What's the difference between доброе, добрый and доброй? [closed]
Also, is there a difference between "спокойной ночи" and "доброй ночи"?
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Which это? Particle or Special Adjective/Pronoun
In the sentence,
"But that's not true."
I see a translation as
"Но это не правда."
I know 'правда' is feminine so it seems that the 'это' being used is the indeclinable particle, and not the ...
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What is the difference between "мои" , "моя", "мой"? [duplicate]
My curiosity I have started learning Russian. While i read some articles they specified same meaning for different word. Can any one clarify my doubt and guide me in right path?
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Как сказать "лихие девяностые" на английском? [closed]
I honestly don't know. Gave it some thought, but best i could come up with is Roaring 90s,Dashing 90s?
Those familiar with a term - what do you think?
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