Frequent Questions
450 questions
24
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The history and meaning of "ни фига себе"
I understand how the expression is used pretty well, but wonder where did it come from?
What exactly does фиг mean?
- 1,326
23
votes
2
answers
1k
views
What's the first person singular future of победить
What is the first person singular of победить in future tense? The other person-numbers have obvious forms such as:
ты победишь, мы победим, они победят, вы победите, он победит, я ???
The obvious &...
- 5,377
22
votes
12
answers
4k
views
Why do some say "на Украине" and others "в Украине" and what is correct?
Can anyone explain? Is there some rule for when to use на and when to use в?
- 341
22
votes
4
answers
5k
views
Чаю vs. чая: what ending is correct?
Is чаю or чая more correct in the sentences
Я бы не отказался от чашки ча*
and
Можно мне ещё ча*?
and what's the grammatical explanation?
- 4,664
21
votes
2
answers
1k
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What does "-с" suffix mean?
When reading Dostoyevski's books I often find characters that use a manner of speech that adds "-с" and the end of the words. What does it mean? Is it used to convey some emotion or is it ...
- 909
19
votes
4
answers
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Действительно ли по новым правилам слово "кофе" среднего рода?
Многие говорят, что согласно новым правилам "кофе" официально стал(о) считаться существительным среднего рода. Насколько это соответствует действительности?
Если это действительно так, то когда было ...
- 5,377
18
votes
5
answers
2k
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Are there loanwords from English where "h" is transliterated to "х" rather than "г"?
Russian doesn't have a direct equivalent to the sound of English h.
But to some English speakers it seems odd that words taken into Russian from English which have an h sound are transliterated using ...
- 668
17
votes
1
answer
6k
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Кофий и кофе - что от чего произошло? Is the кофе derived from кофий or vice versa?
Артемий Лебедев в своем "ководстве" пишет:
Мужской род бедному напитку достался от устаревших форм «кофий» или «кофей».
У Корнея Чуковского в книге "Живой как жизнь" сказано:
Русский язык ...
- 11.3k
16
votes
1
answer
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views
Special treatment for plural forms depending on number of objects - where does it originate from?
This has puzzled me for a long time. In Russian, we count objects in a weird way:
Один камень
Два камня
Три камня
Четыре камня
Пять камней
...
Двадцать камней
Двадцать один камень
Then, the pattern ...
- 303
16
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Prepositions "в" and "во"
What is the rule for changing the preposition "в" into "во"? I cannot think about any way to explain it.
First of all, semantically they seem to be perfectly identical:
(дежурить) во вторник, в ...
- 6,558
15
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Do Russian speakers consistently produce the same perfective form for a new verb?
Suppose, for example, that a new verb снапчатовать ("to snapchat") was coined in Russian. Would Russian speakers agree on what the perfective form of this verb should be? Is that generally the case ...
- 357
14
votes
3
answers
13k
views
Difference between российский and русский
I have not yet understood the difference (if any) between the terms российский and русский. I'd like to know whether one is a special case of the other and if the use of the former is old-fashioned. (...
- 3,093
13
votes
3
answers
3k
views
How do I split words into syllables?
It isn't as easy as it sounds. Is it possible to come up with a well-defined set of rules that cover all possible cases?
- 4,252
13
votes
3
answers
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views
"нет грамм" vs. "нет граммов": a new case or two different words with separate paradigms?
The question comes from the discussion here and is a little bit geeky =)
It was suggested that there may be a new case in Russian: Счетный (Numerative).
As an instance of this case, Anixx gave the ...
- 6,558
11
votes
3
answers
668
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.
- 461
11
votes
3
answers
850
views
Singular or plural verb after a singular noun denoting a quantity?
Sometimes you use a word-combination of 2 nouns to denote a quantity of entities: «большинство людей». Should a singular or plural form be used for a verb after that? I.e., «большинство людей не знает»...
11
votes
2
answers
371
views
Are there analogous words for words оба, обе for three and more?
I can take two books in the bookshop and say обе to indicate I want to buy both.
Are there any analogous words for three and more items, to indicate that I have all of them in mind?
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11
votes
2
answers
476
views
Often 2 variants of feminine instrumental...?
maybe my title needs some work... but I use Wiktionary a lot for declensions, etc and I often see two forms for feminine instrumental adjectives, but my textbook only ever uses, typically, the 'first' ...
- 1,309
11
votes
2
answers
3k
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What does "Вон оно чё" mean
I'm studying the Russian language and I try to watch lots of Russian television series. Recently I have watched the comedy show Наша Раша and in a specific sketch a character Иван Дулин many times ...
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10
votes
6
answers
858
views
Use of Dative after учить etc
I've always had trouble figuring out why the dative is used in such constructions:
Я учу драконов русскому языку каждый день—вот беда моя!
So why is the verb учить followed by an accusative object ...
- 3,507
10
votes
2
answers
357
views
Homographs that differ only with respect to a stress
A friend of mine is working on a software that places stress in Russian words. In the process, he got himself wondering about words that differ only with respect to stress, like “за́мок” and “замо́к”.
...
- 6,558
10
votes
2
answers
1k
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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, ...
- 475
9
votes
3
answers
386
views
"Они братья" but "Это упражнения" - why different pronouns?
Let's take two example sentences:
Вот пара ребят. Они братья.
and
Вот пара предложений, которые я выписал в тетрадь. Это упражнения. Я выписал их из учебника.
Why can't we say:
Вот пара ...
- 209
8
votes
4
answers
3k
views
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?
- 543
8
votes
4
answers
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Have your cake and eat it too - Equivalent Expression in Russian
Wikipedia claims that the expression И рыбку съесть, и в воду не лезть is equivalent to "having your cake and eating it too", literally translated to wanting to eat a fish without first catching it ...
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8
votes
3
answers
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Много людей (знает/знают)
I encountered this phrase: "Много людей в Европе и Америке знает о Петербурге."
The subject is intuitively plural, so I expected "знают" - "Много людей знают...".
When are singular verbs used in ...
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8
votes
5
answers
7k
views
Pronunciation of "е"
Why is "нет" pronounced "nyet" instead of "net"? I was informed that the Cyrillic letter 'е' is equivalent to the Latin letter 'e'. Is this incorrect? If so, what is the equivalent of 'e' if one ...
- 1,515
8
votes
4
answers
2k
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Communicate to Russians with only Latin alphabet
I play a mobile game that has a number of Russians in my guild. I can type out what they say in Google Translate, but on my phone I only have the Latin A-Z available. I know I could go get a Russian ...
7
votes
3
answers
14k
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 ...
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7
votes
3
answers
343
views
How should I inflect animate nouns when they are used to figuratively call inanimate objects, and vice versa?
In Russian, animate and inanimate nouns inflect differently. Let's compare "кабан" and "стакан":
Я вижу кабанов. Я стреляю в кабана.
Я вижу стаканы. Я стреляю в стакан.
It is all ...
- 11.3k
7
votes
2
answers
459
views
The origin of complex plural forms
What caused complex plural forms in Russian? Were they borrowed from another language, inherited from Old Russian, or is there another reason why they appeared?
By "complex plural forms" I mean the ...
- 355
7
votes
5
answers
6k
views
Meaning of чё - что or чего?
This question was born from the discussion in comments under this answer.
Чё is a slang/colloquial word, but does it mean что or чего? I believe that it's the equivalent of что, although it can't be ...
- 7,220
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votes
4
answers
3k
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Наречие или краткая форма
Вопрос для самых педантичных:
"Это хорошо. Это плохо."
Хорошо и плохо здесь неречия, да?
"Какая из машин тебе нравится? - Эта хороша."
Здесь хороша - краткая форма прилагательного.
Как можно с ...
- 562
7
votes
4
answers
570
views
What is the difference between посмеяться and засмеяться?
Question: Can someone explain what the difference between посмеяться and засмеяться is?
Both have смеяться (to laugh) as their imperfective form, so I am really confused about what the difference ...
- 3,071
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votes
2
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1k
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When to make the "v" / "в" or to make the "g" / "г" in place of "г"?
When to make the "v" / "в" or to make the "g" / "г" in place of "г"?
Like the word "его" is said "evo", but phonetically it's said "ego".
Cпасибо.
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6
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2
answers
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The Meaning of "Ещё"
At first, I wash taught that ещё means "yet". However, as I get deeper into the grammar, I'm seeing that sometimes it means " more" or even "else"! What is the actual ...
- 651
6
votes
2
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2k
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"Кем бы он ни был" or "кто бы он ни был" - which one to choose?
With structures such as the following how do we decide whether кто should be instrumental or nominative—
кем бы он ни был
OR
кто бы он ни был
- 3,507
6
votes
1
answer
254
views
(A changing?) difference between nominative and instrumental case usage in predicates with быть
I would like to know more about the distinction between the use of the instrumental (творительный) and nominative (именительный) case in the context of a predicate (сказуемое) parts of sentences in ...
6
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4
answers
1k
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is 'Молодец! / молодцы́!' always a familiar expression?
I would like to know if the expression 'Молодец!' (or молодцы́!) in the context of 'good!', 'you did it right!', 'this is a great work!' ,'you accomplished a difficult work!' etc.... is always ...
user4256
6
votes
6
answers
818
views
Order of adverbs and position of subject
I recently read a lot about word order (it makes life so much easier). But I have the following question:
It's said that for adverbs the following order is normal— Time, Place, Manner.
But, if for ...
- 3,507
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votes
4
answers
7k
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What's the difference between "ходить" and "идти"?
As far as I understand they both mean "go", but I'd like to know when I should use each. Are these words interchangeable?
- 2,067
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6
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2
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491
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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2
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pronunciation of "e"
Please tell me how the written “e” is pronounced. I've checked various online resources and am still not sure about it. I found the following rules:
“e” is pronounced as:
ii – at begin of words, after ...
- 145
5
votes
3
answers
281
views
Use of the imperative form подели
There is a lyric that goes:
"ты подели небо поровну"
What is the meaning of подели in this context?
Could I use дели and would it change the meaning?
Can I use this form with я, мы, он, etc? And ...
5
votes
2
answers
562
views
What is the difference between "мосте" and "мосту" for a prepositional form of "мост"?
I have found the following sentence:
Девочка сидит на мосту.
However, when I looked up мост in my dictionary, I found that it listed two declined forms on the prepositional, which is мосте and ...
- 1,157
5
votes
2
answers
495
views
Ways to better study глаголы движения
I'm terrible with movement verbs, I never use them well, especially with prefixes, the way to use them changes a lot!!! I get incredibly confuse.
So if someone has a good book reference regarding ...
- 475
5
votes
3
answers
233
views
Где узнать о правилах русского языка?
Где узнать о правилах русского языка, актуальных на данный момент?
В инженерном деле когда речь идёт о формальностях, например о правилах искусственного языка (например для написания компьютерных ...
5
votes
2
answers
567
views
"Aэропорт "Домодедово" - why not genitve?
When we form a noun phrase, we use either adjectives or genitive case. For
example;
красная машина -> feminine adjective + feminine noun (red car)
цвет цветка -> nominative case + genitive case ...
- 729
5
votes
4
answers
1k
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How do you describe homosexual marriages in Russian?
The words for marriage are clearly gender-linked in Russian.
I'm guessing that for two women, you'd say "Она женилась на ней / Она женат." Correspondingly, I'd think that for two men it would be "Он ...
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