Frequent Questions
450 questions
19
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7
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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 огурцами / ...
- 56k
18
votes
1
answer
412
views
What kind of grammatical form is this?/ Что это за грамматическая форма?
Он ревмя ревёт.
It's clear that the phrase means an intensive and, possibly, frequentative action. But what is the grammatical meaning of the phrase? Is it a productive pattern?
Понятно, что фраза ...
- 4,502
18
votes
8
answers
3k
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How can I improve my listening comprehension?
My partner's family all speak Russian, which is not my native language. I used to be in classes which helped me have regular practice at listening, but now that they are done, I'm finding myself in ...
- 291
18
votes
2
answers
1k
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Does “official Russian” language exist?
In the Soviet time, the speech of news-readers on radio and TV was considered a standard of the proper Russian language. The spelling in the newpapers was the standard of written language. To support ...
- 4,664
17
votes
5
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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 ...
- 1,658
17
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5
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4k
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On the meanings of the colors in Russian
It is sometimes the case that one attributes a second meaning to the colors, in poetry or just slang. It might be that this association is language-dependent (perhaps an exception is a connotation of "...
- 3,093
16
votes
5
answers
5k
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How acceptable is to omit pronouns in certain verb usages?
That's it, for example, is it acceptable to say Люблю тебя, or do you have to use я Люблю тебя. Or читал книгу instead of Я читал книгу?
- 543
16
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5
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944
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Is it considered proper to use вы with older people, even when they address you with ты?
Sometimes I find Russians will use the more familiar form of address, ты, even when I have addressed them with вы. I felt that in the particular circumstances it was unlikely that they meant that we ...
- 577
16
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1
answer
1k
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“к” vs “ко” preposition
Is there any common rule of when to append the “о” vowel to “к” preposition in front of words starting with “в”?
Nowadays almost nobody says e.g. “ко врачу,” it sounds quite archaic. I hear a slight ...
16
votes
5
answers
622
views
Pronunciation of foreign IT abbreviations / languages
I am studying CS in the Czech Republic and recently have noticed that when I talk to Russian programmers, I tend to mispronounce widely known words (famous site names,abbreviations, language names).
...
- 2,081
15
votes
5
answers
4k
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What are Russian equivalents of the English idiom "spread yourself too thin"?
What are Russian equivalents of the English idiom "spread yourself too thin", which is often used in:
"Try not to spread yourself too thin."
From The Free Dictionary:
spread yourself too thin
...
- 557
15
votes
6
answers
1k
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What form is "в гости"?
So, "Я в гостях" seems to be prepositional plural of гость
"Я иду в гости" leaves me puzzled, though. According to conjugation tables, it is nominative plural, while в used to express direction ...
- 562
15
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5
answers
1k
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Why "ничего не понимaю" ? Isn't "я ничего понимaю" enough?
There is already a negation included in ничего, in the statement "Я ничего не понимaю". I cannot figure out why instead of using "Я ничего понимaю" one uses that expression that apparently contains a ...
- 3,093
15
votes
3
answers
895
views
Почему Евклид, а не Эвклид?
Why is Евклид spelled with Е in Russian? All the other words and names with Greek origin starting with E that I can think of are spelled with Э in Russian.
Эратосфен, эвтаназия, эвристика
...
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15
votes
2
answers
946
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Are the Russian “рыжий” and French “rouge” (red) related? / Как связаны русское «рыжий» и французское «rouge»?
While I since had learned that linguistics works in much more mysterious ways than simply “if words sounds alike, or also mean similar things, they must be related”, for a long time I presumed that ...
- 1,584
15
votes
2
answers
640
views
Do "русый" and "русский" have a common root?
Does the name of the hair color русый come from the name of the people/land?
- 1,895
14
votes
9
answers
8k
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Pronunciation of 'ы'
Several resources that I am using say that 'и' and 'ы' represent the same vowel sound, and that the only difference is the palatalization of consonants preceding 'и', but I perceive two different ...
- 1,515
14
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6
answers
1k
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"Пока чайник закипит" or "пока чайник не закипит"
There is a russian joke the optimist is that who says "Ждать, пока чайник закипит" and pessimist is, in turn, a person who'd prefer to say "Ждать, пока чайник не закипит".
Those two form are opposite ...
- 38k
14
votes
6
answers
7k
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What order are the parts of a full Russian name in?
It is my understanding that Russians have a first name, surname, and patronymic.
What is the order of a full name: "first name, surname, patronymic" or "first name, patronymic, surname"?
- 574
14
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5
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2k
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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 ...
- 38k
14
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13
answers
8k
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Does anyone know of a simpler way to add accents to Cyrillic vowels than what is typically found online?
Not too long ago, I found a web page that gave instructions for adding accent marks to Cyrillic vowels. Unlike many other instructions I have seen, these were beautifully simple in that you typed the ...
13
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2
answers
1k
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Pronunciation rules for "о" in "поня́ть"
Are there any pronunciation rules for the letter "о"? Why is that letter said slightly differently in the masculine and feminine versions of the sentence "I understand":
m:
я ...
- 1,658
13
votes
5
answers
2k
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What does «и» mean in the sentence like «Я и ртом надую»?
The и in both of these sentences appears extra. What is it doing?
— Зачем мне насос? — ответил Гена. — Я и ртом надую.
And from another children’s book:
Всех друзей я киселем вкусным угостила, ...
- 741
13
votes
6
answers
4k
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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 ...
- 499
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2
answers
6k
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When to use «раз, два, три» instead of «один, два, три»?
I know that один, два, три is equivalent to one, two, three in English. But, I've also heard раз, два, три used in multiple Russian songs from different artists, and I've seen this in several places ...
- 763
13
votes
3
answers
577
views
Different expressions for "ten" in Russian: десять, десятка, десяток
In terms of expressing ten, what's the difference between десять, десятка and десяток? I understand the first is a numeral and the other two are nouns, but I'm curious to know in what contexts each is ...
- 2,827
12
votes
6
answers
881
views
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 ...
- 511
12
votes
2
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2k
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Этимология слова «аист» / etymology of “аист” (stork)
Считается, что в русском языке нет исконных слов, начинающихся на букву «А». Как объяснить этимологию слова «аист», явно отличающуюся от лексем в родственных языках?
бел. бусел
укр. лелека
русин. ...
- 4,502
12
votes
4
answers
605
views
Moving the subject of the sentence into a dangling participle
When I do homework to be later read by the teachers, I sometimes like to show off by using rare forms that I have learned by deeply studying Russian. It is always fun, especially as the assistant ...
- 11.3k
12
votes
3
answers
1k
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When to use ∂ and when to use the g-type for little д?
I'm always unsure as to how to choose to write д in my handwriting.
Can one arbitrarily choose between ∂ and the minuscule (little g-type) here shown? (I mean, sticking to one of them for the whole ...
- 3,093
12
votes
2
answers
367
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
- 5,752
12
votes
2
answers
565
views
Words in "common gender"
In addition to the masculine, feminine, and neuter genders, there are words of "common gender" (слова общего рода) that nearly all decline like a feminine noun but are applied to both men and women. ...
- 4,996
12
votes
7
answers
1k
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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 ...
- 11.3k
12
votes
2
answers
332
views
What implicit noun does запятая modify?
Although запятая is a noun, its endings make it look like an adjective, so I presume that there is some implicit noun that запятая is modifying without ever being explicitly used (similar to столовая =...
- 4,996
12
votes
7
answers
799
views
Are there non-stress-related homographs in Russian?
Are there homographs in Russian that sound different besides the stress?
E.g. like "read" in English:
I will read (ee) that book
VS
I have just read (e) that book
P.S. I hope the answer to this ...
- 357
12
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7
answers
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Do "надо" constructions tend to pair with perfective verbs and if so, why?
I've noticed that constructions with "надо" tend to use a perfective form of a verb. Is there some sort of loose grammar rule dictating this? Or does it just depend on context? For example, can I ...
- 2,215
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2
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Why "доброе утро" but "добрый день"
what is the difference between Доброе and Добрый? Both mean the same but when we say good morning we use the former instead of the latter , as per this site http://masterrussian.com/blday_greeting....
12
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What distinguishes "Осип" from "Иосиф"?
The man's name Осип is a form of Иосиф. Is it a nickname, a diminutive, a regionalism, or a register change? Would someone named Иосиф potentially also answer to Осип, as with Joseph and Joe?
user8359
12
votes
3
answers
864
views
Why does дом become дома instead of домы?
I don't understand why the plural version of дом is дома instead of домы. I had thought that the common rule was to add -и / -ы at the end of masculine words in the nominative form.
user5898
11
votes
4
answers
1k
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 ...
- 8,456
11
votes
2
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Decimal Declension
I've always thought that the formal rules for declining decimals in Russian seem a little...unwieldy. For example, I gather that the correct way to say "pi is approximately equal to 3.14159" -- which ...
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10
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Why do Russians say "Чего?" and not "Что?" when they didn't understand something?
Иди, дело есть. ― Чего? ― спросил Карусельщик с подозрением, но из тумана все же показался. // [Елена Хаецкая. Синие стрекозы Вавилона/ Семеро праведных в раю господина (2004)]
Could anybody explain ...
- 113
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11
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2
answers
800
views
Difference between "за" (as in "за что-либо/кого-либо") and "для"
In what contexts should I use за or для when saying "for" or "to" something or someone?
For example, I understand that it is proper to use "за" when calling out a toast: "за Россию!". But that you ...
- 113
11
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3
answers
3k
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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?
- 131
11
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6
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687
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Is "глядя на нас, сразу понятно, что ..." grammatically valid?
I heard the following phrase in one media advertisement:
Глядя на нас, сразу понятно, что я ... , а он ... .
Subconsciously I doubt if it is grammatically correct phrase.
Could you clarify it ...
- 675
10
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4
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4k
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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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4
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9k
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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 '...
- 2,067
10
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3
answers
453
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Which form of past tense should be used when the gender of the speaker is unknown?
For instance, you heard a quote from a poem or a proverb, but you don't know who exactly said it.
Do you use
Кто сказал "я к розам хочу, в тот единственный сад / Где лучшая в мире стоит из оград"?
...
- 101
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2
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472
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Are there truly "empty" perfectivizing prefixes in Russian? (aspectual clusters versus aspectual pairs)
Foreign learners are often taught that Russian verbs always come in aspectual pairs, with the perfective verb formed from the imperfective verb either by changing the stem or adding a prefix. The two ...
- 3,071