Frequent Questions
454 questions
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Resources for learning Russian
Using the same structure in the Chinese Resources question, this is a specifically created Community Wiki which gathers resources for learning Russian and it has been approved by the Community itself.
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answers
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What are the lesser known Russian cases?
In schools, it is taught that Modern Russian has 6 cases:
Nominative (Именительный)
Genitive (Родительный)
Dative (Дательный)
Accusative (Винительный)
Instrumental (Творительный)
...
- 5,377
23
votes
3
answers
1k
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Direct object of negated verbs takes which case?
I was reviewing an older Russian textbook today, and it says that the genitive case has to be used for the direct object of negated verbs. For example: I don't see the table ("Я не вижу стола"), and ...
- 231
16
votes
5
answers
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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.
- 471
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votes
3
answers
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Why does italic 'т' look like 'm'
The Cyrillic letter 'т', when italicized, looks like a Latin 'm'. This is illustrated in the image below. The first row is the Cyrillic letter 'т', the second is the Cyrillic letter 'м', and the third ...
- 1,515
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votes
3
answers
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When is the Russian letter "o" pronounced [a]?
Sometimes, the Russian letter o is pronounced [o], but other times it's pronounced [a]. How do I know when to pronounce it [a]?
- 253
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4
answers
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Я вижу + numeral + noun - governed by what case?
Я ви́жу одного́ ма́льчика. (I see one boy.)
Я ви́жу два до́ма. (I see two houses.)
Я ви́жу двух ма́льчиков. (I see two boys.)
I often get confused with the cases. As far as I know, after "...
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6
answers
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What is the meaning of: "- Отнеси кота на веранду. - Да уж лежит там."
In a recent test I had to translate the following:
-- Отнеси кота на веранду.
-- Да уж лежит там.
My translation was:
"Bring the cat to the verandah."
"It is already lying there.&...
- 11.3k
20
votes
6
answers
3k
views
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"?
- 6,558
17
votes
6
answers
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views
Is 'ё' a distinct letter, or is it just 'е' with a diaeresis?
Some sources say that there are 32 letters in the alphabet, while others say there are 33. The discrepancy seems to be a result of including/excluding ё. They also mention (whether or not they include ...
- 1,515
12
votes
9
answers
755
views
"Деревья свалил ветер" vs "Деревья свалило ветром"
The former is a personal sentence and the latter an impersonal one, though both the sentences seem semantically (almost) equivalent.
Concerning personal and impersonal sentences, I have some idea how ...
- 641
29
votes
10
answers
13k
views
In Russian, do vehicles walk? And can one walk across the city using the bus?
It's commonly taught that the difference between ходить/идти and ездить/ехать (and between their prefixed derivations) is that the former connotes movement by foot and the latter connotes movement ...
- 3,071
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votes
3
answers
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Быть с именительным падежом
Я всё больше держался Кролика. Кролик был вор с мистическим уклоном. Жулик и вор он был, впрочем, вполне нормальный. А вот его дружок по грибной тематике был человек особенный.
Почему здесь автор не ...
- 1,400
18
votes
3
answers
7k
views
Why is the letter "г" in some Russian words pronounced [v]?
We all agree that the letter г in Russian is equivalent to g in English. But why is the letter г in some Russian words pronounced [v]?
For example:
сегодня = pronounced as if it is written: севодня
...
- 2,035
18
votes
3
answers
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Difference in pronunciation between "щ" and "шь"?
I understand that the difference between "щ" and "ш" is (roughly) the difference between "shya-" and "sha-". But how do you differentiate "щ" and "шь"? For example, I always differentiated, for ...
- 1,353
15
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Order of declensions (склонения)
I'm learning Russian, and I see it mentioned in study material that Russian nouns have three declensions (склонения). In English-language learning material, the order of the declensions is like so:
...
- 643
14
votes
5
answers
2k
views
What are some examples of nouns that end in -у in prepositional case
I know one already:
in the garden - в саду
12
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).
- 223
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votes
4
answers
1k
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What part of speech is "нельзя"?
What part of speech is "нельзя"? I see so many Russian dictionaries say it is used as a predicative complement (предикатив), but none of the ones I saw would "dare" state it as an adverb (наречие).
- 5,752
9
votes
3
answers
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Why use dative in "Сколько тебе лет"?
In the following sentence:
Сколько тебе лет?
Why do you use тебе, the dative form of ты? I think this sentence means "How old are you?" but why not say it with genitive, like:
Сколько тебя лет?...
- 1,157
8
votes
1
answer
498
views
How to decline adjectives modifying feminine nouns after 2, 3, 4?
In the nominative case, if we are counting something of size 2, 3, or 4 then the object being counted is in the genitive singular case, e.g., три треугольника. If we have an adjective involved, then ...
- 4,996
7
votes
3
answers
894
views
Translation for "When I was young"
I need to say "when I was young" in reference to a male. I always forget whether the correct translation is "Когда я был молодой" or "Когда я был молодым".
Can you please explain why I need to use ...
- 466
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votes
2
answers
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Краткая и полная форма прилагательного в сказуемом
У меня в голове хаос, и я уже не знаю, что и как.
Меня в школе учили, что в составном сказуемом всегда используется краткая форма прилагательного, и я всегда использовал краткую форму. В другом месте ...
- 1,400
59
votes
14
answers
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42
votes
10
answers
8k
views
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 ...
- 4,996
28
votes
5
answers
2k
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Elementary understanding of the concept aspect
First, for the aim of this question I must say that I am not familiar with the Russian language, but I read a bit about it and am curious. I've never learned Russian before and just able to say a ...
- 1,658
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3
answers
1k
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Are there words that can be spelled with both т and ф?
Some words of Greek descent use ф as corresponding to the Greek θ, while some use т. The former I think tend to be loaned earlier. However, in "Brothers Karamazov" I have found Mitya using the word "...
- 909
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votes
2
answers
1k
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Миш, Кать, Ань, пап, мам — what is it in an address?
When I am addressing someone and say:
Кать, приходи в гости в воскресенье
is Кать just a spoken reduction of Катя, or is it a separate grammatical form?
- 4,664
14
votes
3
answers
525
views
Imperatives and Aspect
When using an imperative form, what effect does the speaker's choice of aspect have?
More concretely — what's the difference between (for example) снимай пальто and сними пальто? In both cases, the ...
- 151
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votes
3
answers
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views
Can anyone clear up some discrepancies between rules for numeral+adjective+noun agreement for 2/3/4 and actual usage (as found through e-sources)?
While trying to augment my knowledge on Russian numerals with regard to how they combine with nouns and adjectives, I paid a visit to Reverso after learning that any adjectives placed between the ...
- 2,215
13
votes
6
answers
4k
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Иметь vs у меня for physical things
I get that у меня is the most common pattern for showing ownership of things, say леопарда or самокат. What happens to the meaning were I to use Иметь instead? Does it mean the exact same thing?
(...
- 741
12
votes
3
answers
3k
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Using written е instead of ë
Sometimes I see е written instead of ë.
Is this actually a common occurence in written Russian, or an acceptable version of the word?
For example, even Google Translate will not use the diacritical ...
- 269
12
votes
3
answers
1k
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Difference in pronunciation of е and ѣ in old Russian
I often encounter claims that these letters formerly were pronounced differently. Can anybody please point me to a sound record that shows the difference?
- 14.6k
11
votes
4
answers
827
views
Why Russians use adjective when speaking about their nation and nouns for the rest of the world?
how come that russian (русский) in context of ethnic group is adjective, but all(?) other ethic groups are called using nouns, американец, серб, эстонец, латыш, казах ...
Are there similar examples in ...
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4
answers
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What kind of "girlfriend" is meant by "подруга"?
Does "подруга" mean girlfriend as in "girl friend", ie a female friend, or as in "girlfriend", a romantic interest?
Doing a google image search for подруга seems to be getting matches for both types.
- 1,119
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6
answers
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The usage of иметь
Possession is generally expressed in Russian using у + genitive case. However, in technical contexts the verb иметь is used, e.g., это уравнение имеет решение or этот многочлен имеет один корень. I ...
- 4,996
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votes
3
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Is there a Russian analogue of British Council or Goethe-Institut?
As far as I know, for English, German, French there are state organizations promoting these languages abroad. Does Russia have anything similar?
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8
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5
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When to not use свой?
For answers to my workbook, I wrote the following:
После уроков мы ходили в лабораторию к своему профессору.
В воскресенье мы поедем в гости к своим друзьям. Мы уже звонили своим друзьям и ...
- 3,071
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votes
2
answers
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When to use the genitive or the accusative in negative sentences
In my Russian course we have learnt that in negative sentences the object
is often in the genitive. On the other hand there are situations in which
it is correct to use an accusative, and there is ...
- 793
6
votes
2
answers
582
views
What is the difference between the prefixes по and у in verbs of motion
I have been studying Russian for a while and have looked at a number of grammar books for Russian by I fail to see the nuance between 'по' and 'у'
For example:
Мой самолёт улетит...
vs.
Мой самолёт ...
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6
votes
1
answer
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"два светлые глаза"
In this poem by Anna Akhmatova we have:
Другая — два светлые глаза
И облачное крыло.
I don't understand why we have "два светлые глаза", I was expecting "два светлых гла́за" (...
- 1,337
5
votes
1
answer
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"Крыса была примечательная" or "примечательна"?
У неё была одна странность: она дружила с крысой. Крыса была примечательная, жила неизвестно где и приходила на зов.
Почему здесь нет краткой формы прилагательного, т.е. примечательна? Это ведь (...
- 1,400
5
votes
2
answers
647
views
Case of complements in Russian
Context: My book says that:
The copular verb is absent in the present tense for a compound predicate and the noun [which is the complement] is in the nominative case. In the past and future tenses ...
- 3,071
5
votes
7
answers
15k
views
Typing Russian on an English keyboard
I have only a standard English (qwerty) keyboard on my computer. Can anyone recommend a convenient method (free software or something else) by which I can use my keyboard to type the Cyrillic ...
37
votes
8
answers
8k
views
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 ...
- 646
37
votes
2
answers
7k
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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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32
votes
8
answers
18k
views
Do adult Russians normally hand-write Cyrillic as cursive or as block letters?
In The Netherlands, we learn to write Latin characters in cursive in school, but most adults write block letters in practice. My experience is that in other countries using the Latin alphabet, most ...
- 421
28
votes
3
answers
8k
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What Russian letter is this?
Is the 4th letter a valid russian character?
When I copy the above word it is automatically converted to "сведения".
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11
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
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11
answers
4k
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Been learning Russian for 10 years, still can't understand my wife when she talks with her friends, what to do?
I really want to become fluent in Russian. And I've been trying for so many years.
With a risk that this question will be closed, I can't think of a better place to ask this.
My wife is of Russian ...