All Questions
4,775
questions
2
votes
3
answers
210
views
Did the vocative once have a different form from the nominative for (almost) all nouns?
Were there once vocative forms, different from nominative forms, of common nouns such as книга, буря, стол, место, мышь, имя, and if so, what were they?
I realise that most of these probably died out ...
- 123
0
votes
1
answer
127
views
Запятые в предложении
Хочешь ли ты, и есть ли у тебя время со мной общаться?
Как правильно расставить запятые, и почему?
- 145
1
vote
1
answer
162
views
The expression буфетный мужик
In Смерть Ивана Ильича by Leo Tolstoy, we have the expression буфетный мужик.
I have several related questions:
I remember that in some lesson, I said "мужик" to mean "a (19th century) ...
- 877
1
vote
1
answer
86
views
Can an adverb act as an adjective?
A waiter asks, "Что вы будете пить?"
The customer responds, "Просто воду, пожалуйста".
If просто is an adverb, why is вода altered?
- 21
4
votes
2
answers
719
views
Is it true that Russian adjectives always denote a constant quality while participles, temporary?
It is indeed true that distinguishing between Russian adjectives and participles can be very hard. E.g. "жареный картофель" — an adjective; "жаренный с грибами картофель" — a ...
- 1,331
1
vote
2
answers
184
views
Is the genitive case used with comparatives?
In the Russian sentence
Маленькие дети ходят медленнее взрослых
why is взрослых in the genitive case?
Is the genitive case always used in comparatives for the thing that is forming the basis of ...
- 141
0
votes
2
answers
227
views
что такое ирбитнц?
Копаясь в словаре Лопатина, натолкнулся на странное слово Ирбитнц.
Поиск в интернете ничего не дал.
Кто-нибудь знает, что это такое?
lopatin.academic.ru
orf.textologia.ru
- 11
3
votes
0
answers
72
views
Unexpected use of the instrumental case [duplicate]
In the following Russian sentence, why is "весёлым человеком" in the instrumental?
Его отец был весёлым человеком.
- 141
1
vote
2
answers
393
views
If the word "кречет" were a verb, what would its initial form look like?
I think this is a very interesting linguistic problem.
A teacher once proposed the following to her class: "Children, let's imagine for a minute that the Russian word "кречет" is a verb....
- 1,331
7
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Is there a Russian exclamation that would fit the scene below?
I'm writing Russian subtitles for an American film. In one scene, a character says to another: "How ya' doin'?" The second character replies, kind of half-jokingly, "Beats the hell ...
- 261
1
vote
1
answer
180
views
Rules for forming Verbal Adverbs
I saw different versions for the perfective ones.
Perfectives:
Masculine past forms ending in -л, remove the - л and add -в(-вши) (the ending -вши is obsolete)
Masculine past forms ending in other ...
- 11
2
votes
1
answer
224
views
Use of 'какой' in a sentence
In the sentence 'в какой стране ты живёшь', I don't understand why 'какой' is in the nominative rather than the prepositional case (like стране).
Is this a special use of the interrogative pronouns ...
- 53
1
vote
1
answer
121
views
Word order: «Я тот же, но без тебя прежним не буду». And would it be correct to use «тобой» and «таким» instead?
Does the sentence «Я тот же, но без тебя прежним не буду» ("I'm the same, but I won't be the same without you") sound natural with the words in that particular order?
Also, in this case it ...
- 13
2
votes
2
answers
297
views
Is the sentence "В комнату вошла женщина и мальчик" grammatically correct?
I'll respect each and every opinion. Today, I saw professionals opting for the following variant:
В комнату вошла женщина и мальчик.
They say it's totally correct because женщина is a feminine ...
- 1,331
4
votes
1
answer
126
views
"Вечно" + отрицание прилагательного
Как правильно писать: вечнонезабытый или вечно незабытый? Вечно неженатый или вечнонеженатый? Similar question for words with this structure.
I know that вечнозелёный (without не), for example, is ...
- 203
3
votes
2
answers
307
views
What does it mean to tell someone to take an implement в зубы and do a task with it?
I recently came across this line:
[Father to son upon seeing how messy his room is]
—Так, пылесос в зубы, и чтоб через час здесь был порядок как в
казарме!
Then, researching this idiom online ...
- 8,290
2
votes
1
answer
127
views
Instrumental for genitive construction
In a poem by Anna Akhmatova, we read:
В таком году произошло бы то-то,
А в этом — это: ездить, видеть, думать,
И вспоминать, и в новую любовь
Входить, как в зеркало, с тупым сознаньем
Измены и еще ...
- 877
3
votes
3
answers
275
views
Breadth of the word "нетство"
Those nobles who attempted to escape from obligatory military service to the Russian Empire, the "нетчики", performed "нетство".
I wonder if, with some creativity, "нетство&...
user8359
3
votes
1
answer
221
views
Animate accusative for countries
In Трава и камни by Boris Pasternak we read:
С действительностью иллюзию,
С растительностью гранит
Так сблизили Польша и Грузия,
Что это обеих роднит.
I'm surprised by "обеих". I would ...
- 877
7
votes
2
answers
461
views
What is the etymology of phrase "морского извозчика"
In China, the Netherlands has a very popular nickname: 海上马车夫 (literally: carriage drivers on the sea or sea coachman), it's so popular that it's printed in Chinese high school textbooks. It's also ...
- 173
2
votes
1
answer
115
views
вспоминать o + the prepositional versus вспоминать + the accusative
Apparently, вспоминать can be followed by о + the prepositional or directly by the accusative. How do I know which construction I should use? Or are both constructions possible in any context? Do they ...
- 877
-2
votes
1
answer
212
views
What does с каре mean? [closed]
I have encountered девочка с каре in a song and девушка с каре in comments on social media. I have absolutely no idea what с каре means. Clarification would be highly appreciated.
4
votes
1
answer
299
views
What is the etymology of какаовелла?
Inspired by this question, what is the etymology of какаовелла? The какао part is easy, but what about велла?
2
votes
2
answers
223
views
Будущее время для описания прошлых событий - что это за приём в лингвистике?
Рассмотрим небольшой текст, в котором идёт самое обычное перечисление исторических событий:
Весной 1820 года Александр Пушкин отправился в Кишинев, в канцелярию
главного попечителя колонистов Южного ...
- 93
2
votes
1
answer
169
views
путеводная нить meaning
What does путоводная нить mean? Here's the sentence:
"Путеводной нитью нам служила маленькая тропинка проложенная китайскими охотниками и искателями женьшеня."
- 51
3
votes
3
answers
231
views
What's the difference between "такой" and "такой же"?
I understand what the word means, but I just can't pin down any difference between the two choices. They seem absolutely identical, but Russian speakers seem to prefer the second version:
Это такая ...
- 131
2
votes
2
answers
199
views
From Фермат to Ферма
In a Russian math book published in 1888, I see that Fermat, whose name today is written as Ферма, appears in the book as Фермат. He is in the book largely because of Fermat's little theorem, now ...
- 4,994
0
votes
1
answer
151
views
Как вас зовут or как ваш зовут
If вас = personal pronoun and ваш = possessive pronoun, isn't "your name" possessive?
- 21
2
votes
3
answers
185
views
Difference of pronunciations of музей and музеи
I thought that the pronunciations of й and и were virtually the same, but the plural form of музей (museum) is музеи (museums). When I hear one of these words and can't distinguish them by context, or ...
- 163
3
votes
1
answer
151
views
Is the construction "любые шестьдесят один шарик" grammatically correct?
В коробке лежат n шариков трёх цветов: красного, синего и зелёного.
Если достать из неё любые 61 шарик, то среди них обязательно окажется
по крайней мере 15 синих и хотя бы по 7 красных и зелёных. При ...
- 1,331
1
vote
1
answer
123
views
ведомо versus знать
Is there any difference between "мне ведомо" and "я знаю"? Are they interchangeable in any situation? Is "мне ведомо" more formal?
- 877
3
votes
5
answers
530
views
What does "внушать себе" mean?
What does "внушать себе" mean?
The sentence goes as follows:
"Кровать подо мною подымалась, опускалась и вновь подымалась - плыла по синусоиде. Я внушал себе: "Ночью - нумера ...
- 51
2
votes
1
answer
150
views
Is the second locative used with при?
Grammars and various other linguistic publications generally state that the second locative is used only with в and на (e.g. в лесу, в аэропорту). However, it seems to me that I have come across ...
5
votes
1
answer
106
views
Do I need a comma before a clause consisting of only two words (preposition + pronoun)?
Примечание 2. Придаточное предложение, состоящее из одного только
союза или относительного слова, не отделяется запятой, например:
– Откуда? Я сказал откуда.
http://new.gramota.ru/biblio/readingroom/...
- 1,331
0
votes
0
answers
202
views
What is the geography of (now obsolete) usage of the word фамилия to mean 'wife'?
While Valentin Kiparsky claimed (in Omagiu lui Iordan) that this usage is a calque from Tatar and therefore found in the Russian varieties spoken in and near Kazan (the area of the Tatar-speaking ...
4
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Use of the word "грамота"
I came across the word "грамота" in the following sentence:
Он открыл школы для обучения детей грамоте.
I'm trying to understand the structures in the sentence and analyze it, but I couldn'...
- 53
2
votes
1
answer
144
views
What is the proper modern spelling of the adjective endings -ыя, -ія?
These adjective endings are from a pre-revolutionary text: сознанія, хромыя, слѣпыя, безрукія. How would they be spelled today? (I know that ѣ is now е and і is now и.)
- 49
4
votes
1
answer
242
views
Can the verb "прозябать" actually be perfectivized?
I recently came across the verb прозябать in a book. Its meaning is one of eking out an existence in the sense of enduring hardship and suffering instead of truly living. This to me, is an ongoing ...
- 8,290
6
votes
3
answers
435
views
Is the instrumental case used for comparatives?
I'm watching the 1987 James Bond movie The Living Daylights with Russian subtitles.
In the scene where Bond first spots the main female character, he says, in English:
"Sniper. Two floors up, ...
- 63
3
votes
2
answers
165
views
Пунктуация в предложениях по типу "Ну сколько их там(?) 5–6?" и ему подобных
Уважаемые пользователи.
Имеется предложение "Ну сколько DVD-дисков покупает в среднем человек за названный период(?) 5–6?", вводящее меня в заблуждение: не знаю, какой знак препинания ...
- 33
2
votes
2
answers
303
views
Why are there two н's in «c мороженной формой» and not just one?
Из-под сена виднелись: самовар, кадка с мороженной формой и ещё кой-какие привлекательные узелки и коробочки.
Why is there a double -нн- in the word „мороженной“? And, more importantly, what rule is ...
- 1,331
8
votes
4
answers
1k
views
What's the purpose of своё in this sentence?
Here's a sentence from my book: Покрытые злобными колючками ежевичные плети изгибались над отжившими своё зарослями папоротника.
Why is своё in this sentence and why does it have this specific ...
- 329
6
votes
3
answers
786
views
Will an animate Russian noun still remain animate if used to denote an inanimate object?
This may be a strange question for someone who's fluent in Russian, but we were never taught it in school, and I realized I have a problem. I'm not sure which variant to use. So I decided to ask my ...
- 1,331
9
votes
2
answers
1k
views
To say "my brother and sister," do I use мои because it's two of them or one each of моя and мой?
I'm studying Russian from a grammar for Italians.
Here's one sentence from an exercise, with slots to insert possessives:
Это моя семья. Вот ___ папа и ___ мама, а это ___ брат и сестра.
I'm pretty ...
- 250
2
votes
1
answer
110
views
Identifying Sources of Examples in Dahl's Russian Dictionary
Dahl gives two examples of a usage, now surely extinct, of the word фамилия to refer to one's wife, and at least one of them is surely from some novel or the like. Does anyone have any idea of where ...
4
votes
1
answer
124
views
«Внезапно сверкнула молния(,) и грянул гром». Do we need the comma?
Внезапно сверкнула молния(,) и грянул гром.
I suppose this is a random sentence from a dictation exercise for Russian pupils to take down. The teacher decided not to indicate any punctuation marks ...
- 1,331
4
votes
1
answer
246
views
Is it true that in Russian, one can never enclose anything written in Latin script between quotation marks?
Кавычки нужны для того, чтобы что-то выделить. А всё, что написано
латиницей, в русском языке и так уже является выделительным. Поэтому
закавычивать написанное латиницей запрещено.
I've heard this ...
- 1,331
1
vote
2
answers
152
views
Есть ли специальный термин для обозначения советского канцелярита?
Есть ли специальный термин для обозначения советского канцелярита? Который отличается от дореволюционного обилием плеоназмов и дефисов
Пример:
"формирование высоких профессиональных, морально-...
- 21
1
vote
1
answer
93
views
Сноситься / связаться
While reading a Russian language resource published in 1950, I noticed that
сноситься/ снестись
was translated as "to get in contact with."
After reviewing some online dictionaries, I ...
- 267
7
votes
1
answer
880
views
What does в сложн. сл. mean in Russian dictionary?
What does в сложн. сл. mean in below screenshot (highlighted with red rectangle)? Source
- 73