35
votes
Accepted
What's the meaning of "у нас" in phrases like "он у нас умный"?
There are a few different meanings in your examples. Let's try and unpick them. У меня, у нас can be used to express:
Possession: у меня = мой, у нас = наш:
У меня рука болит = Моя рука болит.
У нас ...
- 15.9k
33
votes
Accepted
Why do Russians almost not use verbs of possession akin to "have"?
First of all, a shameless plug of my earlier answer on why у does not quite mean "near" (but something more akin to the French chez, i.e. a place/household/domain notion used in the abstract.)
...
- 19.2k
20
votes
Why do Russians almost not use verbs of possession akin to "have"?
First of all, I agree with Nikolay Ershov and others who point out that your understanding of "у" is incorrect: it really mostly means belonging (even stronger than chez) and only secondarily and ...
- 301
16
votes
Is there a preposition in Russian language like "of" in English?
No, there is no direct equivalent. 'Of' (indicating possession/containment) is usually rendered into Russian using the genitive case or possessive adjectives/pronouns.
This is president of Russia. -- ...
- 15.9k
15
votes
Accepted
How to indicate "photograph by"
It very much depends on where you want to put that phrase:
If it's a signature on the photo, just the name (in the nominative case) is enough: https://www.artlebedev.ru/kovodstvo/sections/169/
A ...
- 15.9k
14
votes
Accepted
"Палка о двух концах"
Да, предлог о можно использовать в значении с. При этом подразумевается тесная, неотъемлемая принадлежность. Даль пишет:
С качественными и числительными, объясняет эти принадлежности
предмета: с ...
14
votes
Accepted
Moving a preposition to after the object
Yes, placing для after the noun does sound archaic.
Не престижа ради, а токмо драйва для
The author of this piece obviously went for a comic effect by intertwining recent loanwords (престиж, драйв)...
- 15.9k
12
votes
Accepted
Difference between "за" (as in "за что-либо/кого-либо") and "для"
За:
support or backing: сражаться за Родину, голосовать за законопроект
anything involving trade or exchange, as well reward, punishment, gratitude or apology: продать за сто рублей, поблагодарить за ...
- 19.2k
12
votes
Why do Russians almost not use verbs of possession akin to "have"?
(Here is an empirical explanation of the modern habbit; I'm not a linguistics specialist and could only speculate on the reasons of such pattern)
Because complicated morphology allows us Russians not ...
- 303
12
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between "в ходе" and "во время" if both can be used to mean "during"?
В ходе means "during the course", literally "during the onward movement" (in either language).
I believe this expression is a calque from French, both in English and in Russian.
...
- 51.6k
11
votes
Accepted
What is the use of "Ha" in these two sentences?
In Russian, as well as in English, prepositions can be used in very different situations and can have many meanings.
So "to resemble smth" is not translated as simply "походить" but as "походить на ...
- 4,299
10
votes
What is the difference between "во рту" and "в рту"?
There is no difference in meaning. "Во рту" can be pronounced easier then "В рту".
Follow this rule: https://rus.stackexchange.com/questions/416895/Предлог-в-или-во
If word starts with two ...
- 101
10
votes
Can Russian preposition "на" be used with any other country name besides Ukraine ("Украина")?
На Руси.
It's a legal preposition for locations, but rarely used for countries, rather for some toponyms, e.g. на Волге, because it's also на реке - at river. Cuba and Taiwan are islands and "on" ...
- 532
10
votes
How to say "It depends on the context"?
Зависит (verb) is used with the "fixed" preposition "от" followed by the genitive case - родительный падеж. Зависит от чего?
зависит от контекста, от погоды, от него.
- 21.3k
9
votes
Accepted
Should I use на or в in the following context? How do I know which one?
When it comes to locations — buildings, countries and territories (or the world, свет) — certain nouns require "на" while most are used with "в":
На работе - в университете
На рынке - в ...
- 15.9k
9
votes
What's the problem with "я свободна в четверг и могу в него сходить на свидание"?
В него is never used relative to the time interval (or the name of the time interval). You must say в этот миг, в этот час, в этот день, в эту минуту, в эту эпоху, в это мгновение, в это время, в это ...
- 291
9
votes
"Фотография семьи будет висеть" - "в центре" or "по центру"?
Both "Фотография семьи будет висеть по центру" and "Фотография семьи будет висеть в центре" are correct.
When I say "по центру" I mean that it's aligned to center. I can ...
- 91
8
votes
"для / на одного человека" — When to use "на" or "для", respectively, in the sense of "for"?
На with Accusative
Shows a quantitative measure of something
указывает количественную меру чего-либо
Товару на сто рублей. ◆ Аренда на два года. ◆ Рыба тянет на три кило.
Комната на одного ...
- 21.3k
8
votes
со днём vs. с днём
Preposition со is used:
1)before words which begin with с,з,ш,ж + consonant or with consonant щ
со славой, со звездой, со шкафа, со жгутом, со щами.
2)before the genitive and instrumental case of ...
- 21.3k
8
votes
Accepted
Через неделю - why "in two weeks time"?
That translation actually looks wrong to me. "In two weeks time" should be "через две недели", while "через неделю" does mean "in one week".
That being said, I'd say there are two different contexts ...
- 421
8
votes
Accepted
Preposition вокруг (+ genitive) but sentence only has accusative nouns
Он видел вокруг красивые, живописные места, невысокие горы, леса, реку Волгу.
The accusative is correct, he saw (what?). Вокруг here is an adverb, not a preposition.
Saw (where?) around, or nearby– ...
- 21.3k
8
votes
"У меня все в порядке" or "со мной все в порядке"
Both prepositions are correct, depending on meaning.
"у меня все в порядке" means "I'm doing fine", "Things are all right"
"со мной все в порядке" means "I'm good" (not hurt, not gone crazy)
- 4,294
8
votes
Why do Russians almost not use verbs of possession akin to "have"?
So my question is this: Why do Russians, in contrast to most other Slavs, almost not use verbs of ownership akin to "have"? In other words, what was the main cultural, historical, or mentality-related ...
- 51.6k
8
votes
Moving a preposition to after the object
In modern Russian moving для to after the object is a sign of that speaking person wants to make her speech more archaic intentionally. It is not normal.
7
votes
Accepted
"В" или "на" Украину? Интересуют официальные источники
Дмитрий, школа грамматистов делится на два больших лагеря - я не про русскую а вообще. Например, французская столетиями зиждилась на том, что есть некая норма, некий правильный язык - и её надо ...
- 37.8k
7
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between "мосте" and "мосту" for a prepositional form of "мост"?
Well, the problem as usual goes deep into the history of the language. I try to recollect as much as I remember, and if I fail let's other will improve my story. So let's begin in the beginning.
Once ...
- 15.3k
7
votes
Accepted
Pair of clauses indicating destination
The correct one is the 3rd
Люди переезжают туда, где можно зарабатывать больше денег.
Or a bit shorter
Люди переезжают туда, где больше зарабатывают.
Please also pay attention to the correct ...
- 8,306
7
votes
Why "об Чацком", not "о Чацком"
Было приемлемо и в данном случае не вызвано метрической необходимостью.
First of all, we are talking about poetry, and in Russian poetry this kind of slight modification can be made just because ...
- 37.8k
6
votes
Accepted
По паспорту или с паспортом
Более корректный вариант – "по документам". Можно въехать по заграничному паспорту и с внутренним (в кармане лежит).
- 4,299
6
votes
Accepted
What is the meaning of "за" in expressions relating to time?
Yes, you (and shabunc) are right that aspect is involved here. To use English for comparison:
за + (time period) + perfective verb expresses how long it took to complete or accomplish something.
...
- 604
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible