Archive for February, 2010
«Масленица» begins and that’s why «готовим блины!» [we’re making Russian pancakes!] Posted by josefina on Feb 8, 2010
Today is «8 (восьмого) февраля» [the 8th of February] and a Monday but not just any Monday – today is the Monday on which «Масленица» [‘Maslenitsa’; carnival, shrove] begins – also known as «сырная неделя» [cheese week] – in Russia. This used to be a «языческий праздник» [pagan holiday] back before Russia became a Christian…
«Кем быть?» [Who to be?]: The beginner’s guide to using the verb «быть» in both future and past tenses but leaving it out of the present tense altogether Posted by josefina on Feb 5, 2010
It is imperative for everyone to learn to be happy about the smaller things in life. An example of a small thing that can (and should!) bring happiness into everyone’s life is the fact that Russian verbs only have «три времена» [three tenses]: «настоящее время» [present tense], «прошедшее время» [past tense] and «будущее время» [future…
The Return of «ибо»! Posted by josefina on Feb 2, 2010
When in Moscow it is a rule to go for a stroll «на Красной площади» [on the Red Square], «ибо это делают все» [because everybody does that] «и туристы, и провинциалы» [both tourists and people from the provinces]. «Провинциал» means ‘provincial, backwoodsman; unsophisticated person’. The female version of the word is «провинциалка». When I first…