Archive for March, 2011
Russian Verbs – Perfective and Imperfective Aspects – Part 2 Posted by yelena on Mar 30, 2011
What can be better than a grammar posts on such a complicated and confusing subject as Russian verbal aspects! Two posts on Russian verbal aspects, back-to-back! Today Maria is talking about exceptions to the rules. Russian grammar rules wouldn’t be rules if they were to have no exceptions. This is also true for perfective…
Russian Verbs – Perfective and Imperfective Aspects Posted by yelena on Mar 29, 2011
I firmly believe that the Russian blog has the most awesome readers ever! One of the many reasons you are the best is because of all the fantastic comments – thoughtful, well-researched, in-depth, and immensely helpful you leave on this blog. 33 (!) comments on my previous post about short forms of Russian adjectives are…
How to Use Russian Short Form Adjectives Posted by yelena on Mar 22, 2011
All who’re scared of grammar, raise your hands. Ok, maybe raising hands is not the best idea since it prevents me from typing and you – from scrolling through this post. Anyway, «грамматика» [grammar] can be intimidating. This goes for both learners of Russian as a second (or third or fourth) language and native Russian…
Using the Instrumental Case, Part 1 Posted by Natalie on Mar 21, 2011
«Дорогие друзья» [Dear friends], I have a special relationship (for some reason, my phrasing there is reminding me of the “special relationship” between the United States and Great Britain) with «творительный падеж» [the instrumental case]. You see, back in the good old days when I was first starting to learn Russian, «учебник» [the textbook]…
A Little Bit of Grammar: Irregular Plural Nouns Posted by Natalie on Mar 16, 2011
«Дорогие читатели» [Dear readers], «нам пора» [it is time] for us to do a little grammar. Some people love grammar, some hate it, but it is a necessity of learning a language. Today we are going to talk about irregular plural nouns. Judging from the comments, we have readers of all levels, so I…
7 Ways to Be More Russian Posted by yelena on Mar 11, 2011
Remember a while ago we talked about how to learn Russian by creating an immersive experience. Except now I realize that in my suggestions I overlooked one major resource. It’s really so simple that I can’t believe I totally missed it! Thankfully I was reminded of it by reading an article in a Russian-language magazine…
International Women’s Day in Russia Posted by yelena on Mar 8, 2011
Today is the day when Russian men «поют дифирамбы» [sing praises] to Russian women. And Russian women, congratulating each other «в стихах и прозе» [in poetry and prose], not so jokingly wish for the day to end. For today, March 8th, Russians celebrate «Международный женский день» [International Women’s Day]. The whole world knows that Russian…