Archive for February, 2017
Add Emotion to Your Russian: Emphatic Particles (Part I) Posted by Maria on Feb 22, 2017
Whenever I read English translations of Russian literature, they strike me as rather matter-of-fact. This may be because Russian often not only describes reality but also expresses the author’s attitude towards it. One way of doing that is through particles (частицы). Take a look at this excerpt from the story “Записки на чинаровых листьях” (“Notes…
How Do I Make An Abstract Noun in Russian? Posted by Maria on Feb 14, 2017
Learners of Russian soon notice that it uses different forms for different parts of speech. Very rarely can the same sequence of sounds or letters be both a noun and an adjective. There are many, many ways of creating nouns of different categories from other parts of speech, such as verbs, adjectives, or other nouns. In…
Should I Always Say Комната For “Room” In Russian? Posted by Maria on Feb 8, 2017
What do you say every time you need to name a typically rectangular closed-off space with a door and usually four walls? If you said “комната” (room), that is only part of the answer. Let us look the various ways of referring to different rooms in Russian. Комната — Room in a House The primary…
“В” Or “На” with Places and Events in Russian — Part II Posted by Maria on Feb 1, 2017
Last time, we looked at the expressions for various events and places with в or на. Let’s look at a couple more categories. Like last time, I will be listing the prepositional case for location (“in the theater”); remember to use the accusative case for direction (“to the theater”). Entertainment Venues With В Many entertainment…