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As Good As Dead: Macabre Russian Sayings Posted by Maria on Apr 17, 2018
Russian has its share of gallows humor, so I have put together a list of sayings having to do with the dead. Горбатого могила исправит Горб is a hump, so горбатый is a hunchback (not a very nice way to describe someone). Могила is a grave, and исправить is to correct or fix. So, this…
5 Verbs of Cause and Effect in Russian Posted by Maria on Apr 12, 2018
When you are trying to make an argument, it is important to talk about what caused a certain state of affairs. This post will list five ways to express cause and effect in Russian. All verbs will be given in pairs of imperfective/perfective. Приводить/привести Вести (“to lead/take someone somewhere”) is one of the verbs of…
5 Ways To Describe Rudeness In Russian Posted by Maria on Apr 5, 2018
Is someone showing a lack of consideration for other people’s feelings or needs? Learn 5 ways of describing rude behavio(u)r in Russian, depending on what the person is doing and whether they are aware of how they affect others. To vary the conventions of Russian lexicography, I will be listing the feminine forms for the…
Russian News: Fire in Kemerovo Mall Posted by Maria on Mar 28, 2018
A lot of the Russian internet is discussing a tragedy that happened last Sunday, March 25, in the Western Siberian city of Kemerovo (Кемерово). A fire broke out in a mall and killed at least 64 people, many of them children. Let us look at how it is being covered in Russia. Meduza reported: Днём…
5 Ways To Say “Because” in Russian Posted by Maria on Mar 21, 2018
Linking words are one of the things that help you express your thoughts coherently in a new language. This post will look at some of the common conjunctions (союзы) that express causality in Russian. Потому что This may be the best known transition word in Russian. Потому что is a neutral way of saying because…
5 Verbs To Talk About Scams And Deception in Russian Posted by Maria on Mar 15, 2018
Have you ever been cheated or scammed? Would you know how to talk about it in Russian? Below are five common ways of talking about being the victim of deceit. 1. Обмануть The most neutral term for deceiving someone is обмануть (imperf. обманывать). The related action is called обман (deception), and the person doing the…
3 Kinds of Negation in Russian Posted by Maria on Mar 7, 2018
Are you tempted to use the infamous “nyet” in front of any word to make your sentences negative? Do you get confused between не, ни, and нет? Then read on to learn some common uses of these words. 1. Нет Negation of the Entire Sentence This is probably the most famous and the easiest of…