Archive by Author
Verbs with Prefixes: Вернуть Posted by Maria on Oct 22, 2015
It appears that our “verbs with prefixes” series has turned out to be a surprise hit, so let us do another installment! This time, we are looking at the verb верну́ть (to return). As always, these are just some of the meanings. The imperfective counterpart to вернуть is возвраща́ть. Нали́чных в кошельке́ бы́ло мно́го, но их…
Russian Braille and Sign Language Posted by Maria on Oct 15, 2015
Today I would like to talk about a different kind of Russian. We have mostly been talking about the spoken Russian and its graphic representation in the Cyrillic alphabet. Let us look at the communication for the deaf and blind communities in Russia. First, I must say that unfortunately the blind (слепы́е) /vision-impaired and…
Speak of the Devil — Idioms With Чёрт in Russian Posted by Maria on Oct 12, 2015
In the month of October, much of the United States (and other Anglophone countries, I imagine) is getting ready to celebrate Halloween. Some of you may know that this holiday is not universally celebrated in Russia and has even caused some controversy. There used to be a different occasion for dressing up and role-playing…
Verbs with Prefixes: Писать Posted by Maria on Oct 8, 2015
It appears that our verbs with prefixes series has been successful. In this series, we take a common Russian verb and discuss its derivatives formed by adding a prefix to the original verb. Be sure to check out previous posts in this series: брать and играть. This time, we will look at a verb…
Four Quirks Russian Non-Speakers Get Confused About Posted by Maria on Oct 1, 2015
Most of our posts are meant for people who already know or are learning some Russian, however little. Still, there are people out there who are interested in the language and the many cultures using it, but have not ventured past the first few phrases yet. For this reason, I will not be the…
Storytelling in Russian Posted by Maria on Sep 24, 2015
We often connect with others over discussing our favorite films, plays, and books. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to describe that great Russian movie or novel to your friends? Let us look at some ways of talking about themes and plot. Themes First of all, what is the story about? Some ways of…
Changing Your Ways – Variations of Менять Posted by Maria on Sep 17, 2015
We have looked at expanding your vocabulary by adding prefixes to verb roots. Now I would like to suggest looking at variations of a very popular verb – меня́ть. This verb means to change (perfective – поменять). Из-за плохо́го поведе́ния ему́ за во́семь лет пришло́сь меня́ть шко́лу 11 раз. (Because of his poor behavior…