Archive for 'language'
10 Fun Facts for Russian Language Day Posted by Maria on Jun 6, 2019
June 6 marks Russian Language Day (День ру́сского языка́). This date was chosen because that’s when Alexander Pushkin (Алекса́ндр Пу́шкин) was born — a writer and poet credited with shaping contemporary Russian (совреме́нный ру́сский язы́к) by blending the “high” literary genres with the vernacular. To mark this occasion, let me share ten fun facts about…
What Do You Call Young People in Russian? Posted by Maria on Jun 3, 2019
There are several ways of referring to young people in Russian, some more informal than others. This post will help you learn some common ones and when each is normally used. Де́вушка This popular word refers to a young woman. Note that де́вушка should not be confused with де́вочка, girl. Unlike in English, where calling…
Gotta Do What You Gotta Do, or Expressing Obligation in Russian Posted by Maria on May 23, 2019
Most learners of Russian will remember the word до́лжен (have to) for talking about your obligations. It may be trickier to remember other expressions. Let’s review some ways of expressing obligation in Russian. Должна́ The following short adjectives mean “owe” or “have to”: должна́ (feminine) должно́ (neuter) до́лжен (masculine) должны́ (plural) These words are related…
4 Russian Sayings With Animals Posted by Maria on May 6, 2019
Russian has quite a few sayings featuring animals—you can see our previous post on this subject here. This time, I wanted to add four more expressions you can occasionally hear in Russian speech. Кот напла́кал Кот is a male cat (the female form, ко‘шка is more common to talk about a random street cat whose sex…
Поэт или авторка: Gendered Names of Occupations in Russian Posted by Maria on Apr 17, 2019
Russian is a gendered language, which means that nouns have a grammatical gender (род): feminine (же́нский), masculine (мужско́й), or neuter (сре́дний). True, it can be confusing to grasp why a table (стол) is masculine and a river (река́) is feminine, but it should be much simpler with names of people’s occupations, right? In theory, yes…
Why Are (Most) Russians Bad At Speaking Other Languages Posted by Maria on Jan 9, 2019
Several people who visited Russia told me they were surprised to discover that relatively few people spoke or understood English, even in the service industry in large cities. Generally speaking, the educational system and the environment in Russia contribute to this state of affairs. Largely Monolingual In a 2014 survey by the Levada Center pollster…
Talking About Weight in Russian Posted by Maria on Jul 31, 2018
Do you know how to describe a person’s weight in Russian? Here are some ways, from neutral to complimentary to derogatory. Вес The most basic word is вес, weight. You may also hear масса тела (body mass) in medical or scientific contexts. To weight is весить. Weight in Russian is measured in kilograms (килограммы). —…