Archive for 'language'
Knowledge Is Power: Verbs With ‑знать in Russian Posted by Maria on Jan 8, 2018
Знать (to know) is one of the most common verbs in Russian. There are also several important verbs derived from it. Узнать — To Discover/Learn Узнать (perfective)/узнавать (imperfective) is used to talk about learning some information for the first time. О́коло полугода жильцы́ пыта́лись узна́ть, что, со́бственно, происхо́дит. The residents tried for about half a…
5 Russian Words That Come From Yiddish Posted by Maria on Dec 7, 2017
We may be familiar with Yiddish words in English, such as chutzpah or bagel, but Russian has its share of Yiddish-origin words. Yiddish (идиш) is a Germanic language traditionally used by Jews (евреи) in Eastern and Central Europe. Many of them are thought to have entered Russian via the secret language of the criminal underworld…
3 Incorrect Assumptions about Native Russian Speakers Posted by Maria on Oct 10, 2017
I sometimes hear statements about fluent Russian speakers abroad that are based on certain incorrect assumptions. Some of our readers know better, but others may discover something new from this post. Because this post touches upon deeply personal aspects of identity, language, ancestry, and political affiliation, it is quite natural that people will have different…
Не дай мне Бог сойти с ума: Mental Illness in Russian Posted by Maria on Oct 4, 2017
Mental health is a sensitive subject around the world, and Russian certainly attaches a certain stigma to mental health issues. Read about the different ways to refer to mental health in Russian and learn which expressions to use and which to avoid if you want to talk about this delicate issue with compassion. At Wits’…
A Sign of the Times: Words with ‑знак‑ in Russian Posted by Maria on Sep 26, 2017
We are continuing our popular series on Russian word “families” with this post about words with the -знак- root. Знак means “a sign,” and you may know it from the following expressions: мя́гкий знак (soft sign, ь) or твёрдый знак (hard sign, ъ) вопроси́тельный знак (?) восклица́тельный знак (!) знак ра́венства (=) знак зодиа́ка (star…
To be or not to be?: Using “быть”, “есть”, and other terms of existence in Russian Posted by Pat Goodridge on Sep 25, 2017
Understanding these verbs is crucial to describing the world in Russian. Most English-speakers find the very “to be” to be a central part of speech. The reason is clear to us natives: The verb is dynamic enough to denote existence, state, and mood. For example, “There is an eclipse happening”, “The door is open”…
Kaboom: Impact Noises in Russian Posted by Maria on Aug 9, 2017
If you are a learner of Russian, I bet your classes did not go into onomatopoeia in any detail. There are many words whose name imitates the sound of that thing, creature, or action, but let us concentrate on a type most likely to be seen in a comic book — the sounds of objects…