Archive for 'language'
Whole-foods shopping in Russia Posted by bota on Jan 4, 2021
Whether your New Year’s resolution was to eat healthier and try new foods or your diet is already rich in plant-based meals, this collection of Russian words will come in handy for your next grocery outing. And one certainly doesn’t have to be a vegetarian (вегетериа́нец/вегетериа́нка), vegan (ве́ган/вега́нка), or rawtarian (сырое́д) to stock up their…
Making Plans For The Next Year Posted by Nadya on Dec 30, 2020
The time is approaching to take stock and make New Year’s Resolutions: make yourself promises and plans for the next year. Let’s summarize the year’s results (результаты) first. 2020 has been a crazy year. But finally, it is ending. After the holiday wishes (пожелания) this year, people invariably add, “I hope 2021 is a better…
Dear Ded Moroz: Writing letters in Russian Posted by bota on Dec 18, 2020
Did you forget to write a letter to Santa for Christmas this year? I ‘ve got great news for you: Russian Grandfather Frost (Де́душка Моро́з) is still accepting mail (more on essential Russian words for New Year’s here). So, let’s practice letter writing in Russian together and get some wishes out into the universe. We…
ЖЕ: particle or conjunction? Posted by bota on Dec 14, 2020
ЖЕ [pronounced “zhe”, see here for audio] can be either a particle or conjunction. Either way, it is written separately from the words it modifies and can add a lot of “flavor” to your Russian. ЖЕ as a particle The main function of this particle is to either intensify the word before, or show the…
Russian phrases-homophones Posted by bota on Dec 4, 2020
You might have seen a post or a meme of the “good luck non-native speakers” nature before, and not necessarily about Russian grammar ( think of “Who’s on first” by Abbott and Costello). The internet is full of them and, frankly, some are a hoot and a half. But while I’m also guilty of “sharing”…
Winter Is Coming – Idiomatic Expressions Posted by Nadya on Nov 30, 2020
What comes to your mind when you hear the word “Russia?” Foreigners often imagine a blizzard on Red Square, people in earflaps, and snow banks at least to the knee. Although there is already some snow in many cities in Russia, winter officially begins there on December 1st. “Пе́рвый снег — не зима́, пе́рвая зазно́ба…
Russian phrases with numerals Posted by bota on Nov 24, 2020
Since we’ve covered the difference between один and раз, it’s only apt to enrich our vocabulary with a few numeral-heavy Russian expressions and idioms. I will give both the literal translation (sometimes for the sake of curious imagery and other times for even more curious etymological reasons), as well as the actual idiomatic meaning and…