Have you ever wondered what the difference between the noun «дом» and the adverb «дома» is? Read and compare the use of the words in the following sentence: «Для большинства людей это просто достаточно старый, деревянный дом» [To most people this is just a rather old, wooden house], «а для некоторых он же – дома» [but for some people it is home]. Get it?

This week’s Russian word is very simple yet at the same time of great importance in the broad context of Russian culture. Since Russians have a tendency to take their personal relationships more serious than anything else in life, it makes sense that they also care much more about what’s going on within their own family and thus also in their own home than, for an example, «в Кремле» [in the Kremlin]. The fact that Russians put their home life and loved ones before anything else can not only be seen in society, but also in Russian language. Russian has many different words one can use when talking of the people closest to one’s heart: not just the obvious «семья» [family]. When talking about your loved ones in Russian you can also make use of adjectives like «близкие» [folks, one’s family (informal)], «родные» [relatives; people who are so close to you that they feel like members of your family even though you’re not really related at all], «свои» [literally a pronoun meaning ‘their, belonging to them’, but should in this context be translated as family members, relatives; good friends; people living with you] or the word of the week: «домашние» [lit. ‘people sharing one home’, not necessarily relatives, could be roommates too].

The word of the week is «прилагательное» [an adjective] – «домашний» [homey, domestic; indoor; domiciliary; pet] – made both from «существительное» [the noun] «дом» [house, home; establishment; dwelling, residence] and the «наречие» [the adverb] «дома» [at home, at one’s residence; within the home; home; in]. Basically speaking, you should be able to use the adjective together with any Russian noun when you want to point out that this noun has something to do with your home. Or someone else’s home, for that matter! Here are a few examples of the most common ways in which this adjective is used in Russian:

«домашний телефон» – [home phone].

«Можно позвонить вам по домашнему телефону?» – [May I call you on your home phone?]

«домашнее задание» – [homework].

«Почему всегда дают так много домашних заданий?» – [Why do they always give so much homework?].

«домашние дела» – [house work (and not just literally!)].

«Дома меня ждёт куча домашних дел…» – [At home pile of house work is waiting for me…].

«домашнее хозяйство» – [housekeeping].

«Это не муж, а мечта – так прекрасно он занимается домашним хозяйством!» – [He’s not a husband, but a dream – that’s how wonderfully he takes care of the housekeeping!].

«домашняя хозяйка» – [housewife].

«В детстве я мечтала стать домашней хозяйкой» – [As a child (lit. in childhood) I dreamed of becoming a housewife].

«домашний арест» – [house arrest].

«Его на самом деле брали под домашний арест?» – [Did they really place him under house arrest?].

«домашнее животное» – [house pet].

«У тебя есть домашнее животное?» – [Do you have a (house) pet?].

«мои домашние» – [my family].

«Передай привет твоим домашним!» – [Say hello to your family!].

The last sentence is without a doubt the most important to know in Russian language. Always a good way of saying good-bye and end a nice conversation!