Tag Archives: family
Bob’s Your Uncle, or Using Kinship Terms for Strangers in Russian Posted by Maria on Jun 21, 2018
Did you know that some words normally reserved for family members can be used in Russian to refer to people you are not related to? This post will look at some of the situations when this may happen. Тётя The primary sense of тётя is “aunt.” This word may also refer to any adult or…
Talking about your immediate family – “родные” Posted by Maria on Feb 6, 2014
Родной is an interesting word in Russian. Literally, it means “native,” as in родная земля (native land) or родные просторы (literally, “native wide-open spaces” — incidentally, also the name of a popular chocolate). This word shares its root with such words as народ (a nation/people), родиться (to be born), Родина (homeland), день рождения (birthday), Рождество…