Tag Archives: grammar
The Instrumental Case Continued: «стать и становиться» Posted by josefina on Apr 9, 2010
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Perplexing Prepostions: When to Say «в» and When to Say «на»? Posted by josefina on Oct 2, 2009
Isn’t Russian language a most confusing language? And wouldn’t you agree that the most perplexing part of it all is «предлоги» [pl. prepositions]? If you don’t think so, then take a close look at the picture above (you might have to sneak a peak under the leaves) and read what’s written on the sign: «Приглашаем…
How to Make Russians Do as You Say, or Mastering «повелительное наклонение» [imperative] Posted by josefina on Sep 22, 2009
This peculiar note I came upon on the wall of the restroom at the university today and couldn’t help but to share it with you, first and foremost because it is packed with information necessary for today’s grammatical note: «повелительное наклонение единственного числа» [imperative in singular]. «Если не сможешь сделать это аккуратно – лучше не…
What’s Your Favorite Russian Word? Posted by josefina on Jan 5, 2009
Not very often do we think about what are favorite words are. Not in our native languages, neither in the foreign languages we speak. I didn’t really think much about which Russian word I preferred for a long time. My American classmate here in Yekaterinburg told me a couple of weeks ago that her favorite…
Word of the Week: «Учиться» Posted by josefina on Oct 15, 2008
The word of this week is a verb (do note the «ь» [‘soft sign’] right after the «т», as that is a sure sign of the verb being in infinitiv, oh and don’t forget to pay attention to the «ся», because if you fail to do so, then you will not be aware of the…
Russian Phraseology: The Русская Душа! Posted by josefina on Mar 24, 2008
Already on the 28th of February 1866 a certain Mr. Fyodor Tyutchev [Фёдор Тютчев] realized what a mystery the Russian Soul is to us ‘non-Russians’ and that’s probably what he was thinking of when he wrote these classical lines: «Умом Россию не понять, Аршином общим не измерить, У ней особенная стать, В Россию можно только…