Tag Archives: Russian grammar
«Прости» [Sorry] Seems to be the Hardest Word Posted by josefina on Sep 8, 2010
«В северной Калифорнии» [in northern California] where I’m presently living «не купить Ленина в шапке в стиле Санта-Клауса» [(one cannot/it is not possible) to buy Lenin with a hat in the style of Santa Claus]… This picture is yet another nostalgic trip down Ural Memory Lane – the «я люблю Урал!» [I love the Urals!]…
Same-Same but Different III: Homographs Posted by josefina on Sep 1, 2010
Can it really be true that we’ve saved the best for our final, third, part of “Same-Same but Different”? After two posts – one on «омонимы» [homonyms] and another about «омофоны» [homophones] – we made it all the way to the truly troubling and trickiest of them all: «омографы» [homographs]. Here and now is when…
Same-Same but Different II: Homophones Posted by josefina on Aug 28, 2010
Two days ago we discussed «омонимы» [pl. homonyms] here on our blog. As a part of that process I tried to be funny but was probably only silly when I used the popular phrase «гнать самогон» in a sentence so it wouldn’t mean «гнать самогон» as in ‘to distill moonshine’ – like it usually does…
Same-Same but Different I: Homonyms Posted by josefina on Aug 26, 2010
Not always can I in my gigantic, personal library with photographs from Russia find something that illustrates «точка в точку» [perfectly] the topic of the post. Then I do like this: pick a random pic and hope somehow it fits! This is «закат в городе Таре в Сибири осенью 2005 (две тысячи пятого) года» [a…
«Ненастоящие друзья» [False friends]: part II Posted by josefina on Aug 18, 2010
Not everything in a foreign language is difficult. If you feel like calling the vehicle above «мотоцикл» [motorcycle] in Russian, then that’s okay and even correct. But that doesn’t mean you can go ahead and assume that a bicycle is «бицикл» in Russian because really the word for it is «велосипед» [bicycle]. Today’s post is…
Stressed About Word Stress? Posted by yelena on Aug 16, 2010
Are you struggling with stresses in Russian words? Well, don’t feel alone. You’ve got plenty of company. The issue of improperly stressed words affects native speakers of Russian, including such well-educated and highly trained professionals as «телеведущие» [TV anchors]. Add to the mix politicians who constantly entertain their «электорат» [voters] with «ляпы» [bloopers] and…
«Ненастоящие друзья» [False friends]: part I Posted by josefina on Aug 5, 2010
If you think the Russian name of Moscow’s famous Red Square is «Красный сквер», then you may have fallen victim to what is known as ‘faux amis’ – false friends. I know I have been a victim of faux amis many, many times both while learning Russian as well as English. For several years while…