Tag Archives: Russian grammar
Derivative prepositions (производные предлоги) and how to get them right Posted by bota on Jul 23, 2020
Prepositions (предлоги) are functional words that work together with nouns, noun phrases, and pronouns to show direction, time, and relation to other objects. Other wonderful blogs on this platform have covered prepositions (Russian prepositions of direction, prepositions of time, “в” or “на”) and provided great guidance on when to use them and even how to…
Working hard or hardly working: Russian sayings about laziness Posted by bota on Jul 14, 2020
Not sure if it’s July heat in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan that’s making any effort to do anything three times more exhausting, or the fact that I consumed triple the recommended amount of chocolate fudge cake for my birthday (you only turn 25 once, right?) — either way, I’m feeling like the biggest sloth. So, why not…
Мягкий знак “Ь” (soft sign) or the Charlie Chaplin of the Russian alphabet Posted by bota on Jun 22, 2020
What can the 30th letter of the Russian alphabet have in common with the icon of the silent film industry? Let’s find out together. Many beginner Russian learners find the soft sign (мя́гкий знак) to be one of the most intriguing letters of the Russian alphabet because it doesn’t have its own phonetic meaning but…
When “Yes No Maybe” Is A Complete Sentence Posted by Nadya on Apr 22, 2020
Words or whole phrases, intonation, and stress are used to express confidence and uncertainty in speech. In the Russian language, as well as in other languages, there are formal and informal forms of expression. Let’s look at a few examples. Modal words Modal words (мода́льные слова́) in the Russian language is the category of words…
Radio Shows Where Russians Talk About Russian Posted by Maria on Oct 20, 2016
I am sure many of our readers would enjoy listening to shows dedicated to the Russian language. I have listed a few program(me)s that touch upon the challenges in the language that even native or advanced speakers struggle with. “Говорим по-русски. Передача-игра” (Эхо Москвы) This is a show about the Russian language on the “Эхо Москвы”…
Russian Set Expressions: It’s All in Your Hands Posted by Jenya on Jul 2, 2014
In the process of acquiring any foreign language the importance of set expressions cannot be underestimated. Scarce or nonexistent knowledge of these language units is what frequently makes us feel as if our mastery of the language is still in its infancy stages. However, people who have invested their time in learning and implementing…
Fascinating Russian: Things you didn’t Know Posted by Jenya on May 6, 2014
А, Б, В are not just letters of the Russian alphabet but also words. Technically, there are 10 single-letter words in the Russian language: а, б, в, ж, и, к, о, с, у, я. «А» – conjunction, could be translated as “but, while, and, while, as opposed to” in English. Example: Я предпочитаю сырую…