Tag Archives: Russian grammar
Russian No-nouns Posted by yelena on Jan 31, 2012
This post’s idea comes from Richard who mentioned that he was confused by the noun нежить (lit: the undead) that he encountered reading Nabokov’s story “The Wood Sprite”. Indeed, the noun нежить (undead) sounds exactly like the verb нежить (to pamper), but the meanings of the two words couldn’t be more different. False cognates…
Time to Learn Russian Declensions Posted by yelena on Dec 19, 2011
Do you remember the Gender of Russian Nouns post that appeared a few weeks ago? It generated the record number of comments and all of them contributed to the subject. So if, after reading the post itself, you have more questions than answers, then do check out the comments. Here’s the thing though… I originally…
Let’s Learn the Learning Verbs Posted by Natalie on Nov 22, 2011
Well, I think it’s finally autumn. For a while, the weather was quite warm, but recently, whenever I walk outside, «мне холодно» [I am cold]. This means I have to wear my «пальто, сапоги, и шапка» [coat, boots, and hat]. And I try not to forget «перчатки» [gloves] either! In the photo: birches near Novosibirsk…
This Russian Grammar Round-Up Will Make Your Head Spin Posted by yelena on Nov 15, 2011
If you are looking for entertaining and helpful takes on some of the stickier problems of Russian grammar, then this post is for you. NOTE: not all the posts mentioned below were written by me. In fact, I wrote just a tiny portion of them. So if you leave comments on those posts (with links…
Let’s Unite and Learn Russian Grammar! Posted by Natalie on Oct 21, 2011
I am back, «дорогие читатели» [dear readers], ready to explain obscure points of Russian grammar to you. What have I been doing in the past weeks? Many things, all of which relate to school. I am writing «тезис» [a thesis] on a famous Soviet leader and just generally studying for exams (I just took…
Even More Curious то же and так же Posted by yelena on Oct 14, 2011
Learning Russian can be frustrating. But in the end, it’s so worth it! This photo, taking years ago in St. Petersburg, is not really related to anything in this post. But it’s good memories for me, so I thought I’d share. When it comes to me writing grammar posts, I either don’t do them or…
The Curious Case of Russian Words Тоже and Также Posted by yelena on Oct 13, 2011
I got to learn something new about rats thanks to your comments. Now it’s pay-back time. Plus I loved this movie when it came out. Rats can be so cute! When it comes to grammar, being a native speaker of a language is a double-edged sword. Sure, native speakers tend to automatically select just the…