Tag Archives: Russian language
Russian phrases with numerals Posted by bota on Nov 24, 2020
Since we’ve covered the difference between один and раз, it’s only apt to enrich our vocabulary with a few numeral-heavy Russian expressions and idioms. I will give both the literal translation (sometimes for the sake of curious imagery and other times for even more curious etymological reasons), as well as the actual idiomatic meaning and…
Ordinal Numbers in Russian Posted by bota on Nov 2, 2020
На пе́рвый-второ́й рассчита́йсь! This phrase has got to be the only thing I remember from НВП classes in high school (Нача́льная Вое́нная Подгото́вка = basic military training). It’s part of the drill to assign either “first” or “second” to people in a line so that they can easily be divided into two groups for other…
What is “pознь”? Posted by bota on Oct 23, 2020
What if I told you there was a single word in Russian to help one convey that just because something is labeled X doesn’t mean that all things X are like the first thing X? The word in question is рознь and here’s how it works. You take a Russian noun, put it in the…
Was Yoda Russian? (Sentence Structure in Russian. Part I) Posted by bota on Oct 5, 2020
“Do or do not. There is no try.” While Yoda’s OSV (object-subject-verb) word order may seem a bit unusual, the Russian translation of the quote doesn’t sound all that strange or other-worldly, all because the Russian sentence structure is flexible. So, please do try, because learning about the nuances of word order variations in Russian…
A day in a Russian kindergarten Posted by bota on Sep 24, 2020
“Зо́лушка” (“Cinderella”), “Ска́зка” (“Fairy Tale”), “Одува́нчик” (“Dandelion”), “Улы́бка” (“Smile”), “Слонёнок” (“Baby Elephant”). At first, these might seem like random words strung together, but in Russia, if they are preceded by “Де́тский Сад” (“kindergarten”) these names evoke some of the sweetest, most carefree days of one’s childhood. And what’s there not to love about kindergarten days?…
Examining a Russian spice rack. Part II Posted by bota on Aug 28, 2020
In the second part of examining a Russian spice rack, we will explore the most common спе́ции (spices) used in baking recipes across Russian households. At the end of the post is a playlist of Russian words to help you practice pronouncing them. For starters, let’s cover the most basic baking ingredients: Са́хар (Sugar) is…
Examining a Russian spice rack. Part I Posted by bota on Aug 18, 2020
There are a number of припра́в, пря́ностей, и спе́ций (spices) that are considered standard in any Russian household, whether you are многоде́тная семья́ (a family with lots of kids) or зако́нченный холостя́к (a long-time bachelor). This blog will focus on spices commonly used for savory dishes, while Part II will cover spices used for baking…