Tag Archives: russian vocabulary
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…
Easy-breezy Russian idioms with “wind” Posted by bota on Jun 10, 2020
The Russian language is bountiful with idioms (фразеологи́змы) and there are a few particularly fun ones that use the word “ве́тер” (wind). Wind often symbolizes uncertainty, transition, and change. It also carries notions of emptiness and void since we cannot really catch it or hold onto it, but we can definitely feel its power…
What You Need To Know To Navigate Russian Airports Posted by Maria on Mar 11, 2020
In case you need to fly into, out of, or through a Russian airport, there are some common phrases that will make navigating it much more comfortable. Of course, international airports (аэропо́рты) have announcements (объявле́ния) and signs (указа́тели) in English and in the flight origin/destination language, but you if you fly within Russia, these words…
Move With The Times: Uses of Современный (“Modern”) In Russian Posted by Maria on Dec 27, 2018
One of the words that is used a lot in Russian is совреме́нный. This word, which literally means “modern” or “contemporary,” is extremely versatile and can express meanings ranging from timeliness to technological advanced to being hip. Let us look at these related but distinct senses. Happening these days This is a neutral sense of…
Russian “Хозяй-” Root for Ownership and Property Posted by Maria on Nov 20, 2018
Russian has a versatile root that is used to describe ideas having to do with ownership, such as a property or a landlord. Can you guess what that root is? It is -хозяй-. This post will look at some of the most common words with this root. Хозя́ин/хозя́йка Хозя́ин (masculine), хозя́йка (feminine), and хозя́ева (plural)…
Russian Songs About Luck with Везёт Posted by Maria on Aug 8, 2018
One useful word for talking about luck is везти́. This post will explain how this word is used and illustrate it — with famous Russian songs! Везти́/повезти́ To express the idea of having good luck, we use the verb везти́ (yes, the same one you may already know as a verb of motion meaning “to…