Tag Archives: verbs
Russian Verbs With Prefixes: Держать Posted by Maria on Jun 13, 2016
Remember that time we covered verbs with prefixes on this blog? Let’s combine various prefixes with the popular verb держать, to hold, to form new words. I can only list several of the many verbs, so feel free to add in the comments! The base verb is держать, which normally means to hold something. Мама держит…
One After Another: Past Temporal Clauses in Russian Posted by Maria on May 2, 2016
In this post, we will look at the ways you can introduce temporal clauses in Russian. We will concentrate on past verb forms. Translations are used to illustrate the meaning of the Russian phrases and may not reflect your local dialect of English. Previous Events If we want to describe one action that happened before…
Verbs with Prefixes: Писать Posted by Maria on Oct 8, 2015
It appears that our verbs with prefixes series has been successful. In this series, we take a common Russian verb and discuss its derivatives formed by adding a prefix to the original verb. Be sure to check out previous posts in this series: брать and играть. This time, we will look at a verb…
Expand Your Vocabulary: Verbs With Prefixes – Играть Posted by Maria on Aug 27, 2015
A couple of weeks ago, we looked at combining prefixes and verb roots to expand your Russian vocabulary. One of the verbs that I was asked to cover was игра́ть. This is an excellent suggestion for a versatile and useful verb to have in your arsenal. The primary meaning of играть is, as you…
Expand Your Vocabulary: Verbs With Prefixes – Брать Posted by Maria on Aug 13, 2015
One way to learn more verbs in Russian is to take a common verb you already know and look up its derivatives with the most common Russian prefixes. Here are some of the most widespread Russian verbal prefixes. These are only some of the meanings, and they do not cover everything. However, you can…
Rock It In Russian: The Many Uses of Качать Posted by Maria on Aug 6, 2015
Today we will talk about the oft-overlooked word кача́ть. From its literal meaning of rocking to its uses in exercise and networking, качать is a useful word to have in your arsenal! Don’t Rock the Boat! The first and primary meaning of качать is to rock something back and forth, for example, качать ребёнка…
Shouldn’t, oughtn’t, can’t, better not: Negative “modals” in Russian Posted by Rob on Feb 27, 2013
Long before Hollywood pop-culture began flooding from “Pindostan” into the ex-USSR, the distinctively Latin American genre known as telenovelas (теленовеллы or телесериал) had attained cult status in Russia (particularly, but not exclusively, among women). So in this post, let’s picture a scene from an imaginary теленовелла. Our beautiful (but naive) heroine María Simplemente has just…