{"id":449,"date":"2009-11-29T14:40:44","date_gmt":"2009-11-29T18:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=449"},"modified":"2009-11-29T14:40:44","modified_gmt":"2009-11-29T18:40:44","slug":"how-about-%e2%80%98getting-married%e2%80%99-in-russian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/how-about-%e2%80%98getting-married%e2%80%99-in-russian\/","title":{"rendered":"How About \u2018Getting Married\u2019 in Russian?"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s one thing I’ve always had trouble expressing in the Russian language. No, it’s not \u00ab\u043c\u043e\u0438<\/span> \u0447\u0443<\/span>\u0432\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [plural:<\/em> my feelings], but something that has not so much to do with me as a matter of fact. For years now I’ve struggled with the following: how to say in Russian that two women are married? Perhaps you’re thinking to yourselves right now – “Why on Earth would you ever have to say such a thing!” As a matter of fact one of my best friends back home in Sweden is a woman married to another woman (the woman she’s married to is Russian, which sometimes makes my effort in trying to put it \u00ab\u0432 \u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0441\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0445 \u0441\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u0445\u00bb<\/strong> [in Russian words] rather comical)<\/em> and thus this \u00ab\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0435<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0435\u043d\u043d\u043e\u00bb<\/strong> [naturally] comes up in conversation from time to time. But in Russian is it not so easy to express this because there is one verb used for when a man gets married and an entirely different one for when a woman gets married, even though what it all comes down to is the same for both sexes: first \u00ab\u0441\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u0434\u044c\u0431\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [wedding], then \u00ab\u0431\u0440\u0430\u043a\u00bb<\/strong>, and – for quite a lot of people these days – \u00ab\u0440\u0430\u0437\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u00bb<\/strong> [divorce].<\/p>\n

For men the verb used is \u00ab\u0436\u0435\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [to get married]. Since that almost literally translates into English as \u2018to get\/take\/acquire a wife’<\/em>, then it is rather obvious that it needs to be followed by an object (the wife)<\/em> \u00ab\u0432 \u043f\u0440\u0435\u0434\u043b\u043e<\/span>\u0436\u043d\u043e\u043c \u043f\u0430\u0434\u0435\u0436\u0435<\/span>\u00bb <\/strong>[in prepositional case]: \u00ab\u0436\u0435\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f \u043d\u0430 \u043a\u043e\u043c?\u00bb <\/strong>[to get married to whom? (lit. to get married ON whom?)<\/em>]. After a man is married he becomes \u00ab\u0436\u0435\u043d\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> [married], which seems like a logical word now the he has \u00ab\u0436\u0435\u043d\u0430<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [a wife]. For example:<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u041f\u0451\u0442\u0440 \u0418\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0447 \u0436\u0435\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u0441\u044f \u043d\u0430 \u041d\u0430<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> – [Pyotr Ivanovich got married to Nastya (diminutive of Anastasia)<\/em>].<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0412\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u044f \u0436\u0435\u043d\u0430<\/span>\u0442 \u043d\u0430 \u041d\u0430\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u0448\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> – [Vanya is married to Natasha].<\/p>\n

For women not just one verb is used in Russian language, but a combination of a verb and an adverb: \u00ab\u0432\u044b<\/span>\u0439\u0442\u0438\/\u0432\u044b\u0445\u043e\u0434\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u044c \u0437\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u0443\u0436\u00bb<\/strong> [to get married]. Literally this phrase translates into English as \u2018to go out after (your) husband’<\/em>, and thus it is no surprise that the question we must ask afterwards to turn the expression to a complete sentence is: \u00ab\u0437\u0430 \u043a\u043e\u0433\u043e<\/span>?\u00bb<\/strong> [after whom?]. The perfect form of the verb \u00ab\u0432\u044b<\/span>\u0439\u0442\u0438 \u0437\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u0443\u0436\u00bb<\/strong> is used when you’re talking about a)<\/strong> the future; or b)<\/strong> doing it only once. If you’ve done it more than once, then the verb form you’re looking for is imperfect: \u00ab\u0432\u044b\u0445\u043e\u0434\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u044c \u0437\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u0443\u0436\u00bb<\/strong>. Once a woman is married in Russia she becomes \u00ab\u0437\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u0443\u0436\u0435\u043c\u00bb<\/strong> [married (lit. \u2018after (her) husband’<\/em>], which also is very logical considering that she has \u00ab\u043c\u0443\u0436\u00bb<\/strong> [a husband] now. For example:<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0412\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0430 \u0412\u0430\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0435\u0432\u043d\u0430 \u0432\u044b<\/span>\u0448\u043b\u0430 \u0437\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u0443\u0436 \u0437\u0430 \u041f\u0430<\/span>\u0448\u0443\u00bb<\/strong> – [Vera Vasil’evna got married to Pasha (diminutive of Pavel)<\/em>].<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0414\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u044c\u044f \u0437\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u0443\u0436\u0435\u043c \u0437\u0430 \u041c\u0438\u0445\u0430\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u043e\u043c\u00bb<\/strong> – [Daria is married to Mikhail].\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In Russia it is tradition to go around town and pose for pictures in front of all sorts of \u00ab\u043f\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u044f\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [monuments] after the wedding together with family and friends. Why not do like this happy couple and go to the picturesque little town of \u00ab\u041f\u0430<\/span>\u0432\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0441\u043a\u00bb<\/strong> [Pavlovsk] outside Saint Petersburg to create those unforgettable shots?<\/em><\/p>\n

And now for the tricky part – if the verbs concerning marital status in Russian is so gender specific, then how to say something like: “My friend is married to a woman”? \u00ab\u041c\u043e\u044f<\/span> \u043f\u043e\u0440\u0434\u0443<\/span>\u0433\u0430 \u0437\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u0443\u0436\u0435\u043c \u0437\u0430 \u0436\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0449\u0438\u043d\u0443\u00bb<\/strong> [My friend is married (fem.) <\/em>to a woman]? \u00ab\u041c\u043e\u044f<\/span> \u043f\u043e\u0434\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0433\u0430 \u0436\u0435\u043d\u0430<\/span>\u0442 \u043d\u0430 \u0436\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0449\u0438\u043d\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [My friend is married (masc.)<\/em> to a woman]? Both of these sentences are principally wrong and equally incorrect and cause Russians only to laugh. Believe me; I’ve tried them both more than once. Also I’ve tried saying something like \u00ab\u043c\u043e\u044f<\/span> \u043f\u043e\u0434\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0433\u0430 \u0432\u044b<\/span>\u0448\u043b\u0430 \u0437\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u0443\u0436 \u0437\u0430 \u0436\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0449\u0438\u043d\u0443\u00bb <\/strong>[my friend got married (fem.)<\/em> to a woman] and \u00ab\u043c\u043e\u044f<\/span> \u043f\u043e\u0434\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0433\u0430 \u0436\u0435\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u0430\u0441\u044c \u043d\u0430 \u0436\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0449\u0438\u043d\u0435\u00bb <\/strong>[my friend got married (masc.) to a woman]. In the last sentence I use the verb \u00ab\u0436\u0435\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> so badly and grammatically erroneous that you should not under any circumstances whatsoever make a note of it!<\/p>\n

But the thing is that even though it is not yet legal in Russia for same sex couples to get married here, Russians are far from foreign to the concept. After all, people everywhere are still people and will love each other in many different ways even though heterosexuality may be the only officially accepted form. Russian language may still lack the proper verb for it, but after all it has one verb concerning marriage that is only used when the subject is plural: the perfect form of \u00ab\u043f\u043e\u0436\u0435\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [to get married]. You can’t use this perfect form with the pronoun \u00ab\u043e\u043d\u00bb<\/strong> [he], it is only used with \u00ab\u043e\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [they]. And \u2018they’<\/em> doesn’t necessarily have to be \u00ab\u043e\u043d \u0438 \u043e\u043d\u0430<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [he and she], but could just as likely stand for \u00ab\u043e\u043d\u0430<\/span> \u0438 \u043e\u043d\u0430<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [she and she] or \u00ab\u043e\u043d \u0438 \u043e\u043d\u00bb<\/strong> [he and he]. That’s why I can always save the day by simply saying:<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u041e\u043d\u0438<\/span> \u043f\u043e\u0436\u0435\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u0438\u0441\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> – [They got married].<\/p>\n

Or even \u00ab\u043c\u043e\u0438<\/span> \u043f\u043e\u0434\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0433\u0438 \u043f\u043e\u0436\u0435\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u0438\u0441\u044c\u00bb <\/strong>[My (female)<\/em> friends got married] if I feel like being a little bit more specific…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

There’s one thing I’ve always had trouble expressing in the Russian language. No, it’s not \u00ab\u043c\u043e\u0438 \u0447\u0443\u0432\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430\u00bb [plural: my feelings], but something that has not so much to do with me as a matter of fact. For years now I’ve struggled with the following: how to say in Russian that two women are married? Perhaps…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1085,100,1205,1248,1293,1299,1430,1485,1486,1533,1534,1535,1536,1538,1576,1596,1663,1707],"class_list":["post-449","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language","tag-getting-married-in-russian","tag-love","tag-relationships-in-general","tag-russian-language","tag-russian-weddings","tag-same-sex-relationships-in-russia","tag-1430","tag-1485","tag-1486","tag-1533","tag-1534","tag-1535","tag-1536","tag-1538","tag-1576","tag-1596","tag-1663","tag-1707"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}