{"id":479,"date":"2010-01-14T11:19:54","date_gmt":"2010-01-14T15:19:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=479"},"modified":"2010-01-14T11:19:54","modified_gmt":"2010-01-14T15:19:54","slug":"word-of-the-week-%c2%ab%d0%92%d0%be%d0%b7%d0%b2%d1%80%d0%b0%d1%89%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%b8%d0%b5%c2%bb-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/word-of-the-week-%c2%ab%d0%92%d0%be%d0%b7%d0%b2%d1%80%d0%b0%d1%89%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%b8%d0%b5%c2%bb-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Word of the Week: \u00ab\u0412\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0449\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435\u00bb [Return]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Officially the project \u00ab\u043c\u043e\u0441\u0442 \u043b\u044e\u0431\u0432\u0438<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [bridge of love] was turned down by \u00ab\u043f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e \u0433\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u043e\u0434\u0430 \u0415\u043a\u0430\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0438\u043d\u0431\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u0433\u00bb<\/strong> [administration of the city of Yekaterinburg] a couple of years ago. But that project concerned another bridge (which can be seen far away in the background). The tradition to put a \u00ab\u0437\u0430\u043c\u043e<\/span>\u043a\u00bb<\/strong> [lock] with your names and the date of your wedding (or engagement) is still strong among people in love in Yekat…<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u041d\u0430\u043a\u043e\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u0446!\u00bb<\/strong> [Finally!] \u00ab\u042f \u0432\u0435\u0440\u043d\u0443<\/span>\u043b\u0430\u0441\u044c \u0432 \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u044e!\u00bb<\/strong> [I have returned to Russia!, or I’m back in Russia!]. And what better way to mark this return but to explore the word \u00ab\u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0449\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u0435<\/a>\u00bb<\/strong> [return; giving back; repayment] as our word of this week? Not only because we haven’t had a \u2018word of the week’<\/em> for a long, long time but also because this word comes closely connected with two interesting verbs: \u00ab\u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0449\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c<\/a>\u00bb<\/strong> [to return, give back; to repay (a debt, loan, etc)<\/em>; to restore; to recover, regain; get back] and \u00ab\u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0449\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f<\/a>\u00bb <\/strong>[to return, come back, go back]. Both of these are \u00ab\u0433\u043b\u0430\u0433\u043e<\/span>\u043b<\/a>\u044b \u043d\u0435\u0441\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0448\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u043d\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0432\u0438<\/span>\u0434\u0430\u00bb <\/strong>[imperfect verbs (lit. \u2018verbs of the imperfect aspect’)<\/em>], and I’ll talk about how they look \u00ab\u0432 \u0441\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0448\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u043d\u043e\u043c \u0432\u0438<\/span>\u0434\u0435\u00bb <\/strong>[in perfect aspect] in a little moment, but let’s focus on the last one of them first: \u00ab\u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0449\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [to return, come back, go back]. You probably noticed that the biggest difference between \u00ab\u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0449\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> and \u00ab\u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0449\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u00bb <\/strong>is that one of them ends on \u00ab\u0441\u044f\u00bb<\/strong>. These two little letters are actually what used to be the pronoun \u00ab\u0441\u0435\u0431\u044f<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [me; ourself, myself; ourselves; herself, himself; itself; themselves, yourself; yourselves] and is a sure indication of that this verb is a special kind of verb – a \u00ab\u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0433\u043b\u0430\u0433\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u00bb <\/strong>[reflexive verb]. The adjective \u00ab\u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [return (attrib.)<\/em>; reflexive (gram.)<\/em>], as you might have guessed already, shares a common \u00ab\u043a\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u043d\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> [root] (\u00ab\u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430-\u00bb<\/strong>) with our word of the week \u00ab\u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0449\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> and is thus also concerned with things \u2018coming back’<\/em>, \u2018returning’<\/em> or simply \u2018reflexing’<\/em> something back to another thing. Another noun that sounds even closer to it this adjective is \u00ab\u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> [return; recurrence; repayment]. You’ll often come across this noun in stores in Russia used in the following phrase: \u00ab\u0442\u043e\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u0440 \u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u0443 \u043d\u0435 \u043f\u043e\u0434\u043b\u0435\u0436\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> [the merchandise is not liable to return, i.e. cannot be returned]. It feels good to finally have shared my knowledge of this kind of Russian store policy with the rest of the world! And this would, of course, mean that if you see a sign saying \u00ab\u0442\u043e\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u0440 \u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u0443 \u043f\u043e\u0434\u043b\u0435\u0436\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> then you can return what you’ve bought there and expect to get your money back. Might not sound important right now, but you just wait until it turns out that your new pair of \u00ab\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u0435\u043d\u043a\u0438<\/a>\u00bb<\/strong> [pl.<\/em> felt boots (worn in Siberia during winter)<\/em>] <\/a>does not match ANYTHING else that you’ve got in your closet and you realize that in the country where you live it doesn’t get down to minus 40 C\u00a0that many days of the year anyway…\u00a0<\/p>\n

How to best explain the Russian grammatical phenomenon of \u00ab\u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0435 \u0433\u043b\u0430\u0433\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> [pl.<\/em> reflexive verbs]? If your native language lacks this, then it could be a little bit \u00ab\u0442\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u043d\u043e \u043f\u043e\u043d\u044f<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u00bb <\/strong>[difficult (pfv.)<\/em> to understand] at first. (I say that even though I was taught as a teacher never to ever tell a student that something was \u00ab\u0442\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u043d\u043e \u043f\u043e\u043d\u044f<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u00bb<\/strong>, but to use the adverb \u00ab\u0438\u043d\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0441\u043d\u043e\u00bb<\/strong> [interestingly] instead.)<\/em> The main difference between verbs that are reflexive and verbs that are not is that reflexive verbs don’t always need to be followed by an object. This is because the tiny \u00ab\u0441\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> at the end of them already indicates that the object and the subject are one and the same. Thus when you’re using a reflexive verb you are \u2018reflexing’ <\/em>the action of the sentence back to yourself. Does that make sense? When using the imperfect \u00ab\u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0449\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> in the meaning of \u2018to return’<\/em> the question that follows is it \u00ab\u0447\u0442\u043e?\u00bb <\/strong>[what?] as in this example:<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u041e\u043d\u0430<\/span> \u0432\u0441\u0435\u0433\u0434\u0430<\/span> \u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0449\u0430<\/span>\u0435\u0442 \u0434\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u044c\u0433\u0438 \u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> – [She always repays money in time].<\/p>\n

The object in this sentence – the \u00ab\u0447\u0442\u043e\u00bb<\/strong> so to speak – is \u00ab\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u044c\u0433\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [pl.<\/em> money]. The same goes for when you’re using the perfect aspect of this verb which is \u00ab\u0432\u0435\u0440\u043d\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u044c<\/a>\u00bb<\/strong> in the context of \u2018to return’<\/em>. But this object doesn’t always have to be direct one, it could also be an indirect object and answer the question \u00ab\u043a\u043e\u043c\u0443<\/span>?\u00bb<\/strong> [to whom?]:<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u041e\u043d \u0432\u0435\u0440\u043d\u0443<\/span>\u043b \u043c\u043d\u0435 \u0443\u0447\u0435<\/span>\u0431\u043d\u0438\u043a \u043f\u043e \u0430\u0441\u0442\u0440\u043e\u043d\u043e<\/span>\u043c\u0438\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> – [He returned the textbook on astronomy to me].<\/p>\n

But with the reflexive verbs \u00ab\u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0449\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f\u00bb <\/strong>(impfv.)<\/em> [to return, to come back, be back] and \u00ab\u0432\u0435\u0440\u043d\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f<\/a>\u00bb<\/strong> (pfv.) <\/em>[to return, to be back, make back; cut back; retrace one’s steps]\u00a0 you don’t always need an object – be it direct or indirect! That’s because the subject is enough to make the action described by these words understandable. Let’s have a look at two examples, in which all of the words following the verb are just descriptions of time or place:<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u041e\u043d \u0432\u043e\u0437\u0440\u0430\u0449\u0430<\/span>\u0435\u0442\u0441\u044f \u043f\u043e<\/span>\u0437\u0434\u043d\u043e \u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0447\u0435\u0440\u043e\u043c \u043f\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u043b\u0435 \u0440\u0430\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u0442\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> – [He returns late in the evening after work (usually, if not always since here you have this verb in imperfect aspect)<\/em>].<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u041e\u043d\u0430<\/span> \u0432\u0435\u0440\u043d\u0443<\/span>\u043b\u0430\u0441\u044c \u043d\u0430 \u0423\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u00bb<\/strong> – [She came back to the Urals].<\/p>\n

The last sentence can also be translated as \u2018she’s back IN the Urals’.<\/em> Then it does not indicate any motion in any direction whatsoever in translation, as is always the case with this verb in Russian. That’s why it is very important that you remember to always ask yourself \u00ab\u043a\u0443\u0434\u0430<\/span>?\u00bb<\/strong> [to where?] after using the verbs \u00ab\u0432\u0435\u0440\u043d\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> and \u00ab\u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0449\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f\u00bb<\/strong>. Even though you’ll often be tempted to ask \u00ab\u0433\u0434\u0435?\u00bb<\/strong> and then use the completely wrong case (I won’t even tell you which case is the \u2018completely wrong’ one because I don’t want you to know enough to make this mistake!).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Don’t you think it looks like Lenin’s arm is waving back at me and saying: \u00ab\u0421 \u0432\u043e\u0437\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0449\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u0435\u043c!\u00bb<\/strong> [(Congratulations on your) return!]. Here he’s standing in downtown Yekat squeezed in-between a brand new \u00ab\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0433\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u044b\u0439 \u0446\u0435\u043d\u0442\u0440\u00bb<\/strong> [shopping mall] and the seasonal recreational \u00ab\u043b\u044c\u0434\u044f\u043d\u043e<\/span>\u0439 \u043f\u0430\u0440\u043a\u00bb<\/strong> [ice park].<\/em><\/p>\n

P.S. Don’t despair because of what I said above if you’ve recently bought yourself a pair of \u00ab\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u0435\u043d\u043a\u0438<\/a>\u00bb<\/strong> [pl.<\/em> felt boots<\/a>]! I bought a black pair of those myself back in the winter of 2005\/2006 and I can assure you that they look awesome paired with a black miniskirt!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Officially the project \u00ab\u043c\u043e\u0441\u0442 \u043b\u044e\u0431\u0432\u0438\u00bb [bridge of love] was turned down by \u00ab\u043f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0438\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e \u0433\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0434\u0430 \u0415\u043a\u0430\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0438\u043d\u0431\u0443\u0440\u0433\u00bb [administration of the city of Yekaterinburg] a couple of years ago. But that project concerned another bridge (which can be seen far away in the background). The tradition to put a \u00ab\u0437\u0430\u043c\u043e\u043a\u00bb [lock] with your names and the date of…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1207,1237,1248,1357,1364,166,1455,1456,1468,1469,1470,1471,1475],"class_list":["post-479","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language","tag-relfexive-verbs","tag-russian-grammar","tag-russian-language","tag-to-be-back-in-russia","tag-to-return-to-russia","tag-verbs","tag-1455","tag-1456","tag-1468","tag-1469","tag-1470","tag-1471","tag-1475"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479","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=479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}