Russian Word of the Day

Здравствуйте! My students and I really enjoy your site.

One suggestion for a future word would be the usage and government of выходные дни and уикенд. (uikend and vykhodnye dni, just in case my Cyrillic isn't coming through).

Спасибо!

Laura Goering

Thanks for your blog.

I'm a South Korean student, studying Russian language in Ukraine.

I've been in Ukraine for about two months but it is still very hard to understand the language.

I found your site by chance and was moved by your knowlege on Russian and English languages.

All the contents are very educational, helpful.

Also your explanation on Russian words makes me easy to understand the language.

Thanks again for your efforts and content.

Hi! Of all the little things to be curious about, I'd like to know the Russian names for different types of flowers and trees. Silly, maybe?

Don's response: I don't think wanting to know the names of trees and flowers is silly at all! I don't have a ready-made list of them, but the first place I would probably look for such a thing would be Genevra Gerhart's “The Russian's World: Life and Language.” It's a marvelous book.

How about some focus on verb participles in Russian?

Don responds: Participle formation and use is one of my favorite topics! I've intended to put together a set of ultimate participle references for some time. I'll let you know as soon as I put them together.

The organizing principle for this blog is actually vocabulary items more than grammatical structures, but I'll try to include more verbal adjectives and verbal adverbs in the example sentences.

It doesn't belong here but I'd have suggestion for a post. I'm confused about these verbs: "ждать, подождать, погодить". I know that the wolf allways says "Ну погоди!" to the rabbit in well known cartoon. But could I use "подожди" or something else? Or what's the difference.

Hi, I've got one technical question. Is there any reason for declension cases ordering you're using? I mean Nom, Acc, Gen, Pre, Dat, Ins.

If not, I'd suggest to rather use ordering that seems standardized to me. It is "Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Instrumental, Prepositional".

I think it's sorted this way in many languages. This ordering is allways used in czech languge (we have one extra class - vocal). As far as I remember I think that same ordering uses german (they've got on the contrary just 4 classes). And wherever I looked (mostly Internet) I found this ordering when russian grammar was explained. But I don't claim it is allways so in russian.

I'd want to know what other non-native russian speakers think about that. Even oppinion of someone who's gone through russian grammar school would be interesting, cause that's the place where kids learn these rules almost like poems.

Don responds: The traditional order used in Russian textbooks and references is a variation of the order used to describe Latin and Greek. It continues to be used in Slavic study for only one reason: inertia. The linguistic order is a more rational system because it groups overlapping endings in such a way that they are easier for a beginning student to learn. You can see the two systems neatly contrasted here.

When I first began studying Russian, I learned the traditional order; I eventually taught it as well. I first came across the linguistic order when studying Old Russian. In 2002 I began teaching Russian from a textbook that used the linguistic order in its reference materials. Having now taught using both systems, I have no doubt that non-Russians learn Russian declension much better using the linguistic order than the traditional order.

Great job, outstanding blog - keep it up!

Outstanding site. I'm going to bring this in to my Russian class, which happens to be in an Arizona state prison. Don't worry - I do this on my own time, gratis. Your tax dollars are not being used for this endeavor.

Ah great site, thanks!

My students and I really enjoy your site.

Hey man, just want to start off saying that I love RWOD. I've made it my default page, actually. But the thing is I find it a little unintuitive to search through the site looking for words. My suggestion is that you implement a "random word" button that displays a random word (duh, koneshno). But, don't stress over it. If it's too complicated of a program, then don't bother (I'm not a programmer in any sense, so I don't know how hard something like this would be.)

peace

May 25, 2009

Don responds: I like the idea of adding a random entry button. I'll keep my eyes open to see if there is a way to integrate such a thing without having to master the whole code base for the blogging software.

May 26, 2009

Don responds: Today I became obsessed with the idea of generating a top ten list for RWotD, and on the way figured out that generating a complete alphabetical list of entries and a random link were pretty simple as well. I haven't mastered the code base for b2evolution, the software on which RWotD runs, so the pages do not look as clean as the rest of the interface, but they are fast-and-dirty functional. For now I am happy with that.

Hi, i just want to congratulate you on a wonderful site, its the first time i've come across it and it is a huge help. I have recently moved to Russia and just been granted temporary residency and am studying Russian at home with the help of my girlfriend and her family. Ive found your site so informative and useful in its approach that i just wanted to write a little thank you in response. As an englishman and one who doesn't speak any other foreign languges i have found it hard to grasp Russian but with work and patience (mostly on other people's part, i have to say!) i'm getting there. This site will definitly bring me on leaps and bounds and is such a useful aid.

Thanks again, Matt

Matt,

Congratulations on your residency in Russia! I have found the study of Russian to be continually fascinating for over thirty years now, and I have found Russian hospitality to be some of the best on the planet. I expect you will have the same experience.

All the best, Don.

I love this site! I am a huge fan of Russian singer, Vitas. I have been learning Russian to better appreciate his works. I use a lot of methods - Rosetta Stone, Living Language, Pimsleur. It is going slowly due to lack of time. But what all these methods lack for me is explanation about the words, origins, customs, etc. I am finding lots of this on your site. Thank you so much! If it is okay, I would like to link to it on the fan site I keep that is devoted to Vitas. There is a Russian language section.

Just to say thanks very much for this wonderful blog. As a slow, intermediate learner I find it very useful. It gives a lot of insight into colloquial usage of Russian and interesting cultural background information. I'm sure it takes quite a bit of effort but keep up the good work!
Charles from Oxford, UK

Thank you very much for the Russian for Gringos 2 keyboard layout.
I am a novice to computing,and to the Russian language; but found your instructions clear and easy to follow.
I will have no hesitation in following your excellent website in the future.

This web site is awesome. I learn so many useful verb constructions from your blog. Thanks for all the work you do in preparing this stuff.

Hi Don,

I am self-studying Russian and am truly enjoying your blog. Your stories and explanations make learning a very enjoyable experience and also help make the information stay in memory.

I hope you will be able to help me understand when it is appropriate to use different words meaning "bakery."

Specifically, I am looking at the difference between булочная and пекарня. It seems that булочная is a store, while пекарня is a baking establishment.

Which word would be used if the business is both a baking establishment and a store?

Also, I have seen the word хлебопекарня which I assume is a bread bakery. What construct would one use when referring to a bread store, or a combination bread store and baking establishment? One option for a store is хлебный магазин. Would булочная хлеба also be an appropriate construct?

Please feel free to either answer me directly or in a post on your blog (or both). Thank you in advance for your help.

Best Regards, Mark

Don responds: Hi, Mark. I don't normally have time to respond to people who aren't my current students, but you're in luck: I can take the time today. My understanding is that пекарня is a place that actually bakes bread products. Булочная is a store that sells булки/булочки “rolls.” Most places that sell rolls also sell regular bread. A булочная does not necessarily bake its own products. As to булочная хлеба,I can't imagine anyone saying that phrase.

The information about the Rwotd are always interesting. Keep up the good job. Thanks.

Hey there.

I just wanted to let you know I think your site is very useful. Keep up the good work! :)

Thank you for this website! I study russian in Italy but no one ever explained about cultural aspects! I would like to thank you for the instructions on time expressions, they have been very usefull!

Отличный блог! С удовольствием читаю, хотя сам я и русский.

А теперь вопрос. Дон, скажите, пожалуйста, как долго Вы жили в России (я почти уверен, что Вы там жили)? Или спрошу совсем напрямик: Вы - русский?! :-) Не может нерусский человек знать русский язык и культуру НАСТОЛЬКО хорошо! :-)

Don responds: Здравствуйте, уважаемый г-н Никифоров!

Спасибо большое за добрые слова. Я посещал Россию семь раз, но там никогда не жил больше двух месяцев. Я родился в Тусоне, штат Аризона, и, увы, в нашей семье нет ни одной капли русской крови. Блог получается у меня неплохо, потому что перечитываю каждую статью, поправляю очевидные ошибки. Когда в чём-нибудь сомневаюсь, прошу уточнения у друзей. Конечно в устной речи мои грамматические грехи высказываются намного виднее.

Всего наилучшего, Дон.

This site is a literal treasure trove of information about Russian for beginners.

I had never expected to find such a great site about Russian in English.

I think you should consider a more personalised theme for the site - the blue/white theme is the default theme, I think - your site is too good for that.

Greetings from Sweden.

I just ADORE this site! I think it's amazing. I am the russian myself and a teacher of russian language and literature. I think this site is perfect for the students, who have trouble with their vocabulary.

P.S. If you have any questions about russian language, I'll be glad to discuss it with you personally. So mail me :)

Woooow! This site was just recommended to me by a friend. I have been doing a Russian course for a bit over a year now (currently doing my A3 certificate, which is the third lowest), so I'll be coming here every day from now. :-)
I love how you add a cultural component to the explanations + declensions.

Thumbs up!

Отличный сайт! Великолепное знание материала. Если бы я был иностранцем, взял бы материал сайта на заметку для интенсивного изучения русского языка. Удачи в развитии проекта!

Re: И (часть первая)

I just wanted to let you know, that I LOVE your website. You put a lot of time, effort and knowledge into what you have created here, and it shows. It is by far one of the most useful and reasonable tools online for intermediate speakers looking to improve their Russian...like me. Спасибо большое!!!!

Здравствуйте, присоеденяюсь к благодарностям.

Прочитал несколько записей и поражен качеством материала. Не нашёл ни одной ошибки в примерах на русском языке. Действительно удивительно, как автор, не будучи русским, даёт себе труд разбираться во всех хитросплетениях нашего непростого языка.

Кстати, вы не поверите, но я использую ваш блог для изучения английского :-)

Don responds: Спасибо за добрые слова! Правду сказать, я в большом долгу перед нашими читателями, которые сразу же показывают на наши ошибки и опечатки. Без них мои языковые грехи были бы намного виднее.

Хороший блог.
Вот бы найти что нибудь похожее для изучения английского!!

Великолепный сайт!!!

Русский - мой родной язык, но мне безумно интересно читать все материалы. Вы вкладываете душу в то, что Вы делаете, а это очень приятно! От всего сердца желаю Вам успехов в Вашем нелегком труде!

Если не секрет, как давно Вы изучаете русский?

Don responds: Спасибо за добрые слова! Я занялся русским тридцать лет назад, в последнем году средней школы в маленьком городе в западном Колорадо. Одна преподавательница немецкого языка, Ruth Warner, каждый год препдагала курс русского, если только находилось определённое количество желающих учеников. В том году нам повезло, нас было, по-моему, человек восемь. Она вела урок во время своего ежедневного подготовительного часа, то есть, за это ей не платили, она это делала просто по душе. Перед такими людьми мы все в большом долгу.

Happy New Year, Don, and thanks for your very useful blog.

Outstanding blog, Don. Thanks for all the work you put into this, as students can depend on your information and examples being correct. Happy New Year!

Хороший сайт! Молодцы! Good!

This is an amazing site. I will use this in my class all the time. Please keep doing it, we need your background to further the study and interest of learning Russian in our country for our young students.

Thank you so much for this site, you make learning fun. I like to peruse your blog before I embark on my horribly dry study regime ... your blog tends to remind me that Russian is a living, breathing thing, and not some stale textbook with R. Crumb drawings in it, or those terribly flat, one-dimensional word glosses. Kudos!

Thank you very much for this blog!! I love your entries and your sense of humor with some of the examples you provide!

Вы проделали огромную работу! неужели такое под силу не "native speakers" ?
Я восхищен!!!

I have been studing english with my ipod for last six month. But I always have been speaking only with myself (((
If somebody likes to speak russian, if somebody wants to study russian language - we could help each other.

You can reach me by e-mail:
iiidemian[AT]gmail.com also you can find me in skype area.

See ya!

Здравствуйте.

Вот уже почти пару месяцев каждый день читаю Ваш блог и был в полной уверенности что Вы русский :) пока не прочитал guestbook. Я, наоборот, самостоятельно изучаю английский и мне очень интересно увидеть родные русские слова с другой стороны :)

Keep going on. Thanks.

Aah, I'm really amused with this blog. Not only it shows my language from the other side and helps in understanding English, but also highlights some interesting moments, which I've started to take notice about in the studys of other languages. And now I know the level of language mastery I am to reach. Maybe, someday, I'll start some similar blog. By the way, Don, do you know some other languages beside English and Russian?

Благодарствую и низко бью челом.

Don responds: Thanks for the kind words! I have studied eleven languages, but really I only speak Russian, English, and some Spanish. Over the next few months I expect to study Pashto. That should be quite interesting because I have never studied a language that uses Arabic script, and grammatically it should be a challenge because the language has split ergativity, which strikes me as an entirely freakish grammatical occurence.

Your stuff is always jaw dropping. What an asset you are to the field and your students. Thank you for sharing your resources and ingenuity!

I have been studying Russian for about a few years. I am so glad to see a website that is credible, give explanations, and puts the word into context! Your "word of the day" blog is the best!

Hello. I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate this site.

It is a mini-masterpiece of design and content and I learn something useful from it every day.

With best wishes from a very slow Russian learner:)

Здравствуйте, Дон.

У вас очень интересный блог. Я сама русская, и ваш блог помогает мне в изучении аглийского языка. Спасибо, что взяли на себя труд донести информацию о русском (и английском) разговорных языках в столь легкой и доступной форме.

И удачи Вам.

Спасибо за Ваш труд. У Вас утонченный и правильный язык; а ваши объяснения грамматики доступны и интересны. Ваш сайт очень помогает моему голландскому другу, который учит русский.
Спасибо за то, что делаете нас с ним ближе.

I always enjoy coming and reading your new entries. One elusive little particle interests me currently-translating "wrong"-не то

as in
Он пошёл не по той улице.

Takes a little getting used to-might make an interesting article?

Don responds: Good idea. I'll put one together on that topic sometime over the next month.

I know that this is possible to find on internet, but I never found a good explanation on the difference of these words: тоже, также, то же, так же! Please :)

Don responds: That is a very complex set of topics. For an introduction to the тоже-также distinction see “Golosa: a basic course in Russia,” fourth edition, by Richard Robin et al., pp. 123-124. «То же» means “the same thing.” «Так же» means “the same way.”

I really enjoy your site respectively the posts via a feed reader, which are every time very well written. I'm creating a russian language blog, actually aimed for german students, where I want to focus more on the grammatical structure.

Hello, Don:

do you take suggestions for word of the day? I'm a 'наукник' if I can make such a neologism. Could you do медь and ртуть? In western european languages, the word for copper is usually derived from the word Cyprus. медь ?? It looks like ртуть comes from retort, the apparatus used to distill mercury.

thanks, Tim

Tim,

I'll put those on my list of words to write about. The blog is usually written several weeks in advance, so it may take some time before they appear.

All the best, Don.

Just stumbled upon this site through Russian Life Magazine, and I can't tell you how helpful it will be in brushing up my language skills. I studied Russian for a while in college, and studied abroad in Russia, too. Been trying to get back into studying the language, and this is a great first step. Thanks!

I am continuing my Russian language study on my own and I am confused about aspects. I know that the perfective and imperfect deal with time, result, repeated or non-repeated actions and if something is complete. However, I am still confused!!

You put things in such easy-to-understand language and words. Could you possible do a post on aspects or incorporate it into a blog post?

You should start doing vocabulary posts too!

Poka!

Dear Samantha,

Thank you for your kind words. Alas, the organizing principle of the blog isn't really adaptable to dealing with aspect, but I'll offer you a couple beginner's thoughts.

As you have noticed, aspect is fairly complex. I have found it helpful to try to examine it from two points of view simultaneously: from an abstract level and from a pragmatic (rule-of-thumb) level. Take a look at these three web pages:

Overview of aspect
Rules of thumb for aspect
Aspect — two approaches

As you think about verbs in particular sentences, see if you can make sense of each verb from both points of view. Sometimes that will work. You'll notice circumstances where either the abstract level or the pragmatic works better for you. That's normal.

The trickiest part is the third point of the abstract approach. As your exposure to written and spoken Russia increases, bit by bit the "relevant result" part will make more sense to you.

All the best, D. E. Livingston.

PS. I cannot take credit for the formulation of the abstract approach. That comes from “Russian Stage One: Live From Russia: Volume 1.”

I decided to take up studying Russian as a retirement activity over three years ago, probably because I grew up in the 50's in the shadow of the Cold War (crawling under our school desks during atomic bomb drills), and decided, hey, it's never too late to remedy the situation! I tutor several native Russian in English here in New York and visited Russia for several weeks last year. I have met many wonderful people.

Recently someone called my attention to your excellent site. I appreciate your clear explanations and sense of humor. Thanks for doing this!

Question: Have you addressed the difference between принимать and брать in an earlier post? Just wondering.

Don responds: Thanks for the kind words! So far we have only addressed брать/взять on one occasion. I'll put принимать/принять on the list of words to address in the future. In the meantime think of the former as “to take” and the latter as meaning “to accept.” That may resolve your issues. Both verbs have multiple meanings, though. Let me know if there is any particular combination of words that perplexes you.

Hello!

I'm a mexican student. Russian is one of muy favorite things to study and I recently discoverd this blog, which now I love. Thank you so much for doing it.

On the other hand, I think this page (http://memotutor.com) may be interesting for those who are learning any language, even for those who are always wanting to learn and memorize something.

Hope you like it, and thanks again for this incredible blog.

Mar.

Otlichno!

Hi Don

I made a short stab at an article -I don't know if will interest you but I found the subject fascinating especially the relation to Western languages. Feel free to convert it, if you wish.

The russian word for a horse is ло́шадь. But make a comparison with other slavonic languages and it seems to be a markedly different word from all the others. Polish has koń , Ukranian has кінь. In fact Russian does have another regular masculine soft-stem конь,but this seems poetic (do russians ever say it?) and used as the word for a knight in chess.

So how did ло́шадь come to replace the ancient Slavonic form? It seems to come for a Turkic word. I suspect it came about in much the same way as the german word Pferd and the French cheval were used denote a nag, a working horse as opposed to a fighting horse.
Presumably Russian etymologists have worked this one out (My Russian is not good enough to research it!)

Don responds: Hi, Gremin,

Thanks for your note and your stab at a blog entry. I usually try to include some bilingual sample sentences in a blog entry, so if you would like to add some sentences, that would be great. If you don't have time to do that, then I'll try to put лошадь on the list of words to blog about.

BTW, I'm currently in Kazan, Tatarstan. The Tatars here tell me that лошадь was borrowed from Tatar, which is a Turkic language. I haven't been able to confirm that yet, but I'll check with Fasmer's etymological dictionary (now available online) to see what he says.

All the best, Don.

My own comments for you in brackets. Thanks for your great blog!

Вау!!!!Блог просто супер!!! Я из Украины ( но это не важно, т.к. я разговариваю на русском )
С помощью вашего чудесного сайта я ещё лучше буду знать английский язык!
Огромное спасибо!!!(Велике спасибі!(укр.)) :-)
Thank you!!!!!!!!

for keeping this incredible website running. Sleek, informative, HIGHLY entertaining. I really can't get enough!

best,
Anar

Don responds: Thanks for the kind words!

Having taken 4 semesters of Russian in 9 months, then gone a full year without it, I wasn't too confident about starting up again this fall, even though I consider myself pretty quick with languages. Took me a while to figure out what I was looking for - something easy and consistent to keep me exposed to Russian, quick enough that I'd reliably read it. Bam. Bonus: Snippets of culture and humor!

БОЛЬШОЕ спасибо!

~Таня

Thanks for helping me understand the complex grammar of this most awesome language. Every day I look forward to coming here.

Hello,

I just wanted to say that your site is absolutely fantastic. It is a great learning tool that is also a lot of fun and which provides a lot of accurate insight into Russian life. I have taken a lot of the info off your site and loaded into my learning tool (anymemo) on my android phone so I can practice all the time.

The site seems perfectly aimed at my level of Russian. I have been studying seriously now for 1.5 years. I lived in Novosibirsk for 6 months 2 years ago on business and I fell in love with Russia immediately, even though I didn't know one word of Russian. My wife is Russian and I go camping with Russians almost every weekend. So, I get a chance to speak a lot of Russian here in Minnesota. I like taking words off your site and then immediately using them with her or when camping. It always brings a smile because the Russians know that I learned something culturally correct that I likely couldn't have just gotten out of a dictionary or textbook.

Thank you.

David