Russian Word of the Day

To wish someone well on December 31st, in English we say “Happy New Year.” If we are having an anal retentive moment and wish to use a complete sentence, we say “We wish you a Happy New Year.” (Nota bene: we usually capitalize all three words.) The Russian equivalents are «С Новым годом» and «Поздравляем вас с Новым годом». The latter literally means “We congratulate you upon the occasion of the New Year.” (Nota bene: the single Russian sound «с» is equivalent to the English phrase “upon the occasion of”. See how superior Russian is to the decaying languages of the West? Begin learning Russian immediately, if not sooner.)

The person you congratulate appears in accusative case, so if you want to add a laconic “you, too”, then the you must again use the accusative case:

At Christmastide we often supplement “Merry Christmas” with “and many happy returns!” The Russians often supplement «с Новым годом» with «с новым счастьем» “and new happiness/fortune”, which, come to think of it, is pretty similar in spirit to the English phrase, though obviously not a word-for-word translation. It is not traditional in English to add “many happy returns” to a New Year's wish, but on this occasion we’ll let that slide:

Previously we discussed the particle ли, which turns a statement into a question, and we noted that ли must occur as the second item in the sentence. All our example sentences had a single word before ли. It turns out that certain phrases, that is, groups of more than one word, can be the first item before ли. First of all, prepositional phrases can come before ли:

The negative particle не is also a clitic, that is, it is pronounced as part of the word that follows it; unlike ли, it is a proclitic, that is, it is pronounced as part of the word before which it appears. When it combines with a prepositional phrase or other word, the whole unit can occur before ли:

This is very common with certain politness phrases:

And you can even add a бы to the sentences to make them even more polite:

Notice the word order here: не comes before the verb. Ли comes immediately after the verb. Бы comes immediately after ли. The subject pronoun comes immediately after бы. No other word order works in these contexts.

Every Russian 101 student knows that the word как can mean ‘how.’ There are other contexts, though, where как is best left untranslated. This is particularly true after the verbs видеть ‘to see’, заметить ‘to notice’, наблюдать ‘to observe’, следить ‘to observe’, слушать ‘to listen’, слышать ‘to hear’ and смотреть ‘to watch’.

In this kind of sentence the word как has no ‘how’ meaning at all; it simply marks the beginning of a new clause. In other words, this sentence does NOT mean “We listened to how the birds were singing.” The sentence means we listened to the event itself, not that we were trying to discern the manner in which they sang. Here are some other simple examples:

You will notice that all three of the previous sample sentences had an imperfective past tense verb in the subordinate clause. If the action of the subordinate clause takes place at the same time as the action of the main clause, then you can have a present tense verb in the subordinate clause without changing the meaning, e.g.:

Here are some more complex sentences that use the construction:

A reader recently asked me to address the word ли. That's an excellent topic for a beginning Russian blog, but before we talk about ли, we should get a little background information. When Russians ask yes-no questions, they usually use the same words as an ordinary statement, but they change the intonation. For instance, a statement “Boris speaks English” comes out like this, where the blue line indicates the approximate intonation pattern:

That pattern is known as “intonation construction 1” in Russian pegadogical circles. To turn that into the question “Does Boris speak English?”, we rephrase it using “intonation construction 3”:

It's a pain in the rear to design special graphics to outline every sentence in which you wish to indicate intonation, so we often use a rather more compact way of indicating intonation with numbers. The syllable on which the most drastic shift of tone takes places is called the “intonation center.” Once you have indicated where the intonation center is, everything else about the tone pattern is predictable, so we simply indicate the intonation center by writing the number above the vowel where that dramatic shift happens. For instance, the statement “Boris speaks English” is represented like this:

                     1
Борис говорит по-английски.

The question “Does Boris speak English?” is represented like this:

           3
Борис говорит по-английски?

Theoretically you can put intonation construction three on any part of the sentence that bears the logical focus of the question. If the question is general, then you usually end up putting the intonation on the verb, thus

      3
Мама хочет пойти домой?

means “Does Mom want to go home?”, whereas

                    3
Мама хочет пойти домой?

means something like “Mom wants to go home?”, i.e., the focus is on whether she wants to go home as opposed to some other place. Contrast that with

 3
Мама хочет пойти домой?

which means something like “Is it Mom who wants to go home?”, i.e. the focus is on whether it is Mom who wants to go home, as opposed to Grandma or someone else.

Bearing that in mind, there is another way of asking yes-no questions in Russian, and that is by using ли, which is a postclitic particle. By particle we mean a word that never changes its endings. By clitic we mean that it is pronounced as part of a word that it is next to. By post- we mean that it is pronounced as part of the word it appears after. As a postclitic it will never be the first item in a sentence; it must be the second item. Thus if we want to rephrase “Does Boris speak English?” using ли, it would come out like this:

     3
Говорит ли Борис по-английски?

The three other questions we looked at above would be rephrased like this:

 3
Хочет ли мама пойти домой?

   3
Домой ли мама хочет пойти?

 3
Мама ли хочет пойти домой?

Yes-no questions without ли are perfectly normal in spoken Russian. When you add ли, it raises the stylistic level a bit, making it more formal or more polite.

In all our examples here, there is only one word before ли. It's possible to have more than one word in front of it, and in fact in some contexts it's very common. We'll discuss those in the next article on ли.

Note: some of the examples in this blog entry may seem a bit stilted. It's actually rather difficult to come up with long yes-no questions that comfortably illustrate the different possible focus points of intonation or ли without sounding stilted. The important point to remember here is that theoretically ли can place its focus on any phrase that immediately proceeds it. Despite their awkwardness, all theses sentences are perfectly grammatical Russian, and it would be possible for a Russian to say them given a suitable context preceding them.

When I was younger, I used to have this pink composition notebook with stickers all over it. It also had suggestions like, "keep out" and "private" written on the cover. It was my very own дневник diary. This word can also be used to mean datebook, but today I am using it as diary.

Here are some example sentences:

Каждый день я пишу в своём дневнике.
Every day I write in my diary.

Маша спрятала дневник под кровать.
Masha hid her diary under the bed.

Мои личные днeвники дома, в коробке.
My personal diaries are at home, in a box.

Анна рассказала мне о дневниках из Франции.
Anna told me about the diaries from France.

The Russian word for Christmas is Рождество, which comes from the verb родить “to give birth.” Here we have the text in which the Wise Men seek out Jesus (Matt 2:9-11). The text on the left is from the Russian Synodal Bible, which uses pre-revolutionary spelling. The text on the right is from the King James Bible.

The word так has several uses. It can imply things like "eh, so-so," or "like so" or "as it is." Today I'm focusing on the ways to use it to mean that way or like that. It's almost like an invisible arrow that points something out.

Here are some examples:

Так не поднимают тяжелые коробки.
You shouldn't lift heavy boxes like that.

Маша, не надо спорить с профессором. Так нельзя ничего добиться.
Masha, don't argue with the professor. You won't achieve anything that way.

Так и случилось.
That's just how it happened.

— Как я могу носить эту шляпу?
— Вот так, как на манекене.
“How can I wear this hat?”
“Like that, like on the mannequin.”

Так тебе и надo!*
That's what you get!

*This is the Russian version of "Serves you right."

Nobody likes chores. And everyone has that one chore they despise above all others. I would rather be tied to a chair and forced to watch reruns of “Barney and Friends” than iron clothing. Thank goodness I live in the century of electric dryers. The Russian word гладить means to iron or press.

Я ненавижу гладить одежду.
I hate to iron clothes.

Что вы гладите?
What are you ironing?

Я глажу мою юбку.
I am ironing my skirt.

Железный человек гладил рабочую униформу.
Iron Man was ironing his work uniform.

http://www.tshirtbordello.com/Ironing-Man-T-Shirt

* Although гладить translates to iron it has nothing to do with the metal, iron. For that you would use железо.

The Russian word for drugstore is аптека. Interestingly enough, it is related to the English word apothecary. The Ancient Greek prefix απο- meant ‘away’ and the root -θηκ- meant ‘put’, so αποθηκη meant a place you put something away, i.e., a storehouse. From Greek the word went into Latin as apothēca with that same meaning. Eventually the word went into German as Apotheke and into Baltic German as Apteke. Somewhere along the way its meaning specialized into a storehouse for spices (culinary and medicinal) and thence into medicinal spices, whence we get the modern meaning of pharmacy/drugstore. Incidentally, you can see a similar meaning to this day in the Finnish word apteekki and the Swedish and Norwegian word apotek. See how wonderful Russian is? It prepares you to be a tourist in Scandinava as well as Russia! The word declines like this:

Russian drugstores and American drugstores are very different. Russian drugstores primarily sell drugs and perhaps specialized infant formula. And for the most part you don't need a prescription. For instance, this last summer in Russia I came down with giardiasis. A doctor advised metronidazole. I went to the pharmacy, said the name of the drug, and they gave it to me. No prescription necessary. Despite the lack of written prescriptions for most drugs, the word pharmacy behaves pretty much like any other word, without any particular grammatical quirks:

American pharmacies nowadays are more like convenience stores than pharmacies, although of course they still sell medicine. But if I wake up at 2:00 a.m. with a craving for chocolate milk, where do I go? To the 24-hour pharmacy on the corner. When I need to quickly buy a couple batteries, where do I go? The pharmacy on the corner. A cheapo t-shirt? A birthday card? Perfume? A USB flash-drive? Yup, I go to the drugstore. Of course, that's not the cheapest place to go, but when you need a quick and dirty purchase, the pharmacy is even better than 7-11 or Circle K.

I am not a morning person. Heck, I'm not an anytime-before-noon person. So waking up this morning at 5 a.m. was not fun. But you know what made it better? I made сырники for breakfast. There is no real American name for them, so in English I would just write syrniki. These are a Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Polish staple. Basically they are little fried pancakes made of farmer's cheese. In fact, the root of our word is the Russian word for cheese-сыр. And like any good Russian dish, you can eat it with sour cream on top. Personally, I just sprinkle some sugar on the сырник and I'm good to go. Here's my simple recipe(there are variations)

• Some farmer's cheese ¹
• 1 or 2 eggs
• Some flour
• Sugar to taste
• Dash of salt
• A pinch of baking soda with a tiny bit of white vinegar, so it foams. (I swear it adds a lightness)

Mix all the ingredients to a cookie dough-like consistency. Roll about a tablespoon of the mixture in some flour and form thin patties. Fry in vegetable oil until golden.

It's the simplicity and low cost of this dish make it so popular.

Моя мама научила меня правильно готовить сырники.
My mom taught me the right way to make syrniki.

Я пожарила сырники, и их хватило на всех.
I fried up syrniki, and there were enough for everyone.

Ой! Этот сырник с изюмом!
Oh! This is a syrnik with raisins!

Что мне делать с оставшимися сырниками?
What should I do with the leftover syrniki?

¹ Don comments: Russian actually make сырники from творог, a milk product that resembles a soft cheese. Farmer's cheese is the closest equivalent in American grocery stores (if they have it at all). Творог is not considered a type of сыр, which is why the first time I saw someone make them in Russia, she said: «Мы их называем сырниками, хотя в них сыра нет» “We call them syrniki, although there isn't any syr in them.”

The Russian word for ‘how’ is как. When you start studying Russian, you first encounter it in “How are you?” phrases:

Since the word asks about the manner in which something is done, we call it an adverb. Since it poses a question we call it an interrogative adverb. In the following sentences the word is an interrogative adverb. In English we often use the pronoun ‘you’ or ‘I’ or (if you are really pedantic) ‘one’ in sentences that ask how to do something. Similar sentences in Russian often ask usе an infinitive construction:

Soon it will be Christmas, so of course in the US turkey is of everyone's mind almost as much as it is at Thanksgiving. In Russian, turkey is индейка. Going strictly by the sound of the word, I believe there is a connection in the name of our rwotd to the bird's origins in the New World and American Indians. My first tasting of turkey didn't happen until after I immigrated to the States. It's just not that popular a meat in Russia. But my mom, being a talented cook, sure did learn how to roast a mean stuffed turkey.

Моя мама приготовила вкусную индейку.
My mom made a delicious turkey.

Катин младший брат боится индеек.
Katya's little brother is scared of turkeys.

Весь ноябрь Американцы говорят об индейке.
All November long Americans talk about turkey.

Индейка, фаршированная рисом, моё любимое блюдо.
Rice-stuffed turkey is my favorite dish.

I had my mom and great aunt over for tea this evening. This got me thinking about how much Russians love tea. We will have it with meals, after meals, and even between meals. And if you are going over to someone's house, chances are you will be offered tea. There are a couple of things one must have for proper tea. The first of course is чай tea (usually the loose leaves, no teabag), and the second is our word of the day чайник a teapot.

Моя мама дала мне стеклянный чайник.
My mom gave me a glass teapot.

У Маши коллекция интересных чайников.
Masha has a collection of interesting teapots.

Извините, где я могу найти чайники?
Excuse me, where can I find the kettles?

Сколько воды в чайнике?
How much water is in the teapot?

Don adds: Here is a piece of American trivia for Russian readers. Although Americans drink less tea than Russians, there is one song known to absolutely every American child that is called “I'm a little teapot.” The words are:

Of course there are movements to the song as well. Here's a cute example from YouTube:

I had technical issues today. Which is incredibly frustrating during finals week. This afternoon my компьпьютер began to blink and have mouse issues.

Aren't these the very inventions meant to make our lives easier? Компьютер is Russian for computer. Yep, another one of those wonderful words that are very similar in both languages!

Here's how it declines:

And some examples:

Что с твоим компьютером?
What's with your computer?

Мой компьютер сломан!
My computer is broken!

Знаете ли вы разницу между этими компьютерами?
Do you know the difference between these computers?

Есть ли интернет на вашем компьютере?
Do you have internet on your computer?

In the end it came down to uninstalling and then installing an updated driver, and tada! I am able to blog again. No thanks to tech support for a company that shall remain nameless.

The Russian noun развод means divorce. It declines like this:

Many uses are very similar to the English use of the word:

One difference is that the phrase «в разводе» is used where in English we say “have/had been divorced”:

People growing up in the fifties and sixties in the US considered divorce a shameful thing, an admission of personal and moral failure. Nowadays it is so commonplace, I scarcely blink an eye when I hear of divorce. So am I surprised that there is a site named razvody.ru that popularizes news of divorce? No, I'm not surprised. But it does make me think there is something wrong with our attitudes toward relationships.

I remember back in the old days, the 90s, everyone I knew had at least one карта in the glove-box. This means map in Russian. And I don't know anyone who carries a paper version these days.

Мне нужна карта Сан-Диего.
I need a map of San Diego.

Катя, возьми карту метро, чтобы не заблудиться.
Katya, take a subway map so you don't get lost.

The second translation of карта is card. What kind of card? Well, that depends on the adjective preceding it.

Звуковая карта- Sound card
Кредитная карта- Credit card
Дебетовая карта- Debit card

Банк одобрил мою кредитную карту.
The bank approved my credit card.

Давайте играть в карты.
Let's play cards.

This last sentence demonstrates a way to use the plural, Карты. This could mean, many maps, but with the verb играть “to play” it commonly refers to playing cards.

Now here is word that is interesting. It describes a piece of furniture standing in a room that hold either books or clothes or something else. It usually has doors on it. It declines like this:

Actually, that's not the entire declension. Шкаф is one of those words that distinguish the locative case singular from the prepositional singular. In other words, if you are saying in/on the piece of furniture, the form of the word after the prepositions в/на is шкафу.

For us Americans this seems an odd piece of furniture. After all, if you are hanging up clothes, you use a closet. If you are laying them in a piece of furniture, then you use a chest of drawers. If you are putting books somewhere, then it is a bookshelf. Why do the Russians use a different piece of furniture? I suspect it has something to do with old European taxation schemes. If you make a separate tiny room to hang clothes in (a closet), that room counts as a separate room for taxation purposes. So if you want to hang your clothes in Europe, then the most cost effective way is to buy a flat and then add a piece of furniture to it for that purpose. In British English I'm guessing the best word for such a piece of furniture is ‘wardrobe,’ which is neatly reflected in one of the translations of C. S. Lewis's well-known book “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” which came out in Wikipedia's Russian translation as «Лев, колдунья и платяной шкаф». Probably the best word for such a piece of furniture in current AmE is ‘armoire.’

Here are some sample sentences:

My favorite fruit is the strawberry- клубника. When I was a very young girl in Russia, we had a neighbor who used to grow them in her yard. So my love of the red berry developed early. I will admit to being picky and preferring things with real strawberries over anything that is strawberry-(shudder)flavored.

Я обожаю клубнику.
I adore strawberries.

Notice in that sentence I am using the accusative singular to mean "strawberries." In most situations, people will assume you are speaking of more than one strawberry. The way in America when one says “strawberry pancakes,” we can be pretty sure it is not pancakes with a single berry on top. The most common words for most other berries work the same way; that is, the singular form means “berries en masse”:

У меня так много клубники, что нет места в холодильнике.
I have so many strawberries, that there is no room left in the refrigerator.

I am also quite convinced that any dessert is improved by adding strawberries to it. For example, Crème Brule with a fresh strawberry on top is heaven.

Крем-брюле лучше с клубникой.
Crème Brule is better with strawberry.

And there is nothing in the world like a fresh strawberry dipped in some high-quality dark chocolate. Yum!

Я не могу жить без клубники.
I can't live without strawberries.

Don comments: As mentioned above, most berry words in Russian are singular words that encompass quantities of the berries; i.e., they are singularia tantum like the word ‘money.’ Such words induce singular verb and adjectival agreement, and they generally cannot be used with cardinal numbers. In other words, just as in English you cannot say “one money” or “two moneys,” so in Russian you are not supposed to say «одна клубника» or «две клубники» in the sense of “one strawberry” or “two strawberries.” (Some people still do say it, though.)

Amazingly enough, conversational Russian has a couple of other words that mean “a single berry of the type клубника,” and they are клубничка and клубничина. Thus one can say одна клубничина, две клубничины, одна клубничка, две клубнички.

The Russian word весь can be translated as ‘all,’ “the whole” or “the entire.” It declines like this:

One of the most common uses of this word is with the four times of day. When it is used with them, the time phrase is in the accusative case:

Of course the word can also be used with things that aren't time phrases:

Back in the seventies American television had a little spasm in which it thought that blurbs between TV shows on Saturday mornings should be educational. There was “Bicentennial Rock” as 1976 approached, and there was “Multiplication Rock” and even “Grammar Rock.” Grammar Rock rocked! And of all the songs none was better than “Conjunction Junction”:

♪ Conjunction Junction, what's your function? ♫
♫ “Hookin' up words and phrases and clauses.” ♪

Of course, that was before “hooking up” acquired a different meaning... If you haven't ever watched the video, do it immediately or end up a grammatical imbecile.

In Russian there are three conjunctions that give us Americans fits, and they are но, а and и. The reason they give us fits is that in American English we mostly use two conjunctions in their stead, ‘and’ and ‘but,’ but they don't line up quite the way we Americans might expect. Today we will talk about «а». The conjuction «а» can be translated as ‘but,’ ‘and’ or ‘whereas.’ Probably the first rule of thumb for us AmE-speаkers is that if you are contrasting subjects in a sentence, you want to use «а» not «и»:

I don't mean to say that the only time you use «а» is when subjects are contrasted, but this is a good idea to start with.

The Russian word она can be translated into English as she or it. It is translated as she when referring to a human being. It is translated as it when referring to an inanimate object. When referring to an animal, it can be translated either as she or it. The word is declined like this:

Here are some sample sentences:

Actually, sometimes она and its other case forms can be translated as ‘them.’ How can that be? Well, it turns out that many berries and vegetables in Russian are referred to by feminine singular collective nouns. When that is the case, it is best to translate them with they/them. For instance: