Russian Word of the Day

The determinate verb for “to carry” in Russian is нести:

This is a determinate imperfective verb which means it is used to describe motion heading in a single direction. Although it means “to carry,” it is often best translated with variations on ‘take’ and ‘bring’:

The most generic verb for “to carry” in Russian is носить. Note the consonant mutation in the я form:

This is an indeterminate imperfective verb which means it can be used with the preposition по + dative to indicated carrying something here and there, all over the place:

Most indeterminate imperfective verbs can bear the meaning of “go there and back.” Носить is a bit odd in that it really isn't considered good style to use the verb that way. You will find it used conversationally, though, in that sense:

Notice that the translation of the last sentence doesn't contain the word “carry” in it. It is often the case that the Russian verbs of carrying (носить, нести, возить, везти, and the dozens of words derived from them) are best translate with “bring” or “take” in English.

Носить can also be used to take something to a particularly place on multiple occasions:

The most generic perfective verb for travelling by air in Russian is полететь “to fly”:

Perfective verbs like полететь have several different uses. The nature of the perfective verb is to put focus on the result of an action, so полететь can mean “to head off somewhere by air and actually arrive there.” Thus it can be used to describe a series of flights, each one complete:

The verb can also mean “to go and arrive” on a single trip; we see it in that meaning in a headline from Guy Laliberté's recent flight into space. (He is the founder of Cirque du Soleil).

One last use is a colloquial one. It can also mean “I'm gone,” just as побежал and пошёл can.

Another verb for travelling by air in Russian is лететь “to fly”:

This is a determinate (unidirectional) verb of motion, which means it is normally used to indicate a flight currently in progress. Thus if you glance at the sky and spot an airplane, you might say:

If you are a friendly type of person, chatting with your fellow passenger on an aircraft, you might have the following dialog:

Time for a pop quiz: what verb should you use when you see birds in flight? The multidirectional летать or the unidirectional лететь? Come up with an answer, then scroll down to see my response.

The answer is: it depends. Let's say you are sitting on a bench, and you see a bunch of swallows darting hither and thither. In that context you will use the multidirectional form:

But if a mother spots geese going in a particular direction, she will use the unidirectional verb to test her son's knowledge:

The most generic verb for travelling by air in Russian is летать “to fly.” It is a perfectly regular imperfective verb and conjugates exactly like читать:

This is an indeterminate (multidirectional) verb of motion, which means it has several uses. First of all, in the past tense it can mean a completed trip to and from a place:

By using a unidirectional verb in that context, Russian clearly states that Mom is no longer in Moscow. She went there and then departed. Another example:

The verb can also be used of flying generically or of the ability to fly: