Category: Treatments
Простуда
May 13th, 2010 by Tatiana
Weakness, cough and stuffed nose - we all have experienced these symptoms of the common cold. It ruins your plans and makes it so hard to get out of bed in the morning. Unfortunately, I feel very closely connected to today’s word right now. 
I cannot wait to get over it!
In Russian, the common cold is called простуда. It is a noun of feminine gender.
| — Ты не знаешь, что с Мишей случилось? Он опять не пришёл на урок. — Наверное борется с очередной простудой. |
“Do you know what happened to Misha? He was once again absent in class.” “He is probably fighting another cold.” |
| Из-за моей простуды я уже четвёртый день не встаю с постели. | Because of my cold I haven't got out of bed for four days now. |
| Что вы мне можете рассказать о своей простуде? Какие у вас симптомы? | What can you tell me about your cold? What are your symptoms? |
The adjective formed from простуда is простуженный.
| — Как же ты лекцию читать будешь таким простуженным голосом? — Ничего страшного, не в первый раз. |
“How are you going to lecture with such a husky voice?” “No big deal. It won’t be the first time.” |
There are different methods of treating a cold. I can think of a few now that I remember from my childhood. I think the worst one had to do with garlic and onions. First, naturally, you had to eat a lot of garlic and then hold your head above a pot with fresh cut onions and breathe it in. After that the cold would most likely still be there for a few days, but all self-respecting people and/or vampires would choose to stay away... 
Here's a cute cartoon that shows other methods we treat the common cold with.
Пить
November 17th, 2009 by DonThe Russian verb “to drink” is пить/выпить. It conjugates like this:
| to drink | ||
| Imperfective | Perfective | |
| Infinitive | пить | выпить |
| Past | пил пила пило пили |
выпил выпила выпило выпили |
| Present | пью пьёшь пьёт пьём пьёте пьют |
No such thing as perfective present in Russian. |
| Future |
буду пить будешь пить будет пить будем пить будете пить будут пить |
выпью выпьешь выпьет выпьем выпьете выпьют |
| Imperative | пей(те) | выпей(те) |
The drinker appears in the nominative case, and the thing drunk shows up in the accusative case:
| Пей тёплое молоко перед сном. Ты будешь лучше спать. | Drink warm milk before going to sleep. You'll sleep better. |
| Врачи советуют пить восемь стаканов воды каждый день. | Doctors recommend drinking eight glasses of water a day. |
Just as in English, if you use drink without any particular object, it implies drinking alcoholic beverages:
| — Ты пьёшь? — Нет, не пью. |
“Do you drink?” “No, I don't.” |
| — Твой брат не пьёт? — Нет, не пьёт. Поэтому он такой здоровый. И поэтому девушки от него без ума. |
“Doesn't your brother drink?” “No, he doesn't. That's why he is so healthy. And that's why the girls are so crazy about him.” |
In English we talk about “taking medicine,” whereas in Russian you usually take about “drinking medicine.” The implication is that the medicine is swallowed «с водой» “with water.”
| Не люблю пить лекарства. | I don't like to take medicine. |
| Даша выпила две таблетки аспирина, и головная боль прошла. | Dasha took two aspirin, and her headache went away. |
Укол
October 2nd, 2008 by OlgaThe Russian word for shot is укол. Medical shots are given all over the world to prevent disease and when I was a little child, my parents took me to the doctor to get my immunization shots. I dreaded the days when my parents took me to the doctor врач. I was very scared of needles and every time I walked into the doctor’s office, the smell of it alone was enough to make me nauseated. The doctor told me «сейчас мы будем делать тебе укол» “now we will give you a shot”. I told the physician «Я боюсь делать укол» “I’m scared to get a shot!” but she did not seem to take my worries into account. Despite the painful process, I sat still and quietly while the doctor did her work because I knew that I would be rewarded with a compliment and a present afterwards by my mother.
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