Archives for: "February 2009"
Анекдот, шутка
The words анекдот and шутка can both be translated into English as joke, but they don't mean the same thing. A joke that you say out loud that has a punchline is анекдот. When you replace the salt in the salt shaker with sugar, that's шутка. Russians… more »
Пока (наречие)
The word пока can also be used as an adverb that means “in the meantime, for the moment, for now.” — Значит, ты вёл себя совсем по-идиотски, правда? — Пока не буду говорить об этом, ладно? “So, you acted like a complete idiot, right?” “I'm not going to… more »
Пока (прощание)
Another meaning of пока is "see you later": Ой, уже поздно. Я пойду. Пока! Oh, no, it's getting late. I'm out of here. See you later! If you count the syllables of that dialog, you see that Russian only takes 10 syllables to say what English says in 15… more »
Пока не (союз)
Yesterday we discussed one of the uses of пока in sentences where it means “while.” Sometimes you may encounter a clause that contains both пока and the negative particle не. The first time you see such a thing, you might produce a first-guess… more »
Пока (союз)
The word пока is a conjunction that means “while.” It can be used with verbs in the past, present, or future: Папа готовил ужин, пока мама убирала в гостиной. Dad made dinner while Mom cleaned up the living room. Каждое утро, пока я одеваюсь, брат… more »