Archives for: "February 2009"
Качок
Качок is gym slang for a guy who is trying to put on a ton of muscle: Как правило качками называют бодибилдеров. As a rule body-builders are called “качки.” For a neat reference of body-building terminology and gym slang, see this forum. more »
Фамилии-прилагательные
There are many, many Russian last names that end in -ский and its variations. Good students will note that it looks like an adjectival ending, and in fact such names decline exactly like the adjective русский. The first name, of course, still declines… more »
Стойка на голове
The Russian phrase for а hеаdstand is стойка на голове. Examples: Каждое утро я по десять минут делаю стойку на голове. Every morning I do headstand for ten minutes. Мой друг уже около двадцати лет выполняет стойку на голове. My friend has been doing… more »
Покупать/купить
The verb pair покупать/купить means “to buy, purchase”. Notice that the imperfective has the prefix по- and the perfective does not. to buy Imperfective Perfective Infinitive покупать купить Past покупал покупала покупало покупали купил купила купило… more »
Фамилии на -ин, -ын, -ов, -ев, -ёв
Фамилия means last name or surname. It does not mean family. Native Russian last names often end in -ов, -ёв, -ин or -ын for men; the feminine forms add -а. Thus when a husband and wife share a last name, the husband could say his last name is Смирнов… more »