Archives for: "April 2009"
Быть (have, there is/are)
Every once in a while when you are studying a foreign language, you have to learn to do some grammatical contortion and say something in a way that seems bizarre in contrast to your native language. For us English speakers, learning how to say “have” in… more »
Быть (predicate adjectives)
The verb быть is also used in sentences with predicate adjectives. You may recall that in copular sentences (“to be” type sentences), the subject is the thing you are talking about. The predicate is everything else: John wants to be healthy. John will… more »
Быть (predicate nouns)
The verb быть is also used in sentences with predicate nouns. What is a predicate? In copular sentences (“to be” type sentences), the subject is the thing you are talking about. The predicate is everything else: John wants to be a doctor. John will be a… more »
Быть (location)
In Russian the most common verb for the “to be” concept is быть. It is imperfective in terms of meaning, but it is unique in that it is the only imperfective verb to have a simple future form: to be infinitive быть Past был была было были Present - -… more »
Жаворонок, сова
In English we have several words for a person who likes to go to bed early and get up early: morning person, early riser, early bird. People who like to go to bed late and get up late are night people or night owls. If you go to a Russian dating service… more »