Archives for: "July 2009"
What we can learn from a cow's death
Last week we discussed the four verbs most commonly used to mean “to die” in Russian: умирать/умереть, погибать/погибнуть, скончаться, and сдыхать/сдохнуть. If you have mastered those, you are able to express pretty well all the most standard shades of… more »
Погибать/погибнуть
There is one more significant word for “to die,” which is погибать/погибнуть. It means “to perish” and communicates the idea that the death was tragic. Sometimes it seems to add the idea of nobility or heroism. It is conjugated like this: to perish… more »
Сдыхать/сдохнуть
When an animal dies, the word Russians usually use is сдыхать/сдонуть, which conjugates like this: to die (said of an animal) Imperfective Perfective Infinitive сдыхать сдохнуть Past сдыхал сдыхала сдыхало сдыхали сдох сдохла сдохло сдохли Present… more »
Скончаться
When people are grieving it feels harsh to use the word умирать/умереть for “to die.” In those contexts it's better to use the verb “to pass away,” which in Russian is скончаться. It only exists in the perfective with that prefix, but… more »