Archives for: "November 2009"
На (часть первая)
The first meaning of the preposition на is “on.” In this meaning it is complemented by the prepositional case. Книга на столе. The book is on the table. Я забыл свой бумажник на полке. I left my wallet on the shelf. Вова спокойно наблюдал, как комар на… more »
Дублёнка
One of the most important and valued items in a Russian’s wardrobe has been the warm, soft and heavy sheepskin/lambskin coat known simply as дублёнка. Russians have always prized this particular garment very highly because it can keep one cozy on cold… more »
Болеть (hurt, ache)
Russian has a verb болеть which means “to hurt, ache,” and another verb болеть which means “to be ill.” That's right: their infinitives are spelled exactly the same, although they are conjugated differently. Today we will discuss the former.
The… more »
Гоголь-моголь
Some words always bring a smile to my face, like higgledy-piggledy, hurlyburly, hullabaloo, and floccinaucinihilipilification. Now I have a new one from Russian: гоголь-моголь. Гоголь-моголь is a dish made of raw egg yolks beaten with sugar. If your… more »
Это (часть вторая)
One interesting and very common use of unchanging это is to refer to a situation broadly. Consider this sentence: Я всю ночь не спал из-за шума. Это опять были наши соседи. I didn't sleep all night because of the noise. It was our neighbors again.… more »