Archives for: "December 2009"
Ноль, нуль (часть первая)
Russian has two words for zero, and they are ноль and нуль. For most purposes they are completely interchangeable and decline like this: Sg Pl Nom ноль ноли Acc ноль ноли Gen ноля нолей Pre ноле нолях Dat нолю нолям Ins нолём нолями You will most… more »
Не (часть вторая)
After two weeks of studying Russian every student knows that не means not. Thus «Я не говорю по-русски» means “I do not speak Russian.” Seems pretty simple. Nonetheless, не can sometimes be misleading because Russians often use не in offers/suggestions… more »
Стоять
The verb стоять means “to stand”: Imperfective Perfective Infinitive стоять постоять Past стоял стояла стояло стояли постоял постояла постояло постояли Present стою стоишь стоит стоим стоите стоят No such thing as perfective present in Russian. Future… more »
Злой
Злой is an adjective that beginners trip over for several reasons. First off, it is so short that it looks funny and they can't really believe that it's not longer: Masc Neut Fem Pl Nom злой злое злая злые Acc * злую * Gen злого злой злых Pre злом Dat… more »
Рождество — 2009
The Russian word for Christmas is Рождество, which comes from the verb родить “to give birth.” Here we have the text of the angels' message to Joseph (Matt 1:18-21). The text on the left is from the Russian Synodal Bible, which uses pre-revolutionary… more »