Categories: "Grammar"

Один, тот же

by Don  

There are several ways in Russian to express the idea of “the same” in the sense of “the same house” or “the same country.” One way is to use один (which is also used as a cardinal number), and another way is to use «тот же». For instance, if you are just starting a conversation, you could say:

Мы с Димой живём в одном доме. Dmitri and I live in the same building.

Oddly enough, in that context you cannot say «в том же доме». What's the difference? Essentially it's this: in order to use «тот же» the noun must have previously been mentioned in the conversation. For instance:

Дима раньше жил в доме № 17 на улице Плеханова. Моя бабушка жила в том же доме. Dmitri used to live in building #17 on Plekhanov street. My grandmother lived in the same building.

Another example. If you are for the first time mentioning your transportation over the weekend, you might say:

Мы с Таней ехали в Санкт-Петербург в одном вагоне. Tanya and I went to St. Petersburg in the same train car.

But if you have already mentioned the train car, then you use the other phrase:

Во втором вагоне шумели два хулигана, но слава Богу в том же вагоне были четверо милиционеров, которые их уняли. In train car number two there were a couple of punks making noise, but thank heavens there were four policemen in the same car who quieted them down.

Of course, the phrases can be used in other cases as well:

Мы с братом влюбились в одну девушку. Не можешь представить себе, как это было сложно. My brother and I fell in love with the same girl. You can't imagine what a mess it was.
Моя сестра была арестована молодым милиционером, и через неделю я был арестован тем же милиционером. My sister was arrested by a young policeman, and a week later I was arrested by the same policeman.

Sometimes один and тот же combine into a single phrase «один и тот же», but we'll save that phrase for another time.

Ходить

by Don  

Ходить is the most generic word in Russian that means “to go.”

to go
Imperfective
Infinitive ходить
Past ходил
ходила
ходило
ходили
Present хожу
ходишь
ходит
ходим
ходите
ходят
Future буду ходить
будешь ходить
будет ходить
будем ходить
будете ходить
будут ходить
Imperative ходи(те)

Because it implies travelling under one's own power (that is, not using some device or animal for transportation), we often translate it “to walk”:

Моей дочке лишь восемь месяцев, а она уже ходит! My daughter is only eight months old, and she is already walking!
Я начал ходить в три года. Это было очень поздно. I started walking when I was three. That was pretty late.
Люди ходят, змеи ползают, а птицы летают. Я хочу быть птицей! People walk. Snakes slither. Birds fly. I want to be a bird!

The verb is also used in sentences where someone regularly goes somewhere.

Дима набожный парень. Он ходит в церковь каждый день. Dima is a pious guy. He goes to church every day.
Два раза в неделю я хожу на рынок за овощами. Twice a week I go to the farmers market for vegetables.

The verb is also used to describe the motion of someone walking around a place with no set goal or direction, e.g. walking around a park for pleasure, walking around the city, or going here and there among shops:

Мы два часа ходили по парку. Воздух был так чист, и солнце так красиво светило, и на душе у нас было легко. We walked around the park for two hours. The air was clean and the sunshine was so pretty that everything in the world seemed right.
— Что вы делали вчера?
— Мы ходили по магазинам на Арбате.
“What did you do yesterday?”
“We shopped on the Arbat.”

Last but not least, the verb is used to indicate a single round-trip in the past. In this usage it implies that the person is no longer at the place mentioned.

Папа ходил в аптеку. Dad went to the pharmacy (and then came back).
— Ты был в библиотеке?
— Нет, я ходил к бабушке.
“Were you at the library?”
“No, I went to Grandma's.”
— Что вы делали вчера?
— Мы ходили в кино.
“What did you do yesterday?”
“We went to the movies.”
— Ты вчера ходила в мавзолей Ленина?
— Ходила.
“Did you go to Lenin's Tomb yesterday?”
“I did.”

Russian verbs of motion have the reputation of being quite difficult. Certainly they take some practice, but if you just calmly, slowly, and methodically work on them, particularly identifying what contexts they are used in as we did here, then you can certainly master them.

Here is a list of the fifteen verbs of motion. They are usually taught in verb triplets, not pairs. If you want to work on these verbs, I suggest Muravyova's “Verbs of Motion in Russian” if you can still get it, and also William Mahota's “Russian Motion Verbs for Intermediate Students.”

На (часть четвёртая)

by Don  

The next use of the word на with the accusative case is equivalent to the English word “by” in contexts where you are comparing one thing to another.

Моему брату сорок три года, а мне сорок восемь лет. Значит, я старше его на пять лет. My brother is 43 years old. I'm 48. That means I'm older than him by five years. ¹
Ростом я сто восемьдесят три сантиметра. Мой брат сто семьдесят восемь сантиметров. То есть, я выше его на пять сантиметров. I'm 183 centimeters tall. My brother is 178 centimeters. That is, I'm taller than him by 5 centimeters.
Новгород находится в четырёхстах девяноста километрах от Москвы, а Санкт-Петербург на сто сорок километров дальше. Novgorod is 490 kilometers from Moscow, and St. Petersburg is 140 kilometers farther.
У Бригама Янга было пятьдесят пять жён, а у Джозефа Смита было лишь сорок четыре. Значит, у Смита было на одиннадцать жён меньше, чем у Янга. Brigham Young had fifty-five wives, whereas Joseph Smith had only forty-four. That means that Smith had eleven wives less than Young. ²

That last example brings us to an interesting point. When you are counting differences in numbers of people, you get the following quirk with the numbers two, three, and four:

Детей у Смирновых пятеро, а у Ивановых только трое. Значит, у Ивановых на два ребёнка меньше, чем у Смирновых. There are five children in the Smirnovs' family, but there are only three in the Ivanovs'. That means the Ivanovs have two kids less in their family than the Smirnovs.

If this were the true accusative after на in this meaning, we would expect «на двух человек» or «на двоих людей», not «на два человека». Other examples:

Ежеминутно в США прибывает на два человека больше, чем эмигрирует. (source) Every minute two more people arrive in the US than emigrate from it.
Нижегородцев-миллиардеров в 2008 году стало на три человека меньше. (source) In 2008 there were three billionaires less in Nizhni Novgorod [than in the previous year].
Небоевые потери российской армии в июне 2009г. составили 23 человека, что на четыре человека меньше, чем в мае с.г.
(source)
Russian Army noncombat losses in June 2009 were 23, which is four people less than in May of this year.

This shows us one of two things: either a) the accusative case is not entirely stable in modern Russian, or b) на in this meaning actually uses a separate case that is minimally distinct from the accusative. I argued for the latter in my doctoral dissertation, although the former is probably true as well.


¹ Yes, I know that the “correct” way to say it is “I'm older than he,” but any normal American is going to say “I'm older than him.” It's time for the pedants to catch up to the living language: “than” has become a preposition in such contexts.
² Yes, I know that the “correct” way to say it is “eleven wives fewer,” but normal people don't talk that way. It's time for the pedants to catch up to the living language: “less” is perfectly normal these days when dealing with count nouns.

На (часть третья)

by Don  

The next use of the word на with the accusative case is equivalent to the English word “for” in some contexts. For instance, when you are talking about what you ate for a particular meal:

На завтрак я ел овсяную кашу. I ate oatmeаl for breakfast.
На обед мы ели печень. For lunch we ate liver.
— На свадьбе что будет на закуску?
— Ну, бутерброды с икрой, солёные огурцы, кабачковая икра, бутерброды с колбасой, сало, маринованные грибы, салат столичный, грибная икра, холодец, шпроты, бутерброды с сыром, винегрет, тёртая морковь, и квашенная капуста.
— Гм. Мало. Хочешь, я тебе помогу?
“What appetizers will there be at the wedding?”
“Well, caviar canapés, pickles, squash pâté, sausage canapés, fatback, marinated mushrooms, Capital salad, mushroom pâté, aspic, sardines, cheese canapés, beet salad, shredded carrot salad, and sauerkraut.”
“Hm. That's not very much. Want me to help you?”

When you put aside money for a particular purpose, на plus accusative also works:

Я сберёг шестьсот рублей на покупку породистой кошки. I have saved up 600 rubles for the purchase of a pedigreed cat.
Вот тебе деньги на цветы. Купи маме что-нибудь красивое. Here's some money for flowers. Buy Mama some nice ones.
Какой ты плохой отец! Не кормишь своих детей, но у тебя всегдя есть деньги на водку. What a bad father you are! You don't feed your own children, but you always have money for vodka.
Каждый день я откладываю мелочь на новое платье Every day I put aside some change for a new dress.

На (часть вторая)

by Don  

The second meaning of the preposition на is “on” in the sense of “onto.” In this meaning it is complemented by the accusative case.

Поставь вазу на подоконник. Put the vase on the windowsill.
Грузовик въехал на пристань, грузчики начали выгружать его. The truck drove onto the dock, and the stevedores began to unload it.
Кошка запрыгнула на стол и опрокинула чайник на пол. The cat jumped up on the table and knocked the teapot onto the floor.
Серёга, я привязал пару верёвок к папиной машине. Мы будем держаться за верёвки, запрыгнем на скейтборды, a мой брат будет нас тянуть за собой по двору! Sergei, I attached a couple of ropes to Dad's car. We'll hold onto the ropes and hop on our skateboards, and my brother will pull us all over the neighborhood!¹

¹ Двор and neighborhood are not really the same thing, but for this example it should work.

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