Since рука means both 'arm' and 'hand,' the Russians use other means to distinguish which part of the arm/hand is involved, and often this involves a distinction between the prepositions в and на. If the preposition в is involved, it usually correlates to 'hand' in English; if на, then 'arm.' For instance:

You'll notice that those sentences used the prepositional case; that's because they expressed the location of the thing being held. Russian usually distinguishes motion phrases and location phrases. So if you want to take things into your hands/arms, you end up using the accusative case:

More importantly, if you want to take someone in your arms, the best way to say it is with the verb обнимать/обнять 'to embrace, hug' which you can use without even mentioning руки: «Я её обнял» “I hugged/embraced her.”

For other entries about the word рука, click on the 'ruka' category.

Why does it seem like all the simplest Russian words are complicated? The Russian word рука is usually used in the contexts when English speakers would use the word hand, but it doesn't really mean hand. It means both the hand and the lower and the upper arm. Some other languages do that as well, Ancient Greek, for instance. When Doubting Thomas said

Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

he used the word χείρ for hand which also means both hand and lower arm. Christ's nail wounds might well have been in the forearms or wrists, not the hands.

The stress shifts quite a bit in the forms of this word, depending on case:

Very often when рука combines with a short preposition, the stress shifts to the preposition itself: за руку , на руку, рука об руку, под руку.

Since the word means more than "hand," English equivalents of Russian sentences may have either "hand" or "arm" in their translations. Join me again over the next few days for more detail about рука in phrases.

Other entries about the word рука will be forthcoming. Click on the 'ruka' category to find them as they appear.

The Russian word for cookie is печенье. Making cookies from scratch is a lot of fun for me because I can experiment with different ingredients. Every year, I make a variety of different types of cookies for Christmas to give away to friends and family. I especially enjoy dusting the tops of my cookies with red красный and green зелёный colored sugar to give them a Christmas like appearance. I like sugar cookies because I can cut them out in different shapes such as bells колакола, stars звёзды, Christmas trees ёлки, and snow men снеговики.

Last Christmas, my friend was coming to visit me from California. I wanted to make him a few of my favorite Christmas cookies and wrap them up in a beautiful Christmas box. When he arrived, I presented him with my box of Christmas cookies and asked him to try a few. I was pleased when he said «Как вкусно! Я люблю, когда ты делаешь рождественские печенья!» “How tasty! I love when you make Christmas cookies!” He finished all my cookies within the hour which gave me concrete evidence that he truly liked my cookies.

Don's additional comments: the word печенье is grammatically neuter and singular. It is often used as a mass noun, so Olga's friend could also have said «Я люблю, когда ты делаешь рождественское печенье!» where «рождественское печенье» is singular. The sentence would have meant the same thing. That's right: the English plural word “cookies” is most often translated by the singular Russian word печенье.

The Russian word for apple is яблоко. When I was a child, my aunt planted three apple trees in her back yard. She adored baking and intended to use the apples to make homemade apple pies. A few years went by and the trees began producing an unbelievably large amount of apples. I remember helping my aunt pick the apples off the trees and by the time we were done with one tree, we probably had enough apples to make pies for the whole city. The apples were large and when I took a bite, the flavor was so sweet and the apple so juicy that I immediately fell in love with the taste of my aunt’s apples. I said «Тётенька, твои яблочные деревья производят самые сладкие и сочные яблоки!» “Aunty, your apple trees produce the sweetest and juiciest apples!”. My aunt smiled at me and said «Я думаю, что мои яблочные пироги будут очень вкусные» “I think that my apple pies will be very tasty.”

Because my aunt had more apples than we could use, she often sold them at the market. She said «Ты хочешь пойти со мной на рынок, чтобы продать яблоки?» “Do you want to go to the market with me to sell the apples?” I became very excited every time I went to the market with my aunt because I enjoyed talking to the big crowd of people who came to buy my aunt’s apples.

Don's additional notes: яблоко has an irregular nominative/accusative plural яблоки. The genitive plural is яблок.

The Russian word for beer is пиво. In Russia beer is a very common drink among construction workers, and many beer brewers sell their beer around these locations because of the good business. On a hot summer day many Russians find that cold beer is one of the most satisfying beverages. My grandfather spent most of his life working as a construction worker and found it very rewarding to enjoy a cold beer after work with his friends. He would say «Друзья! Давайте купим пиво сегодня после работы» “Friends! Let’s buy beer today after work”. On weekends I often saw that my grandfather invited his friends for some beer and television.

Beer also can be used as a hair rinse because it promotes hair shine and strength. A few years ago my mother invited a friend to our house while I was getting ready for a night out with friends. I wanted to take a shower and use beer as my hair rinse so without thinking twice, I went to the kitchen and poured some beer into a plastic cup. As I walked past my mother and her friend, I said «Я пойду принять душ» “I am going to take a shower,” and I continued walking with my cup of beer. My mother’s friend stopped me and asked «Почему ты берёшь кружку пива с собой в душ?» “Why are you taking a cup of beer with you to the shower?” I realized how awkward the situation was and began laughing because I knew that I looked funny standing with a robe халат, towel полотенце, and a cup of beer in my hands. I explained this remedy to my mother’s friend, and since then she too has been using this remedy.

Don's additional comments: There are quite a few songs about beer in Russian, among them Ода пиву “Ode to beer” by Тимур Шаов, Пора по пиву “Time for a beer” by А.Ивашенко and Г.Васильев, the rhythm-and-bluesy Холодное пиво by Аквариум, Гимн пиву “A hymn to beer,” and the rock-and-rollsy Пиво “Beer” by Группа Чайф. But the song that makes me laugh the hardest is the frenetic dance tune «Пей пиво» by Дискотека Авария. Click this link to see the video, lyrics, and translation.