The verb pair приходить/прийти is usually translated as “to arrive, come.” First, a quick reminder of how the verb conjugates. Note that the -й occurs only in the perfective infinitive:

Previously we discussed how to say one arrived at a place, but how do you say you arrived from a place? That depends. You will recall that there are three different words for ‘to’ in Russian, and they are в, на and к. The default word is в. If you go to a place using в, you come back from it using из + genitive:

If you go to a place using на, then you come from it using с + genitive:

If you have returned from seeing a particular individual, then you use от + genitive:

Beware of one potential problem when translating from English to Russian. Let's say you are walking across campus and spot your friend. In English you might say “Where are you coming from?” A Russian will never use the verb приходить/прийти in this context. Instead they just use идти:

My favorite letter of the Russian alphabet has always been Ж. When I was younger I called it "the bug letter" because it kind of looks like a bug. Conveniently, it is also the first letter of the Russian word for bug, жук. The plural of our word is, жуки. To be precise, the word means beetle, a type of insect that has hardened wing-coverings:

Жук полетел прямо на меня!
The beetle flew right at me!

If the context does not demand scientific precision, then one might use the word ‘bugs’ in English translation:

Ещё три жука влетели в комнату.
Three bugs flew into the room.

Since I am terrified of bugs, if the above examples were in real life, I would be running out of that room. Especially if the жук were a cockroach. Blech!

The diminutive form of the word is жучок in the singular and жучки in plural. You can use this form if the bug is tiny or if the context is informal. Diminutives of animal words are also often used when talking to children or when children are talking about animals.

Дима смеялся над Машей, потому что она убежала от жучков.
Dima laughed at Masha because she ran away from the bugs.

Это всего лишь маленький  жучок!
It's just a little bug!

In American slang we often refer to a minor sickness as a bug; Russians don't do this. So if you say “У меня жук в желудке” to mean “I have a stomach bug,” then Russian people will think that you literally you swallowed a beetle.

Today my second-year Russian students encountered the word надолго, which means ‘for a long time.’ Despite knowing what the word meant, the students had a difficult time translating it well in actual sentences. It turns out not only human beings have trouble with these sentences. I typed the question «Таня надолго пришла в библиотеку?» into a couple of online translation apps, and this is what they came up with:

babelfish.yahoo.com: Tanya is for a long time alien into the library?

translate.google.com: Tanya came in for a long time library?

When I finally stopped laughing, I understood it was time discuss approaches to translating it. Let's start by glossing the sentence word for word:

The context of the sentence is that Tanya is now at the library and someone else at the library is asking a third party a question. The sentence means “Has Tanya come to the library for [the purpose of spending] a long time [here]?” There are a couple ways to put this in English that more or less corresponds to the Russian original, and they are:

Sentences A and B probably sound normal to some speakers of English. They sound slightly awkward to me, and they also have the potential of being misinterpreted as meaning “How long has Tanya been coming to the library?” But the main problem with them is this: when we want to ask in English how much time someone intends to spend in the place they have just arrived at or just departed for, we most commonly phrase the question quite differently. The most normal way to ask these questions is not to use a motion verb at all, but instead use a plain verb "be" or the verb "stay":

Let's say you are a translator. These sentences will put you in a bit of a pickle, and to resolve it, you will have to consider your target audience. If your target audience for the translation consists of people who have the regrettable desire of getting translations that maximally reflect the wording of the original, then you want to choose translations modeled on A or B. But remember this: the purpose of a professional translation is to accurately reflect the communicative goals of the original text/speech, and a professional one should always flow decently in the target language. The best professional translation will choose C, D or E. Sad to say, there are times when a really professional translation is rejected by an unsophisticated purchaser, and to get paid we translators have to dumb it down to a more awkward translation. Such is life. Not much you can do about it.

Let's take a look at five more sentences from our textbook. First we will give a word for word gloss and then a good translation.

Сок is the Russian word for juice.

This week I bought myself a juicer. Not just any juicer, but the one from the infomercials- Jack LaLanne's Power Juicer Deluxe!

Я купилa соковыжималку высшего класса.
I bought a high quality juicer.

It was very exciting! Ok, I admit it, I love gadgets. But this one is going to change my life, I just know it. From now on, I will drink healthy. Just think of the vitamins!

Всё, с сегодняшнего дня я сажусь на соковою диету.*
That's it, I am going on an all-juice diet, starting today.

Now it was time to try out my wonderful, new, health-making juicer. So I made a vegetable juice and a fruit juice. Unfortunately, the veggie was a failed experiment. It just wasn't yummy. The fruit juice on the other hand, was a complete success!

Я сделала очень вкусный сок из яблок, апельсинов, и сливы.
I made a delicious juice out of apples, oranges, and plums.

Having completed my juicer tests, it was time to clean up. This meant taking the machine apart and doing my least favorite chore: washing dishes.

Hmmm, I think it's time to take a short break from the Juicer Deluxe. Maybe I'll change my life and get healthy next year.

За неделю все соки мне надоели.
Within a week, I was sick of all juices.

*As you may have noticed, when speaking of "going on a diet," Russians will say that they are "sitting on a diet." Almost as though they will sit down and not budge from said diet.

I love driving. Especially in Arizona. I often joke and say that I would drive to the mailbox if it weren't attached to the house. But in New York, it's a whole other story. I absolutely, most definitely will not drive in the city. Aside from the lousy traffic, parking is nearly impossible.

Трудно найти парковку в Нью- Йорке.
It's hard to find parking in New York.

Even worse, when you do finally find a spot, it's always about three blocks away and parallel. Here in my sunny state, you learn to parallel park pretty much just to pass the drivers test. I know, I know; I'm spoiled by the abundant spaces and easy parking.

Я не люблю параллельную парковку.
I don't like parallel parking.

Another comparison between New York City and Phoenix is the cost. Most parking is metered in New York. Whereas in Phoenix…

Парковка всегда бесплатная.
Parking is always free.

Ok, almost always free. But still, it is cheaper. Sometimes though, parking can still be a pain. Because no matter where you go, there is always someone who is terrible at parking.

Он паркует Хаммер, как будто он владеет всем миром.
He parks his Hummer as if he owns the world.