Там

by Don  

The Russian word for ‘there’ in the sense of being located ‘there’ is там.

— Разве ты не знаешь, что Серёжа служил в Афганистане?
— Серьёзно? Удивительно, как он там выжил.
“Didn't you know that Sergei served in Afghanistan?”
“Really? I'm amazed he survived.”
— Я очень люблю Москву.
— Правда? А я считаю, что там живут только подлизы и негодяи.
“I really like Moscow.”
“Really? I think only brown-nosers and jerks live there.”

Of course, it's used in much simpler sentences as well.

Там сегодня нет лука. “There are no onions there today.”
Я там не был. I've never been there.

The one thing we as Americans have to be careful about is not to use the word when talking about going ‘to’ a place. In other words, you can't say in Russian «Я там езжу каждое лето» “I go there every summer.” For that sense we have to use туда, which we will address in the next couple of days.

No feedback yet


Form is loading...