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1500 questions
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What circumstances led to the dramatic change in the Russian language between the 17th and 18th centuries?
The language of the 19th century (even at its beginning), judging from the poetry and prose of Pushkin and Lermontov, was much the same language that we speak today. If somebody decided to compose something similar today, they would arrive at much…
Anixx
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Which word in Russian has the longest consonant cluster?
I've heard about this word
контрвзбзднуть
which has 9 consonants in a row. Obviously this word doesn't exist. Which real word(s) has the longest consonant cluster?
Armen Tsirunyan
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Почему говорят "вострить лыжи"? Why the "skis" are being "sharpened"?
Впервые я встретил это выражение в сказке Шарля Перро "Синяя Борода":
Он узнал братьев своей жены - один служил в драгунах, другой в конных егерях, - и тотчас навострил лыжи; но братья нагнали его, прежде чем он успел забежать за крыльцо.
Тогда…
Artemix
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Why "доброе утро" but "добрый день"
what is the difference between Доброе and Добрый? Both mean the same but when we say good morning we use the former instead of the latter , as per this site http://masterrussian.com/blday_greeting.shtml
Debanjan Chakraborty
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Как правильно пишется фраза «почему ? неизвестно»
Как правильно пишется фраза «Почему ? неизвестно», где знак ? обозначает место где, как мне кажется, может быть какой-то знак препинания?
Земля вращается вокруг Солнца. Почему ? неизвестно.
user1306322
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Why does she say "Я понимаешь" and not "Я понимаю"?
I've heard people say "понимаешь" when they clearly intend to mean "I understand", such as in this line from the Serebro song Не Время:
Я понимаешь, я это чувствую потом мы всё наверстаем, я предчувствую
Why is it "Я понимаешь" and not "Я…
Isa
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What's the meaning of the word "расходилась" in Tolstoy's story ''Прыжок''?
One of the phrases in Tolstoy's story ''Прыжок'' ('The Leap') is:
Обезьяна эта корчилась, прыгала, делала смешные рожи, передразнивала людей, и видно было - она знала, что ею забавляются, и оттого ещё больше расходилась.
I translated this as 'This…
ermatveit
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Before 1957, what word or phrase was used for satellites (natural and artificial)?
In 1957, Sputnik was launched. The word "sputnik" can be used for satellites in Russian or English.
Before 1957, was "sputnik" used that way? Did Russians have a different word or phrase?
I'm interested in natural and artificial connotations. For…
DrZ214
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1 answer
Is "ж" palato-alveolar or retroflex?
As a native Portuguese speaker, I was told "ж" in Russian is pronounced like the Portuguese and French "j" (IPA: ʒ), a voiced palato-alveolar fricative.
However according to Wikipedia the Russian "ж" is a retroflex fricative (IPA: ʐ). Is this the…
Orion
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How to translate «disclaimer» into Russian?
I think that «отказ от прав» is very clumsy and «предупреждение» didn't cupture the sence thought even here (https://russian.stackexchange.com/) it used widely in cases where second choice is more appropriate.
Aleksandr Zonov
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How to say "work out" in Russian
I want to say: "Let's work out together." There is a girl I see sometimes in the outdoor gym in the park I work out usually.
I helped her to adjust some of the equipment and now when she sees me she smiles and nods and sometimes watches me to work…
user14500
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7 answers
How should I translate "the fighting boar" in Grenfell's poem into Russian?
My Russian teacher, whom you know by his tough approach to teaching the language, strongly pushed me to try to translate English poems into Russian, and we agreed I'd have a look at Hymn to the Wild Boar by Grenfell and see what I can do. So here I…
Mitsuko
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Не справился с управлением транспортным средством/транспортного средства?
What way is correct here?
... водитель не справился с управлением транспортным средством
or
... водитель не справился с управлением транспортного средства
brilliant
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Why do Russians sometimes spell "жирный" (fatty) as "жырный"?
I noticed that Russians sometimes incorrectly spell жирный as жырный, even despite that the rule "spell жи and ши with и" is one of the most basic Russian orthography rules. I also see that Google gives a large heap of results for жырный.
Apparently…
Mitsuko
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