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Difference between "куда там" and "где там"?

When would you use one over the other—in what cases? I've looked at dictionary entries but I don't see, or feel any difference, but there must be one. See Link for reference
VCH250
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Я вижу + numeral + noun - governed by what case?

Я ви́жу одного́ ма́льчика. (I see one boy.) Я ви́жу два до́ма. (I see two houses.) Я ви́жу двух ма́льчиков. (I see two boys.) I often get confused with the cases. As far as I know, after "видеть", we need to use the Accusative Case. I really…
xpr34
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What part of speech is "нельзя"?

What part of speech is "нельзя"? I see so many Russian dictionaries say it is used as a predicative complement (предикатив), but none of the ones I saw would "dare" state it as an adverb (наречие).
brilliant
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Difference between "прах" and "пепел"

Is there any significant difference between the nouns прах and пепел. I understand they both refer to ashes, but are they completely interchangeable?
CocoPop
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"Playing Chicken"

If someone would be so kind as to answer this question, I would be grateful: In American English we have a phrase "playing chicken" to indicate people or groups opposing each other on a collision course, whereby one or both groups would change…
Dalton
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Пряность vs специя

Last week I visited a restaurant called Пряности и радости and a shop Индийские специи. This leads me to ask: Is there any difference between the words Пряность and специя? The Oxford Russian English Dictionary yields spice for both words.
Martin Peters
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What is "Э оборотное"?

Today I heard from my friend "Э оборотное". I still do not understand why he called it "оборотное". Is there a secret letter "э", which only Russian native speakers know about, which is turned the other way, or could it be written both ways? Maybe,…
L_Pav
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"Wallet" in Russian

What's the best/proper way to express wallet in Russian? I've asked my Russian speaking friends and they say кошелёк or портмоне. Google Translate suggests бумажник. What are the differences?
ycele
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пришлось / мне нужно было

I've always used мне нужно было to mean I had to / it was necessary to but today I came across мне пришлось which seems to mean the same thing. I can't find it in a dictionary but it looks like a past tense form. Google translates it as I had, but…
Echilon
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Заканчивать versus кончать

Is there a difference between заканчивать/закончить and кончать/кончить? Or are they interchangeable?
ycele
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Reason for infrequent usage of оно

I have not seen оно many times when reading Russian, but it seems like это is used in its place a lot. Does оно serve a separate purpose? Because it does mean "it" and it seems as though it is seldom used.
casey
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"Палка о двух концах"

Почему в словосочетании "палка о двух концах" используется такой странный предлог? Я ещё нашёл "человек есть животное о двух ногах, лишенное перьев" Платона. Предлог о раньше значил также с?
se0808
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Is there a better way to express "I will give it a try"

I was told that it is possible to use: "Я попробую" when referring to "i will try" (to answer the question). I know that the verb: "попробовать" means "to try". Is there some other phrase/s that could be used and that is/are perhaps more commonly…
Ева
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How to say "turnoff" in Russian

Turnoff is a word that is used when you've suddenly loose interest in something. For instance, a woman goes on a date with somebody and this somebody get drunk too much. Than she can say something like "Sorry, but your behaviour was total turnoff".…
shabunc
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Pronunciation of "всегда" and other words beginning in "вс"

I listened to various pronunciations on Forvo, Wiktionary and various dictionaries with audio files. To my (untrained) ear it always sounds as if the "в" is silent and not pronounced at all. That being said, the IPA is [fsʲɪɡˈda] and that suggests…
Em1
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