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21
votes
2 answers
What does "-с" suffix mean?
When reading Dostoyevski's books I often find characters that use a manner of speech that adds "-с" and the end of the words. What does it mean? Is it used to convey some emotion or is it characteristic of some social class dialect?
zefciu
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21
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Does Russian have patronymics of foreign names?
Can foreign names be used as a basis for patronymics?
If, for example, an Englishman whose first name is Donald becomes a citizen of Russia and has a son there, will that son have the patronymic Доналдович? And does François' son become…
oz1cz
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What does "Бошетунмай" mean?
My friend (St. Petersburg born and raised) recently got a tattoo:
I asked him what БОШЕТУНМАЙ ("Boshhetunmai") meant, and he said it was the refrain from a song that very much impressed him in his youth, the 1986 hit Бошетунмай by Кино (Kino) from…
Dan Bron
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21
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9 answers
Is there a word that starts with "ы"?
I remember from my school years that there is no such thing as a word that starts with 'ы'. Is this true? If so, is there something fundamental that prevents this from happening? If no, can anybody give an example?
Trident D'Gao
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20
votes
6 answers
Possessive constructions: "мой" vs. "у меня"
What is the difference between the following sentences:
Мой папа в командировке.
У меня папа в командировке.
How can I explain to foreign students when to use "мой" or "у меня"?
Olga
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20
votes
6 answers
Automatic stress marking of Russian text
I'd like to be able to take any piece of Russian text and have the stress marks automatically added. I think this would be a useful tool for learners, but I can't find a site that does this. Is there one out there? If there isn't, I'd even…
z7sg Ѫ
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20
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7 answers
Russian words for magic. Etymology, usage and connotations
Something that I realised early on when learning Russian were the different words Russians would use where an English speaker would just say magic:
The first word I came into contact with was волшебство and the associated волшебник ("wizard") and…
theSkinEffect
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20
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4 answers
General rules for stressing words the right way
Твóрог or творóг?
How do I know which pronunciation is right without looking it up in the dictionary?
Trident D'Gao
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20
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3 answers
What does "флуд" mean?
As a member of Charcoal HQ, I get to see a lot of strange messages from across the entire Stack Exchange network. Today, this 'answer' was posted on our sister site
Русский язык:
флуд_________________________________________
The same thing was…
Glorfindel
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20
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What does the word "да" mean in "Иван да Марья"?
I read about a flower which is called "Иван да Марья". I am assuming, that "Иван" and "Марья" are Russian names, since they start with capital letters and "Марья" sounds like an English name "Maria". What does "да" mean though? I know of it as…
L_Pav
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4 answers
Why do I keep seeing зову́т for third person singular?
I've seen phrases like Как его зовут? in several places, but when I look up зовут, it appears to be the third person plural. Why is it being used for the singular, here?
Jack M
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19
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6 answers
Is it odd to say "До свидания" to somebody if you are unlikely to ever meet them again?
I have a habit of saying 'До свидания' (Au revoir; until we meet again) when terminating a conversation. Would this seem strange if I'm not likely to actually meet that person again, such as a clerk, a stranger asking for directions or just somebody…
kotekzot
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19
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4 answers
19
votes
7 answers
Why "лук" is a mass noun while "огурец" is not?
In Russian, we use some fruit and vegetable names as mass nouns and don't form plural for them:
Салат с луком / капустой / клубникой
while the others do form plural:
Салат с огурцами / кабачками / артишоками / помидорами
Also, if you ask…
Quassnoi
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19
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Миш, Кать, Ань, пап, мам — what is it in an address?
When I am addressing someone and say:
Кать, приходи в гости в воскресенье
is Кать just a spoken reduction of Катя, or is it a separate grammatical form?
texnic
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