Most Popular
1500 questions
7
votes
3 answers
Why is the Gentive in Question—что нового? итд
что нового?
что интересного?
I've read a lot about grammar this year, and nothing seems to fit with this usage.
Is it an abbreviation of some fuller phrase from the past? Many times if one can find the origins of a phrase one can understand its…
VCH250
- 3,497
- 1
- 14
- 28
7
votes
2 answers
Несовершенный вид в значении совершенного
Мы то и дело используем в прошедшем времени несовершенный вид там, где он по базовому смыслу вполне заменим на совершенный, однако контекст требует подчеркнуть, что было выполнено некое предписанное или необходимое действие.
Например:
Номер…
Nikolay Ershov
- 19,285
- 2
- 40
- 80
7
votes
7 answers
How to address a female friend
As a man, how do I respectfully say "Hi there, friend!" to a woman?
I know to a man, I would say
привет, мой друг
Could I use the same thing for a woman? Or can I use...
привет, моя подруга
Which is better?
ddavison
- 518
- 4
- 13
7
votes
2 answers
Etymology of болельщик
I had difficulties in finding a translation of болельщик, and it seems to mean (sports) fan, supporter.
Does this word come from a transliteration as бол of the English word ball ?
Georges Elencwajg
- 826
- 4
- 13
7
votes
3 answers
Откуда знают что "глубь" произошло от "глубокий" а не наоборот?
Мой учебник говорит что слово глубь образовано безаффиксным способом от прилагательного глубокий. Откуда они знают что произошло не наоборот? Что сначала было существительное глубь, а потом появилось прилагательное глубокий. Нужно ли залезать…
mosceo
- 509
- 3
- 8
- 12
7
votes
3 answers
скажите vs подскажите
As I understand it, using the 2nd person ending already makes скажите polite. Is the form подскажите both more polite AND formal? Or do they say the same thing, in the same register, with a different choice of words?
CocoPop
- 8,301
- 2
- 17
- 38
7
votes
4 answers
Use of participles in apposition with nouns
I saw this use of the participle стоящий in the following passage and wondered it if common or even correct, since it so closely follows English syntax and somehow doesn't "feel" Russian to me for several reasons, least of which is the fact that I…
CocoPop
- 8,301
- 2
- 17
- 38
7
votes
2 answers
Is there any difference between "потому что" and "потому как"?
Is there any difference in meaning between these two conjunctions? And can someone come up with a sentence where only one of the two can be used?
So far, I think that потому как is a more colloquial alternative for потому что, but I cannot find…
Olga
- 6,558
- 4
- 30
- 68
7
votes
1 answer
Comma in "нe то чтобы"
Do I need a comma here between "то" and "чтобы"?
... потому как они мясо птиц вообще никогда не едят – нe то чтобы
по каким-то дням.
brilliant
- 5,752
- 1
- 15
- 32
7
votes
5 answers
Why do we need У in "Ножка у сту́ла сломалась"?
In the sentence "Ножка у сту́ла сломалась" (the chair leg broke), why do we need the у? The genitive case on "стул" already lets you know that it's the chair's leg that's broken. More generally, when and why is у used to indicate posession in…
Jack M
- 1,119
- 6
- 14
7
votes
9 answers
How do you ask a guy if he is gay without being offensive?
Is there another way without using the word "гомосексуальный"? Ideally, I would like to say the following...
"Are you also interested in men?" <-- Implying that I'm a man and am curious about this guy's sexual orientation.
Zach
- 71
- 2
7
votes
2 answers
What do I call a hit-and-run situation in Russian?
Hit-and-run is the act of causing (or contributing to) a traffic accident (such as colliding with a person or a fixture), and failing to stop and identify oneself afterwards.
Usage context:
With personal injury or death, hit-and-run drivers of…
Trident D'Gao
- 4,252
- 27
- 45
7
votes
7 answers
Variation in pronunciation of "й" in word-ending "ый"
I have heard two different ways of pronouncing the very common word-ending ый (as in, e.g., чёрный or кра́сный).
The first variant has a barely audible [j] sound after [ɨ].
The second variant has a clearly audible "sh" sound after [ɨ], quite similar…
Em1
- 1,658
- 2
- 15
- 32
7
votes
2 answers
Do quantification adjectives have any effect on metonymy?
Are the following phrases equally acceptable?
a. Он взял автобус в заложники.
b. Он взял весь автобус в заложники.
a. Он съел тарелку.
b. Он съел всю тарелку.
a. Он договорился с домом.
b. Он договорился со всем домом.
I also have a…
Olga
- 6,558
- 4
- 30
- 68
7
votes
6 answers
Translating "you" into Russian for a mobile app
A friend of mine has asked me to translate a few phrases from English into Russian for a mobile app he's developing. Like many other mobile app developers, he wants to strike a friendly, informal tone with users, and I want this to be reflected in…
Edwin McDowell
- 71
- 1