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1500 questions
6
votes
2 answers
What do I call a Hue, a Shade, a Tone and a Tint in Russian?
So, I have read this article about color theory that explains the meaning of several English words:
Hue: any Primary or Secondary color other than white or black, which means Yellow, Orange, Red, Violet, Blue and Green, but can also mean a mixture…
R.I.P.30.12.21Baskakov_Dmitriy
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6
votes
3 answers
Pairs of words differing only in a soft sign
When I was taking my ten week Russian course years ago, I ran across an MP3 with sample sounds. The pair that got me very worried was Борис vs Борись. At the time, I could hear only the vaguest difference between those sounds, much less be able to…
Lester Buck
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6
votes
2 answers
Participle clause x main clause agreement
This is again from the B2 exam that I am trying to prepare for. The question is:
Всесторонне обсудив тему...
А) работа была начата
Б) было произведено начало работ
В) можно начинать работу
Г) работа началась
Why is В) the right answer? Would A) be…
Alister G
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6
votes
1 answer
Одушевлённость шахматных фигур
Являются ли слова вроде ферзь одушевлёнными?
С одной стороны, ферзь отвечает на вопрос "что", а не "кто".
С другой, склоняется это существительное, по крайней мере в ед. ч., как одушевлённое: потерял ферзя, а не потерял ферзь.
А во множественном…
user31264
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6
votes
3 answers
From the B2 Russian exam - why сдавать and not сдать домашнее задание?
This is a question from the B2 Russian exam.
Я очень рад: домашнее задание сегодня можно не
а)сдавать
б)сдать
The correct answer is listed as (a). Why? It's a one-time action, and doesn't have any continuous quality. Any help would be appreciated.
Alister G
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6
votes
1 answer
Difference in usage between “здание,” “сооружение” & “постройка”
I it my understanding that all of these mean a building, as in “man-made structure.” However, I have been told that сооружение and постройка are rather technical. What do they really mean? How are they used?
MrVocabulary
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6
votes
2 answers
Управление "не существует" - именительный или родительный падеж?
Какое из предложенний построенно корректно? Почему?
"Лампа не существует" И.П.
"Лампы не существует" Р.П.
6
votes
3 answers
Are "тянуть" and "растягивать" equivalent?
I've noticed that some imperfective verbs are converted to the perfective by just adding a prefix. However and oddly enough, sometimes there's an alternate imperfective formed from an internal modification of the prefixed verb itself!
I'm not taking…
swrutra
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6
votes
2 answers
What determines the usage of the three stress patterns of the past form "начался"?
I've seen на́чался, начался́, and нача́лся listed as past forms of this verb. However, there's no explanation as to when one form is used over another. Is it a matter of register? Are some of the forms preferred over others in literary style vs.…
Clint Burgess
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6
votes
1 answer
What is the difference between "миновать" and "минуть"?
According to the dictionary, миновать is both perfective and imperfective. So I'm having trouble reconciling минуть: Does it indeed form part of the (hypothetical) verb pair минуть - муиновать, or is it considered a separate verb altogether? Also,…
CocoPop
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6
votes
2 answers
«повести бровью» vs. «повести бровями»
С английским выражением «he raised his eyebrows / he didn't even raise his eyebrows» обязательно следует, строго говоря, поставить существительное «eyebrows» во множественное число.
С точки зрения логики и имеет больший смысл повести обеими бровями…
Con-gras-tue-les-chiens
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6
votes
4 answers
How do you address a university teacher whose father's name you don't know?
There is this Russian language teacher I knew way back, and took his classes. He's a bit of a stickler about forms of address. I expect to meet him again in person in a few months.
How do I address him - in Russian?
I know his first and last names,…
Abu Dhabi
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6
votes
4 answers
In Russian, how do you say "shall we say, graduated" euphemistically?
I’ve...shall we say, graduated from my life as a hacker.
I want to say this in Russian, and I'm not sure how to idiomatically express the "shall we say, graduated" bit with euphemism. Rather than putting it bluntly: "I've quit", the verb…
Con-gras-tue-les-chiens
- 11,319
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6
votes
1 answer
Comma in "Не знаю, что вам сказать"
I'm not sure if I need a comma in the following phrases:
Не знаю что сказать.
Не знаю что вам сказать.
To me they seem to be similar to the phrases "Тут есть над чем подумать" "Тут есть что посмотреть" but the ruscorpora.ru search shows that…
farfareast
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6
votes
3 answers
в чдачах и в нечдачах
А есть на этойм плакате несколько слов, незнакомые мне, и которых не найдётся б в словарях.
Суть
в чдачах и в нечдачах
(разве это просто опечатка? имелось слово "удачах" ввиду?)
чничтожим
(разве это точно таже опечатка?)
также слово "нащего"…
Omar and Lorraine
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