Most Popular
1500 questions
6
votes
2 answers
Difference between "свою" and "твою"?
How to explain the difference to someone who's not a native Russian speaker?
Example:
Ты любишь свою маму?
Ты любишь твою маму?
The second example sounds a bit wrong.
Kirakishou
- 63
- 3
6
votes
2 answers
Why do stress patterns often match between cognates in Russian and Ukrainian?
I sometimes find myself looking up Russian words on wiktionary and following the etymology of the word upstream to find what words it is related to, as you do. I think I've noticed a peculiar thing: in words of the same origin, the Eastern Slavic…
Einheri
- 347
- 2
- 6
6
votes
2 answers
"Остаться" or "остановиться"
How are these sentences any different, in principle, and would it be a big mistake to use them interchangeably in conversational language?
I stayed there for half an hour -
Я там остановился на полчаса
I stayed with them for a week -
Я остановился…
Штефан
- 528
- 2
- 11
6
votes
5 answers
Is "с днём рождения, старый пердун" acceptable?
I would like to congratulate someone I know well for his 50th birthday.
Would the following be considered good, ok, bad or very bad?
С днем рождения, старый пердун!
yglodt
- 169
- 4
6
votes
2 answers
"для / на одного человека" — When to use "на" or "для", respectively, in the sense of "for"?
It seems to me that in some cases the preposition на is used in the sense of for where I would use для. In the following two examples I would use the preposition для, but apparently this is only true for the former example.
Сколько стоит комата для…
Em1
- 1,658
- 2
- 15
- 32
6
votes
2 answers
Use of "ею" instead of "ей" in instrumental
My grammar book states (as quoted below) that ею is preferred to ей in the instrumental case for educated speech. Is it worth using this form in everyday speech?
Я слежу за нею.
Дракон летит над нею.
и тд
And as a side note, when should (can) I use…
VCH250
- 3,497
- 1
- 14
- 28
6
votes
6 answers
Order of adverbs and position of subject
I recently read a lot about word order (it makes life so much easier). But I have the following question:
It's said that for adverbs the following order is normal— Time, Place, Manner.
But, if for example, I have a huge stack of adverbs (just…
VCH250
- 3,497
- 1
- 14
- 28
6
votes
2 answers
What role does "что" play in— почти что/ только что/ пока что и т.д
I'm pretty good with grammar, but I've never been able to see the point of the что in constructions like these. Why is it there?
E.g.,—почти что/ только что/ пока что/ разве что/ и т.д.
VCH250
- 3,497
- 1
- 14
- 28
6
votes
4 answers
Meaning of "одна морда чего стоит"
I found this in a book and have no inkling of what it can mean, and nothing in dictionaries to help me understand. Any ideas?
Сама знаю, что зря. Мужика у меня уже Святая Дева знает сколько не
было. С тех пор, как год назад Альберто убили. И уж…
CocoPop
- 8,301
- 2
- 17
- 38
6
votes
4 answers
Насколько архаично слово "магнитофон"? Что сегодня используется наиболее часто вместо него?
Мой задачник часто использует слова "слушать магнитофон". Насколько архаично слово "магнитофон"? Что сегодня чаще употребляется? "МР3-плеер"? "иПод"? "сотовый"? (как слово и как технология)
Я не уверен в точном переводе слова "магнитофон" - "tape…
Chill2Macht
- 3,071
- 3
- 14
- 38
6
votes
3 answers
When to use Genitive in comparatives?
So we can use either Genitive or чем when making comparisons. My question is, when should I prefer one over the other?
Я круче его.
Я круче, чем он.
Я знаю это лучше тебя.
Я знаю это лучше, чем ты.
Она красивее той девушкой.
Она более Красивая,…
VCH250
- 3,497
- 1
- 14
- 28
6
votes
3 answers
Which case to use with "выглядеть"
In principle we can use:
Он выглядит как дурак; дураком
or
Он выглядит хорошо, хорошим, как хороший X
Which structure is best, or how do they differ in meaning?
I also read this in Толковый словарь Ушакова:
ВЫ́ГЛЯДЕТЬ2, всё более входящий в…
VCH250
- 3,497
- 1
- 14
- 28
6
votes
3 answers
When do you use про and when о?
When do you use про and when о? (about). Are they synonyms in all contexts?
EDIT: I discovered Usage of "про" instead of "о"
Apologies!
Johan
- 443
- 2
- 9
6
votes
5 answers
6
votes
4 answers
Meaning of штатный and внештатный?
Штатный appears in contexts referencing "staff" and "standard" (dissimilar words in English).
What is the best way to grasp the meaning of word штатный? Is it only used in specific technical set phrases?
The other half of the question is…
iAndelin
- 353
- 2
- 9