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Exploring Derivation in the Russian Language: A Path to Lexical Richness

The Russian language, known for its lexical richness and grammatical complexity, offers a captivating playground for linguists and language enthusiasts alike. One of the prominent features contributing to its lexical opulence is the process of derivation. Derivation is a morphological process that engenders new words by adding prefixes, suffixes, or infixes to existing words, thereby altering their grammatical category or meaning. This process is a linchpin in broadening the Russian vocabulary and enabling nuanced expressions. Let's delve into the multifaceted world of Russian derivation: 1. Derivation through Prefixation:    Prefixation is a common derivational process in Russian, often altering the verb's aspect or adding a new shade of meaning. For instance, the verb "писать" (to write) can morph into "переписать" (to rewrite) or "записать" (to record) with the addition of prefixes. 2. Derivation through Suffixation:    Suffixation, another corn
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Animals in Russian: female or male

Unlike English, where the generic animal is always “it”, in Russian language animal character always have a gender. For example, a wolf is a masculine word so generically referring to a wolf, we say “he”. This has a reflection in the fairytales where characters are clearly masculine or feminine. For a russian, the gender is defined by the word itself. If it has “a” or “ я ” in the end then it’s feminine. But it’s a bit hard to choose the right one when you translate from English into Russian. Especially given that gender of national fairitale charecters can be different. Animal In Russian Default gender The opposite gender In Russian Context and use Fox Лиса F M Лис Foreign concept, brought from English fairytales Cat Кот , Кошка M , F - - Both are strong characters, never interchangeable in the fairytales. I’d say кошка sits at home, кот travels around. Cat on the w

Учить или выучить? Understanding perfect and imperfect verbs

Sometimes memorizing it is not enough. Sometimes you need to know why language works this way. There is always a simple explanation in the grammar, but there are language vibes too. Let’s say we have 2 pairs of verbs with quite raw translation: Готовить (to cook) – приготовить (to have cooked) Читать (to read) – прочитать to read (to have read) Учить (to learn/teach) – выучить (to have learned) The first word in a pair is related to the continuous and generic process. It can be non-specific. As я читаю I read. When it is specified it normally refers to a continuous tense. Я читаю книгу . I am reading a book. There can be Я читаю that equals to I am reading, but ther shall be a clear context to it, like "What are you doing? I am reading " Что ты делаешь? Я читаю. The second word in a pair is a perfect verb. It is specific about the action that has been done. Я выучил урок . The only case when clarification is omitted is when it is known for sure. And it soun

How to learn Russian alphabet?

Russian is quite an easy language to learn. Basically the moment you learn Cyrillic – you can read. As there's no any special reading rules. But for many people learning new alphabet seems to be a challenge. While you can easily google the alphabet itself and it's phonetics, I came up with an easy way to practice your reading skills. You see, in Russia a lot of brand names are transliterated into Cyrillic, letter by letter. Of course, chains try to avoid it when they can, but in the end, it is required by Russian legislation. So start practicing your Cyrillic by recognizing these brands Старбакс Макдональдс Пицца Хат Кока-кола Пепси Данкин Донатс Бургер Кинг Папа Джонс Баскин Роббинс Венди’с

What to do on a weekend?

Within the couple of last months, I’ve been digging into the theory of learning, trying to find out more on core principles of how our brain obtain new information. There is a specific person whose lections have pushed me into that direction, a Russian one, so if you are up to 90 minutes’ lecture in Russian I encourage you to check this video of Tatiana Chernigovskaya . For those who are not that far into Russian yet I’ll share several brief points. So, how can you learn more efficiently? Try to use the language on daily basis , no matter how deep and long. So switch your phone and laptop into Russian and enjoy the new level of security you'll get as a bonus. Or shall I suppose that your roommate speaks Russian as well? Our brain is a champ in sorting and erasing whatever does not make much sense for him. So, take extra effort and if you want to remember the new topic you’ve just learned just d o a homework. My sincere apologies for advising something that’s not very cool, a

You lived in Russia for too long, if...

This list was spread across mailboxes a while ago - and it's all TRUE. My comments are inline. 1. When crossing the street, you sprint. Historically so. Recently penalties for drivers improved the situation and at least in Moscow drivers might wait when you cross. What's interesting: my husband, who is a driver, once payed a penalty, now he always wait for people to cross. Most of people does not believe he let'll them cross and looked at car like he stopped to ran over. 2. In winter, you choose your route first by determining which icicles are least likely to impale you on the head. Not fun. This winter my friend has seen a man killed by icicle in the city centre in my hometown. No such danger in Moscow though. 3. You give a 10% tip only if the waiter has been really exceptional...meaning he/she smiled or said hello, got up from their chair to take your order, got your order right, and the restaurant actually had what was on the menu. Yep. If restaurant doesn't cost y

GMAT, russian version

Every year millions of russian kids pass final exams (for school). Results of this exams could be counted in universities as prelimanary examination. This thing varies from school to school and I still don't understand 100% why this practice was implemented (in my time we used to have 2 different exams - one when you finish school, second when you apply to univercity). ЕГЭ (integrated state exam) is something that you know as GMAT, though with many specific things. Talking about GMAT -the most different thing for russians is the logic in task explanation. So most likely you will have similar problems with our ЕГЭ. I have 2 links for you to practice: http://ege.yandex.ru/ has mini-tests http://www1.ege.edu.ru/content/view/700/278/ has full demo-version of tests