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1500 questions
24
votes
4 answers
How frequently do Russian people still refer to others by their patronymic (отчество)?
I'm American, and so almost all of the Russian people I know are ex-Soviets, most of whom are very traditional and many of whom have impeccable manners. As such, I think that I may have an overblown view of how often people refer to others using…
Fred E
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24
votes
9 answers
Russian word for a male zebra
Let's suppose I am writing a fictional but realistic story about a male zebra.
Here is the problem. On the one hand, the grammatical gender of the Russian word "зебра" is feminine, so it is ungrammatical to write "зебра поскакал" and "полосатый…
Mitsuko
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24
votes
13 answers
What is the difference between "теперь" and "сейчас"
It seems to me that these two words have the same meaning. The dictionary doesn't help much, it gives them as synonyms. Although the meaning of "сейчас" is more general and can refer to past events:
"Мы сейчас смотрели фильм" - We have just seen a…
Olga
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23
votes
2 answers
What's the first person singular future of победить
What is the first person singular of победить in future tense? The other person-numbers have obvious forms such as:
ты победишь, мы победим, они победят, вы победите, он победит, я ???
The obvious "победю" hits the ear wrong. Of course one could…
Armen Tsirunyan
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23
votes
6 answers
The history and meaning of "ни фига себе"
I understand how the expression is used pretty well, but wonder where did it come from?
What exactly does фиг mean?
JAM
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23
votes
3 answers
Difference between "мир" and "свет"
What's the difference between мир and свет to mean world? When would one use one over the other, and are there any set expressions where these are not interchangeable?
Philip Seyfi
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23
votes
3 answers
Direct object of negated verbs takes which case?
I was reviewing an older Russian textbook today, and it says that the genitive case has to be used for the direct object of negated verbs. For example: I don't see the table ("Я не вижу стола"), and not Я не вижу стол.
But most of the newer Russian…
Tom
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23
votes
5 answers
Racist language in Russia/USA
I really hope this question doesn't get deleted or flagged, so to make sure it doesn't I will try to keep it as academic as possible.
I am currently an American student studying in Saint Petersburg and several times I have been shocked by the use of…
Rocket Man
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23
votes
6 answers
Why do Russians call a joke a stake (прикол)?
In modern Russian, прикол is a very frequently used word and means a joke, a funny incident, or just anything funny, but the original meaning of this word is very different: a stake to which a ship, a tent, or an animal is tied. At least, only such…
Mitsuko
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22
votes
12 answers
Why do some say "на Украине" and others "в Украине" and what is correct?
Can anyone explain? Is there some rule for when to use на and when to use в?
Ted
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22
votes
4 answers
Is there a Russian equivalent of "red flag"?
In English, the term red flag is used as a metaphor to mean a sign suggestive of a possible danger or problem:
(1) Boyfriend not showing you his home is a huge red flag. (Link)
(2) I've just spent the last 3 weeks being scammed by an alleged…
Mitsuko
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22
votes
4 answers
Чаю vs. чая: what ending is correct?
Is чаю or чая more correct in the sentences
Я бы не отказался от чашки ча*
and
Можно мне ещё ча*?
and what's the grammatical explanation?
texnic
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22
votes
3 answers
Is there an unstressed ё?
It's said that the letter ё is always stressed. However, while browsing declension charts for numerals, if I'm not mistaken, I noticed the following:
Трёхсо́т
With a stress mark on the syllable -сот.
So, what does this mean?
The stress is on -сот…
swrutra
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22
votes
6 answers
Quotation marks
Which quotation marks should I use? Some sentences use double-quotes, i.e. "...", while others use double-angle-quotes, i.e. «...».
Obviously, the " is correct in English. However, I am not sure which ones to use in Russian. For example, should I…
ctype.h
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21
votes
7 answers
What is the difference between ы and и?
All other Russian vowels come in pairs, but this pair seems a bit special.
So, how does one pronounce ы and и?
jrouquie
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