It’s common knowledge that Peter the First (sometimes known as “the Great,” though whether he was great is still up for debate) introduced a beard tax (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beard_tax). In short, he did everything he could to get those hairy Russians looking more “civilized.” But beards are not really today’s subject (If you recall, I have a…
Now, before you report me for libeling the “boys in blue,” just trust me for a little while. Imagine that your are an officer with the task of getting cars to slow down in front of, say, a school. What more effective way would their be than to physically force the cars to slow down?…
Recently we talked about reflexive verbs, and we saw that бояться (to be afraid) is in this category. I submit that this verb also, similar to жаловаться, is about an internal action; after all, I could assume that we know the seemingly immortal phrase, “we have nothing to fear but fear itself”; not saying that…
Some of the most basic and yet most important advice I give people who are studying Russian (especially at the beginning, though one should always keep this in mind) is to listen carefully to how something is pronounced and imitate. When someone begins studying Russian (and most textbooks are set up in this way), they…
Or, to translate the Russian way of saying this in a certain more literal sense: “I’m complaining in/to myself on you (Я жалуюсь на тебя).” Жаловаться is “to complain,” and it is what is referred to as a reflexive verb. We will get into further categories below but a basic definition of a reflexive verb…
Today, I'm going to talk about another Russian stereotype: bears. Just like you’ve always been told, bears run wild (and are led on leashes) through every Russian town, village, city, and metropolis. And bears, as everyone knows, like honey (just remember Winnie-the-Pooh). The Russian word for bear, медведь, particularly draws on this connection. This word…
I don’t know about you, but something that I’m constantly asking my wife for is forgiveness (I don’t mean that you might be asking my wife for forgiveness, but that you might be asking your own wife for forgiveness). In Russian, when you ask for something, there are a few different conditions that regulate how…
Anyone who begins studying Russian might come across the word for beard (борода) fairly early on (after all, everyone knows at least two things about Russia: bears and beards* (I won't be so vulgar as to say vodka)). And it is obvious that if you want to tell your friend Egor, who is, naturally, sporting…
As the blog title states, русский лад is "(the) Russian manner," though there are other ways it could be translated, for instance, Russian harmony. But the question is why I chose such a title for this blog and what it's all about. Basically I will be exploring the Russian language through interesting expressions or words…
Русскій ладъ 