{"id":3353,"date":"2020-07-15T19:52:05","date_gmt":"2020-07-15T19:52:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=3353"},"modified":"2021-06-02T09:40:44","modified_gmt":"2021-06-02T09:40:44","slug":"9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Surprising Facts About the Russian Language"},"content":{"rendered":"

So you\u2019ve learned about the rise and fall of the USSR, you\u2019ve read Tolstoy\u2019s War and Peace, <\/i>and you\u2019ve even listened to some operas by Tchaikovsky. But how much do you really know about the Russian language? Did you know that astronauts have to learn Russian before going into space? Or that Russian speakers are better at differentiating between shades of blue than English speakers? If you want to learn more fun and surprising facts about this richly fascinating language, read on.<\/p>\n

\"interestingfacts_russian1\"<\/a>Image via Anton Zelenov<\/a> \/ Wikipedia<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. The verb \u201cto be\u201d only exists in the past and future tense.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Some languages (e.g., Spanish) have multiple ways of saying the verb \u201cto be\u201d, whereas others (e.g., Arabic) lack the verb altogether. Russian, however, is unique in that \u201cto be\u201d (\u0431\u044b\u0442\u044c) exists, but it\u2019s never used in the present tense. Rather, it\u2019s only found in past- and future-tense constructions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. All adjectives have multiple syllables \u2013 with one exception.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Many Russian words consist of one syllable or even just one character. However, virtually all adjectives have two or more syllables. The only exception is \u0437\u043b\u043e\u0439, <\/b>which means \u201cangry\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. Russian is the most widespread language in Eurasia.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

With over 170 million native speakers, Russian is the eighth most-spoken language in the world. However, due to Russia\u2019s enormous size, native Russian speakers cover the greatest geographical reach out of all the languages in Eurasia. It even beats out China, which has over seven times as many speakers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. A word\u2019s stress pattern can drastically alter its meaning.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Russian, where the emphasis falls on the word is important. For example, \u044f \u043f\u043b\u0430\u0447\u0443 <\/b>\u2013 in which emphasis is on the second <\/i>syllable \u2013 means \u201cI\u2019m paying\u201d. However, \u044f \u043f\u043b\u00e1\u0447\u0443 <\/b>\u2013 in which the emphasis is on the first <\/i>syllable \u2013 means \u201cI'm crying\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. If you want to be an astronaut, you have to learn Russian.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Due to Russia\u2019s presence in space technology, and especially in the International Space Station, it\u2019s now a requirement for foreign astronauts to have a working knowledge of Russian. So, if you want to go to space, you better crack open your Russian dictionary in between studying for astrophysics exams, or you\u2019ll have to stay down on earth!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How good is your Russian? Put your skills to the test with this <\/i><\/b>free online level test<\/i><\/b><\/a> and find out!<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6. About 10% of Russian words bear resemblance to English ones.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hopeful astronauts can breathe a sigh of relief: though the Russian language\u2019s six cases can be a challenge to memorise, about one in ten Russian words is very close to a similar word in English. For example, \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0431\u043b\u0435\u043c\u0430 <\/b>(pronounced \u201cproblema\u201d) means \u201cproblem\u201d, and \u043a\u043e\u0444\u0435 <\/b>(pronounced \u201ckofi\u201d) is \u201ccoffee\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"interestingfacts_russian2\"<\/a>Image via Sansculotte<\/a> \/ Wikipedia<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7. There\u2019s a rule against Russian words starting with the letter \u201cA\u201d.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Since the earliest times, native Russian words almost never start with the letter \u201cA\u201d. Some notable exceptions include \u0430\u0437\u0431\u0443\u043a\u0430 <\/b>(alphabet) and \u0430\u0432\u043e\u0441\u044c<\/b> (perhaps), but these exceptions are far and few in between. If you see a Russian word that starts with \u201cA\u201d, there\u2019s a good chance that it\u2019s borrowed from another language.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

8. Russian surnames vary by gender.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Russian names consist of a first name, a family name, and a patronymic name, which is the father\u2019s name plus the ending -ovich <\/b>for a son and -ovna <\/b>for a daughter. So if a father named Ivan has a son and a daughter, his son\u2019s patronymic name will be Ivanovich and his daughter\u2019s will be Ivanovna.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

9. Russian speakers outperform English speakers at distinguishing shades of blue.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unlike English, in which the line between \u201clight blue\u201d and \u201cdark blue\u201d is fuzzy, the Russian language splits the colour blue into completely different words: \u0441\u0438\u043d\u0438\u0439 <\/b>for dark shades and \u0433\u043e\u043b\u0443\u0431\u043e\u0439<\/b> for lighter shades. As a result, it\u2019s been found that Russian speakers can distinguish and categorize different shades of blue more accurately than English speakers.<\/p>\n

Even if you\u2019ve made it through the thousand-plus pages of Anna Karenina, <\/i>we bet you didn\u2019t know about the prohibition against words starting with \u201cA\u201d, or how to form boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 patronymic names!<\/p>\n

Indeed, Russian is a beautiful language that is full of quirks and oddities. Want to learn more about Russian? Listen & Learn offers face-to-face and online Russian classes tailor-made to suit your level and needs. Check out our course and package options<\/a> or send us a quick inquiry<\/a> to find out more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So you\u2019ve learned about the rise and fall of the USSR, you\u2019ve read Tolstoy\u2019s War and Peace, and you\u2019ve even listened to some operas by Tchaikovsky. But how much do you really know about the Russian language? Did you know that astronauts have to learn Russian before going into space? Or that Russian speakers are(\u2026)<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t \t\t\t\tCONTINUE READING »<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":3355,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humour-offbeat","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n9 Surprising Facts About the Russian Language<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Check out these 9 fun facts about the Russian language!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"9 Surprising Facts About the Russian Language\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Check out these 9 fun facts about the Russian language!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Listen & Learn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-15T19:52:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-02T09:40:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/interestingfacts_russian1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paul\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/\",\"name\":\"9 Surprising Facts About the Russian Language\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/interestingfacts_russian1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-15T19:52:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-02T09:40:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5fc3ab17291407c655c9d1b0477c094a\"},\"description\":\"Check out these 9 fun facts about the Russian language!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/interestingfacts_russian1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/interestingfacts_russian1.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":333},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"9 Surprising Facts About the Russian Language\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Listen & Learn\",\"description\":\"Language Courses and Language Services UK\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5fc3ab17291407c655c9d1b0477c094a\",\"name\":\"Paul\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86f723954879251b89b91c55f995d0e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86f723954879251b89b91c55f995d0e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Paul\"},\"description\":\"Paul is a New York-based expat living in Buenos Aires. He enjoys playing piano, watching tango, and eating dulce de leche by the spoonful.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/paulmains\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"9 Surprising Facts About the Russian Language","description":"Check out these 9 fun facts about the Russian language!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"9 Surprising Facts About the Russian Language","og_description":"Check out these 9 fun facts about the Russian language!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/","og_site_name":"Listen & Learn","article_published_time":"2020-07-15T19:52:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-06-02T09:40:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":333,"url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/interestingfacts_russian1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Paul","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paul","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/","name":"9 Surprising Facts About the Russian Language","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/interestingfacts_russian1.jpg","datePublished":"2020-07-15T19:52:05+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-02T09:40:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5fc3ab17291407c655c9d1b0477c094a"},"description":"Check out these 9 fun facts about the Russian language!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/interestingfacts_russian1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/interestingfacts_russian1.jpg","width":500,"height":333},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/9-surprising-facts-about-the-russian-language\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"9 Surprising Facts About the Russian Language"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/","name":"Listen & Learn","description":"Language Courses and Language Services UK","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5fc3ab17291407c655c9d1b0477c094a","name":"Paul","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86f723954879251b89b91c55f995d0e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86f723954879251b89b91c55f995d0e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Paul"},"description":"Paul is a New York-based expat living in Buenos Aires. He enjoys playing piano, watching tango, and eating dulce de leche by the spoonful.","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/paulmains\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3353"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3353"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5598,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3353\/revisions\/5598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}