Learn some common verb prefixes in Russian
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Intro |
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| Michael: What are some verb prefixes in Russian? |
| Saodat: And why are they useful to know? |
| Michael: At RussianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following scenario: Ben Lee hears a new word that sounds familiar, but he isn't sure about the meaning. He asks his friend, |
| "What does it [to go out] mean?" |
| Что означает "выйти"? (Chto oznachayet "vyyti"?) |
| Dialogue |
| Ben Lee: Что означает "выйти"? (Chto oznachayet "vyyti"?) |
| Veronika Varchenko: Это означает "to go out". (Eto oznachayet "to go out".) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Ben Lee: Что означает "выйти"? (Chto oznachayet "vyyti"?) |
| Michael: "What does it [to go out] mean?" |
| Veronika Varchenko: Это означает "to go out". (Eto oznachayet "to go out".) |
| Michael: "It means "to go out."" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: A prefix is a letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a stem or root word, which results in the formation of a new word. In English grammar, a prefix is added to a word for the derivation of a new word. The same is true in Russian grammar where a prefix is called |
| Saodat: приставка (pristavka) |
| Michael: In Russian, prefixes are used to form nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. In this lesson, we’ll take a look at some common Russian verb prefixes. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Ben says "What does it [to go out] mean?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Saodat as Ben Lee: Что означает "выйти"? (Chto oznachayet "vyyti"?) |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let’s take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Veronica Varchenko says "It means "to go out?"" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Saodat: Это означает "to go out". (Eto oznachayet "to go out".) |
| Michael: Here, Ben Lee asks Veronica for the meaning of the word, |
| Saodat: выйти (vyyti) |
| Michael: and Veronica tells him that it means “to go out.” The word is derived from the root verb, |
| Saodat: идти (idti) |
| Michael: which means “to go.” Attached to it is the prefix, |
| Saodat: вы- (vy-) |
| Michael: a prefix used to describe the action of going outside or moving from the inside to the outside. Attaching it to the root verb, we get |
| Saodat: выйти (vyyti) |
| Michael: or “to go out,” but that’s not the only use of this prefix. In some cases, it is used to describe the completion of an action, such as with the word, |
| Saodat: вы́курить (výkurit') |
| Michael: or “to smoke out.” |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ve learned that Russian prefixes are used to form nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. So far, we’ve covered the prefix, |
| Saodat: вы- (vy-) |
| Michael: a verb prefix used to describe the action of going outside from the inside. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: The Russian language relies heavily on prefixes. Why don’t we take a look at some more Russian verb prefixes? Let’s start with |
| Saodat: по- (po-) |
| Michael: This is one of the most common Russian verb prefixes that indicates the start of an action. Take this sentence, for example: |
| Saodat: Мой сын в этом году пошёл в школу. (Moy syn v etom godu poshyol v shkolu.) |
| Michael: “My son went to school this year.” The verb in this sentence is |
| Saodat: пошёл (poshyol) |
| Michael: meaning “went,” which is in the perfective tense. Another use of the said prefix is to describe action that takes place from time to time. |
| Saodat: Он к нам частенько похаживает. (On k nam chasten'ko pokhazhivayet.) |
| Michael: “He often comes to see us.” Here, we have the verb |
| Saodat: похаживает (pokhazhivayet) |
| Michael: which refers to the action of dropping by. Next, there’s the prefix, |
| Saodat: пере- (pere-) |
| Michael: a prefix that describes movement from one place to another. For instance, you have the word, |
| Saodat: перейти́ (pereytí) |
| Michael: which means “to go over.” The same prefix can be used to intensity the action in non-motion verbs, such as with the word, |
| Saodat: перегреть (peregret’) |
| Michael: which means “to overheat.” And then you have the prefix |
| Saodat: про- (pro-) |
| Michael: used to describe the action of passing through. For instance, you have the word |
| Saodat: пройти́ (proytí) |
| Michael: which means “to pass through,” such as in |
| Saodat: пройти через парк (proyti cherez park) |
| Michael: or “to walk through the park.” And, finally, we have the prefix, |
| Saodat: до- (do-) |
| Michael: a prefix used to describe the action of bringing something to completion. For instance, you have the word |
| Saodat: дочита́ть (dochitátʹ) |
| Michael: which means “to finish reading.” |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: It’s amazing what a prefix could do to change the meaning of a word entirely. In the Russian language, for instance, verbs of motion could either be unidirectional or multidirectional. Unidirectional verbs are those that denote a process, while multidirectional verbs are those that denote a repeated action. Both types of verbs, without the presence of a prefix, are, by default, imperfective, or |
| Saodat: несовершенный (nesovershennyy) |
| Michael: Add a prefix and you change the aspect of the verb to perfective, or, |
| Saodat: совершенный (sovershennyy) |
| Michael: Let’s take the verb “to go,” for example, or, |
| Saodat: идти (idti) |
| Michael: This is a unidirectional verb, which is also in the imperfective aspect. We can change it to become a multidirectional verb in the perfective aspect simply by adding the prefix, |
| Saodat: при- (pri-) |
| Michael: by which we get the word, |
| Saodat: прийти (priyti) |
| Michael: which means “to come” or “to arrive.” |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Saodat: Пока! (Poka!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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