United States. War Department

“ The parts of speech in Russian are much as in English: noun, adjective, pronoun, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection.
Nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs are inflected; that is, there are different forms for singular and plural, present and past, and the like. Words are cited in the dictionary in only one of their forms; the others are not given and it is presumed that the reader can recognize them. In order to enable the reader to do so, we here give an outline of Russian inflection.
Inflected forms consist usually of a stem with different endings ”

“ The meaning of a word or phrase is always the sum of the situations in which a word of phrase is used. Translations therefore must have a situational correspondence. A word-for-word translation is sometimes interesting, but generally outlandish.
As this dictionary is the first of its kind in English-Russian lexicography, it naturally has many faults and shortcomings, but the pressure of time explains all this, and the gap it will fill condones it. ”

“ I know her personally. — Я знаю его в лицо, но мы с ним не знакомы. I know him by sight, but we're not acquainted. — Откуда мне знать? How should I know? — Дайте мне знать заранее, когда вы приедете. Let me know ahead of time when you're arriving. — Они знают своё дело. They know their business. — Как знать, может быть ему это удастся. Who knows? Maybe he'll be able to do it. — А вы только и знаете, что других критиковать! The only thing you know how to do is criticize others. — Не беспокойтесь, — он уж знает, что делает! Don't worry, he knows what he's doing. — "Где все ваши карандаши"? ”

“ The English is general American colloquial. Usage in English and Russian was determined by a consensus of a large number of native speakers in both languages. A conscious attempt has been made not to be arbitrary in usage, and to be descriptive, not prescriptive. A dictionary of a spoken language must always catalog what is said, not what certain individuals think people should say.
This dictionary has an English-Russian side consisting of four thousand common word entries, together with subentries (phrases and idioms) and illustrative sentences. ”

“ Verbs are cited in the dictionary in infinitive (inf) form: читать "to read." The forms are made from two stems, a present stem (pr stem) and an infinitive stem (inf stem) . Some of the forms are lacking and some differ in meaning, according to whether the verb is durative (dur) or punctual (pct) ; see §30. In giving the forms of a verb we often supply a lacking form by taking it from a compound. ”

“ Мы слишком рано пришли, зал ещё пустой. We came too early; the hall is still empty. — Раньше поешьте, нехорошо работать на пустой желудок. Eat first; it's not good to work on an empty stomach. — Он никогда не приходит с пустыми руками. He never comes empty-handed. — По-моему, это была пустая отговорка. ”

“ Где здесь меняют деньги? Where do they exchange money around here? — Меняю свою комнату на комнату в другом районе. I'd like to exchange my room for one in another neighborhood. • to change. Почему вы всё время меняете работу? Why do you keep changing jobs all the time? — Мне не хочется менять квартиру. I don't feel like changing apartments. — Он меняет свой убеждения, как перчатки. He changes his convictions as he does his gloves. ”

“ In English we have long consonants only in phrases and compounds, such as ten nights, pen-knife; in Russian there are long consonants in all kinds of positions: [vanna] ванна "bathtub," [žžeč] сжечь "to burn up," [ silka] ссылка "exile," [s soljyu] с солью "with salt." Note that the consonants [šč, žj] are always long.
Vowels. In Russian, as in English, a word of two or more syllables has one syllabic stressed (or accented) — that is, spoken louder than the rest. In our modified alphatet we put an accent mark over the vowel of the stressed syllable: [muka] мука "torment," [muka] мука "flour." ”

“ If the stress of a set of forms is on the endings, then in a form which has no ending the stress is on the last vowel of the stem: карандаш [k'randaš] "pencil," with no ending, belongs to the set карандаши [k'r'ndaši] "pencils," карандашей [k'r'ndašey] "of pencils," and so on. The last vowel may be an inserted vowel: отец [atjec] "father" belongs to the set отцы [atci] "fathers," отцов [atcof] "of fathers," and so on. Quite a few words, however, have shifting stress, now on one syllable, now on another: голове [g'lava] "head," but головы [gol'vi] "heads." ”

“ The pronoun он has this stem in the nominative forms only. All the other forms have a stem [y-] . The Pn form has the ending [-ji] . The Fg and a has the ending [-оуo] . The F endings have [e] instead of [o] . All the accusative forms, regardless of gender or animation, are the same as the genitives.
After prepositions the stem [у-] is replaced by [nj-] : от него "from him," с ним "with him," в нём "in it," and so on; excepted are the g forms as possessors of a noun: от его брата "from his brother," у её брата "at her brother's, in her brother's possession," в их стране "in their country." ”

“ Вы у нас всегда желанный гость. You're always a welcome guest at our home. — Гостиница так плоха, что гости бегут оттуда. The hotel is so bad that guests just run away from there. — Вы к себе никого в гости не ждёте? ”

“ I'll fix an omelet for you in no time. • Эта статья у вас не продумана, а сработана на живую нитку. You didn't give much thought to this article, but simply threw it together. • Тут номерков не выдают, это живая очередь. They don't call you; you have to wait in line here. • Ну и жизнь тут, — неделями живого слова не услышишь! What a life! You don't hear a human voice for weeks here. • Я сижу ни жива, ни мертва, — а вдруг он меня узнает? I'm sitting here half scared to death; what if he recognizes me? • *Ничего, живые кости мясом обрастают. While there's life there's hope. ”

“ There isn't a living soul on the street. — Какая-то добрая душа пригрела моих ребят. Some kind soul took care of my children. — Она всю свою душу вкладывает в преподавание. She's putting her whole heart and soul into her teaching. • heart. От души желаю вам счастья! I wish you luck from the bottom of my heart! — Он это скрывает, но в душе он поэт и мечтатель. He conceals it, but in his heart he's a poet and a dreamer. — *У меня от страха душа в пятки ушла. I was so scared my heart was in my mouth. • feeling. Она поёт без души. She sings without feeling. • darling. душа моя не сердись! ”

“ Он сам себе противоречит на каждом шагу. He contradicts himself at every turn. — Вы ему лучше не противоречьте! Ему опасно волноваться. You'd better not contradict him; it's bad for him to get excited. ”

“ The meaning of the refl form is various: action upon oneself (as above) ; action of several actors upon one another: мы часто видимся "we often see each other"; undergoing of an action: книга читается "the book is being read." Some verbs occur only in refl forms: бояться "to be afraid," смеяться "to laugh."
Preverbs. Verbs occur frequently in composition with preverbs, prefixes some of which are like prepositions in form: писать "to write," подписать "to sign" (preposition под "under") , выписать "to copy out" (there is no independent word corresponding to this preverb) . ”

“ Short forms, with noun-like endings, in cases other than n appear only in special phrases; thus, beside первый "first," there is сперва (preposition с with g N) "first of all."
Many adjectives have no sh forms; especially some whose stems end in [nj] , such as верхний "upper" and those in [sk] , such as русский "Russian." The latter have adverbs with ending [-i] : дружески "in a friendly way," and often with no- prefixed: по-русски "in Russian." Other instances are more isolated: большой "big" has no sh forms; those of великий "great" are used instead; маленький "little" has none ”

“ In many nouns the P forms have different stress from the S: слово, P словa; письмо, P письма. When, in addition, there is some irregularity in the gp, we give also the dp form: окно, P окна, окон, окнам.
Fourth Declension. Nouns of the Fourth Declension have the following endings. Our example is the stem [kravatj-] "bedstead, bed."
The ns is written with the sign ь even after ж, ч, ш, щ, where it is superfluous: вещь "thing"; this distinguishes these nouns in spelling from those of the second declension. All the stems end in a soft consonant or in [š, ž] . ”

“ Как вам не надоели эти вечные споры? Aren't you tired of these endless debates?
□ Спору нет, она девушка неглупая. There's no denying that she's a rather clever girl.
спорить to argue. Беда с вами! Не успели сойтись, как сейчас же спорить. It's terrible! The minute you get together you start arguing. — Против этого нельзя спорить. You can't argue against it. • to discuss. С ним не стоит об этом спорить, он всё равно никого не слушает. There's no use discussing it with him; he never listens to anybody anyway. ”

“ I'm so tired I can't move. Я так устал, что не могу пошевельнуться. • шевелиться (to stir) . Don't move; I want to take a snapshot. Не шевелитесь, я хочу вас снять. • шаг. He won't make a move without permission. Он ни шагу не сделает без разрешения. • переехать. Where can I find someone to help me move? Где мне найти кого-нибудь, кто поможет мне переехать? • переезжать. Do you know where they're moving to? Вы знаете куда они переезжают? • тронуть. I am very much moved by what you say. Я очень тронут тем, что вы говорите. • вращаться. She's been moving in fast company lately. ”

“ Вы бы согласились давать уроки английского языка? Would you agree to give English lessons? — Я хотел бы брать русские уроки два раза в неделю. I'd like to take Russian lessons twice a week. — Это будет для вас уроком — не суйтесь не в своё дело! This will be a good lesson for you; mind your own business! — Он зарабатывает на жизнь уроками. He makes his living giving lessons. • homework. Им задают в школе слишком много уроков. They give them too much homework in school. • class. Он читал газету во время урока и попался. ”

“ A few verbs have a pr stem ending in consonant plus [y] ; these insert a vowel in the imv form: пить "to drink," пью, пьёт; the imv is пей, пейте.
Some irregular verbs have the pr like Classes One, Two, and Three, but the pr stem ends in a consonant other than [n, j] : несу "I carry," несёшь, несёт, несём, несёте, несут, imv неси, несите. All those whose pr stem ends in [g] and nearly all whose pr stem ends in [k] replace these consonants by [ž] and [č] respectively before the endings that we write with [j] : могу "I can," можешь, может, можем, можете, могут, imv помоги "help" ”

“ You don't spare yourself at all, do you? — Не мучьте себя зря — всё равно дела не поправишь. Stop aggravating yourself; there's nothing you can do about it. — Вы совсем за собой не следите. You don't take care of yourself at all. — Теперь расскажите мне всё о себе. Now tell me all about yourself. — В этой работе вы можете себя показать. You can show yourself to best advantage in this work.
□ вне себя beside oneself. Он был вне себя от радости. He was beside himself with joy.
выходить из себя to lose one's temper. Не выходите из себя по пустякам. Don't lose your temper over nothing. ”

“ A possessor is genitive: книга моего брата "my brother's book," его книга "his book"; as in English, this includes an object whose part is named: лицо моего брата "my brother's face"; ножки стола "the legs of the table." The genitive forms of the personal pronouns (§21) are not used in this way; instead there are possessive adjectives (§15) : моя книга "my book," он взял свою книгу "he took his (own) book," but, with g, он взял его книгу "he took his (another man's) book." ”

“ All nouns in this declension are M.
Special Features. On stems that end in [iy] the ls ending is written with -и: гений "genius," ls гении.
Stems ending in a soft consonant other than й, and stems ending in ж, ш have the ending [-ey] in the gp: руль, gp рулей; автомобиль, gp автомобилей; нож, gp ножей; карандаш, gp карандашей; but музей, gp музеев; край, gp краёв.
Irregular Forms. Some nouns fail to insert a vowel in the ns form: блеск, рубль. Some insert a vowel other than the usual one: сон, gs сна, np сны, and so on. This appears sufficiently in the ns form given in the dictionary. ”

“ There was a lively discussion on current events at the next table. — Он — живой, весёлый парень. He's a lively, fun-loving fellow. • live. Я купила на рынке живую рыбу. I bought a live fish at the market today. • living. В такой температуре ни одно живое существо жить не сможет. No living creature can exist in such a temperature. — В доме, видно, ни одной живой души не осталось. Apparently not a living soul is left in the house. — У нас кругом много живых примеров героизма. We have many living examples of heroism around us. • vivid. У вас живое воображение. ”

“ Я вас плохо слышу. — I heard an interesting story yesterday. Я слышал вчера интересную историю. — I hear that the play was a success. Я слышал, что эта пьеса имела большой успех. — I never heard of such a thing. Я никогда не слышал ничего подобного. — They offered to put me up for the night, but I wouldn't hear of it. Они предложили мне переночевать у них, но я и слышать об этом не хотел. • слушать. I hear good music every night. Я каждый вечер слушаю хорошую музыку. — The case was heard in open court. Дело слушалось при открытых дверях. ”