Words You Already Know in Russian

Did you know that you already know some Russian before ever taking an introductory Russian course? It’s true! When it comes to the most important part of a language, the vocabulary, you already begin with a head start. This is certainly something to take advantage of, as these words will be easier to remember.

This phenomenon is for two main reasons. First, new inventions and concepts arise all the time, which require a name. That name is borrowed from one language by another. Secondly, you may be surprised to learn that all European languages, even languages stretching all the way to Northern India (such as Sanskrit), actually hail from the same ancient language about 4,000 years ago. Let’s talk about where students who study abroad in Russia and online can find these common words, or cognates.

Inventions & Technology

As new technologies and concepts arise, they tend to spread throughout the world pretty fast. Below are some of the most common fields where you will encounter them, along with examples.

False Friends

The longer ago that a language has inherited a word, the more likely that its meaning has since deviated due to the amount of time that it’s had to do so. The same can also apply to new words. Therefore, students who study abroad for Russian should double-check these words sometimes. Usually, such false friends between Russian and English are related, but the words are used in different contexts. However, there aren’t overly many of them.

For example, as your online Russian tutor would tell you, “doctor” in English does have an equivalent cognate in Russian – доктор; however, it’s mostly used to refer to those who’ve received doctorates, not those practicing medicine. A doctor practicing medicine in Russian would be referred to as “врач” (vrach). Likewise, “personal” in English is usually translated to Russian using a different word (личный (lichniy)), not as “персональный” (personalniy), and a large number of new IT-industry words have been brought into Russian from English, which aren’t used outside the IT field, such as драйвер (draiver), meaning “driver”.

TransEurope Classes

When it comes to the most commonly used words, these are normally words unique to Russian. In order to acquire the most useful Russian phrases, perfectly understand the nuances, and practice using them, TransEurope provides in-person and online Russian classes. If you’d like to try out an introductory Russian, Russian intermediate, or Russian advanced class, we provide lessons that accommodate your schedule.

CHEAT WORDS: tell-tale Latin and Greek endings with equivalents in Russian

Now let’s get to the cheat words. The Roman and Greek empires spread far and wide in their heydays. For that reason, English is well-known for the large amount of words it’s borrowed from Greek and Latin. A great many of those same words have made their way into Russian as well. The reason these are cheat words is because, almost without exception, if you need to translate an English word with one of these endings, it will have a predictable equivalent in Russian. Thus, students technically know them before they even start their intro to Russian class.

Words That Russian Has Borrowed from English (English >> Russian)

Long serving as the biggest worldwide international language with a lot of media also in English, all languages, including Russian, have adopted a large amount of English words. This began with the vast influence of the English empire, on which “the sun never sets”, and continues today with its still powerful influence in addition to that of the United States and other English-speaking countries. The difference between the modern era, however, and olden times is the technology, such as the printing press, television, and, of course, the Internet.

This has allowed for vocabulary to spread very rapidly, and every year countless words are flooding into Russian, which students can use who study in Russia as well as online. The same applies to a lesser degree to words Russian is taking from other languages, such as German, French, and Italian, as English does the same. Nowadays, if you go to a café, restaurant, airport, internet forum, or lecture in Russia, you are likely to encounter quite a lot of these words.

Words That English Has Borrowed from Russian (Russian >> English)

The Russian language, though not having the status of the international language, has introduced a number of words into English as well. Your teacher in the Russian language will introduce you to these words while discussing cultural aspects of Russia, as they originate from topics unique to the country.

Shared Words from Long-Disappeared Languages

If you thought that was the extent of vocabulary sources from which Russian and English share words, you’d be very mistaken indeed. As foreigners may or may not notice as they study Russian abroad or online, there are many more common words that the two languages share. This is because all European languages, and even some languages in West and South Asia share a heavy amount of vocabulary, which cannot be attributed to Latin or Greek. Linguists have determined that these shared words are evidence that these modern languages are the evolved variations of the same 4,000-year-old Proto-Indo-European language that never had a system of writing, and therefore the language itself (and languages that followed it) has disappeared forever, yet European and other languages retain its vocabulary. The number of such words is countless and, because this will help you remember the words, it’s worth being aware of.

Here are some examples:

As you may notice, the “m” and the “t” have been preserved in the English “mother” and the Russian “мать” (mat’). Meanwhile, the English “door” and the Russian “дверь” (door) have both retained the “d” and the “r”. Funny enough, the Russian word for “brother”, “брат” (brat) exists in English as well – as “brat”, which refers to a snotty child.

Russian Classes

“TransEurope’s Russian teaching staff are uniquely qualified to instruct you on the distinctive ways Russian vocabulary is utilized. Relying solely on textbooks without real-world experience is unwise. By doing a lesson with our Russian tutor online or in Moscow, you will learn what words you need to communicate with Russians today and you will gain the practice and guidance you need to retain it.

Fill out TransEurope’s contact form and sign up for your first class today.