Сказать and its siblings

  Сказать (to say) is a very common Russian word. Knowing it, you can easily learn a few more words that contain сказать. Think of Russian language as Lego – you can build new words by adding prefixes, suffixes, even other words. Let's look at what can be done with сказать.

сказать — to say, to tell, to speak

рассказать — to tell, to narrate

предсказать — to predict (from перед - before)

подсказать — to direct, to prompt

высказать, высказаться — to speak out, to express oneself

пересказать — to paraphrase, to retell

From these verbs you can make nouns:

сказка — fairytale

рассказ — (short) story

рассказчик — storyteller, narrator

предсказание — prediction, prophecy

предсказатель — soothsayer, prophet

подсказка — hint, prompt, cue

высказывание — observation, statement

пересказ — retelling, rendering

Сказать has -каз- for its root, с- is its prefix. Drop it, and you get to make even more words.

Are Russian words too long?

 Чувствовать, необыкновенный, железнодорожный, бессердечный, преподаватель, североамериканский... These words are so long! How can you learn them at all? Russian language might seem tough, but fear no more – I'm going to show you that even such monsters as железнодорожный are learnable.

First, remember that big words are made from smaller words and morphemes. For example 'North American' in Russian is североамериканский. It's made from words северный (northern) and американский (American). Северный is made from север (north), and aмериканский is made from Америка (America).

Преподаватель (a teacher) is made from преподавать (to teach) which in turn is made from давать (to give). Пре-, по- and -тель are prefixes and a suffix. So in the heart of this big word lies a short давать that you can easily learn.

From железо (iron) we can make железный (iron, adj.), from дорога (road) — дорожный (related to roads), and together they make железнодорожный — railroad (adj.). Looks less scary now, doesn't it?

Поприветствовать (to greet) is made from привет (hello) by adding a few morphemes. I'm sure you know привет already. ;)

По-весеннему (like in spring) is made from весна (spring).

Making Russian words cuter

 Russian language is quite rich. There are so many ways to express your thoughts in Russian! One of the things I really like in my language is the variety of diminutive suffixes. Here's definition of a diminutive from Wikipedia:

“In language structure, a diminutive, or diminutive form (abbreviated dim), is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment.”

They can be found in nouns, adjectives and adverbs. Let's look at nouns today.

Who is собачка? It's a small dog (собака). And what is окошко? A small window (окно). Of course you could just say маленькая собака, небольшое окно, but your Russian will sound more natural when you use diminutive suffixes.

Заяц — зайчик, зайка.

Examples of some common diminutive suffixes:

-ик: пёсик (a small male dog, from пёс — a male dog); братик (a little brother, from брат — a brother);

-ок: росток (a sprout, from рост — growth); пирожок (a small pie, from пирог — a pie);

-чик: пальчик (a small finger, from палец — a finger); кранчик (a small tap, from кран — a tap);

-к: дочка (a little daughter, from дочь — daughter); ночка (from ночь — a night); речка (a small river, from река — a river); ведёрко (a small bucket, from ведро — a bucket);

-ичк, -ечк: водичка (from вода — water); табличка (a tablet, a sign plate, from табло — a panel, an indicator); ложечка (a small spoon, from ложка — a spoon).