10 reasons to use Gramota.ru while learning Russian

1. Sometimes, you come across complicated, unknown words, whose meaning simply can not be determined, even from context. In such cases, ‘Meta Dictionary’ (‘Метасловарь’) will help you. It has info about literally everything: what the word means, what forms it has, whether it has synonyms and antonyms, etc. You can even listen to how a word or phrase sounds!

2. Choosing the correct form of a word is a challenge when learning Russian. You will find all the forms of Russian words in the table next to each vocabulary item. This way, you’re less likely to make a mistake with tricky Russian verbs!

3. If you haven’t found an answer to your question anywhere, you can always send a request to the Help Desk (‘Справочная служба’) and the Gramota.ru team will answer your questions.

4. How is it better to apologize if you accidentally step on someone's foot on the bus? Would you say “извините” or “извиняюсь”? The Dictionary of Russian Language Difficulties will help you find out when and how you should use each expression.

5. Who is ‘white crow’ (‘белая ворона’) or ‘big lump’ (‘большая шишка’)? It’s a challenge to guess what these expressions mean. But, you can find their definitions in the phraseology reference book (‘справочнике по фразеологии’).

6. ‘Красивый’, ‘восхитительный’, ‘роскошный’, ‘бесподобный’. There are so many ways to say ‘beautiful’! Thanks to the synonym dictionary (‘словарь синонимов’) you can find many new words, beef up your vocabulary and diversify your speech!

7. What is the correct way to spell ‘Ded Moroz’ (Russian Santa Claus): Дед Мороз, дед Мороз, Дед мороз or дед мороз? And what’s the difference between the words ‘бывший’, ‘былой’  and бывалый’? Spend some time recalling the rules or just have fun with tests in the ‘Magazine’ (‘Журнал’) section! And if you still want more practice, you'll find the ‘Grammar Book’ (‘Учебник’) section with interactive exercises useful.

8. How would you start your letter: ‘господин’, ‘мистер’ or maybe ‘товарищ’’? It’s not easy to start navigating different styles of speech and writing! Meanwhile, advanced speakers can find a lot of useful info in the ‘Letter writing guide’ (‘Письмовник’) section.

9. How long have you been training your actual tongue? It's made up of muscles you need to exercise, too! You can improve your pronunciation skills in the ‘Speed Sayings’ section (‘Скороговорки’) and then your speech will become clearer, brighter and more accurate.

10. If you are already fluent in Russian and are ready to dive into its linguistic subtleties and history, check out the ‘Magazine’ (‘Журнал’) section! How the speech of Moscow residents sounded about 100 years ago, how evil is referred to in different regions of Russia, how to translate a word from another language into Russian and how not to make a mistake… The Gramota.ru team writes about all this and much more!

This article was prepared in partnership with Gramota.ru.