Duo Russian Grammar

42) House

Points of compass

Example translation
на + Acc. на север north (about motion)
на + Prep. на севере (+Gen) in the north (of)
к + Dat. к северу (+от Gen) to the north (of), north of
с + Gen. с севера from the north

Now you can tell where you live:

  • на юге Берли́на = in the south of Berlin (i.e. inside the city)
  • к югу от Берли́на = to the south of Berlin (i.e. in another settlement outside of the city)

«Двор» and "courtyard"

The word «двор» requires some attention. Technically it can be either yard or courtyard in English because it means either a piece of land at the house or an area inside a group of buildings.

In this course it is "courtyard". After all, you'll mostly encounter «двор» when people refer to the area enclosed by a group of buildings as opposed to the area by the street. Don't expect it to look idyllic, though.

Locative

Just a reminder that there are certain short masculine nouns for places which have a stressed ending in the Prepositional, instead of the which you'd expect. Ex.: на полу́, на мосту́, в шкафу́, в лесу́, на берегу́, в порту́, на льду́, на углу́ в саду́, в снегу́.

It is not a variant form, i.e. its use is obligatory, which makes it the strongest "extra" case in Russian.

the Pseudo-passive

It is very common in Russian to use the 3rd person plural of a verb without any "they" to express that the action is performed by unspecified "persons":
bare 3rd pers.pl. English: passive (mostly)
Меня́ зову́т Том. My name's Tom.
Тут де́лают маши́ны. Cars are made here.
Так не говоря́т. People don't talk like that.
В нача́ле гото́вят лук. First, the onions are cooked.
This particular wording won't work if you describe something that happens "by itself".

хвата́ть

Using the impersonal verb «хвата́ть» is one of the ways to express the idea of having enough of something. The person is used in Dative while the thing you have or do not have enough of is stated in Genitive:

  • Мне не хвата́ет де́нег. = I do not have enough money.
  • Нам хвата́ет еды́. = We have enough food.
  • Ей хвата́ет рабо́ты. = She has enough work.

The perfective counterpart is «хвати́ть».