Duo Russian Grammar

67) Measure

Russia uses the metric system. Here are the main units you'll learn in this course:

  • метр (meter): a bit longer than a yard
  • киломе́тр (kilometer): 1000 meters, or about 0.6 miles
  • килогра́мм (kilogram): a bit over 2 pounds
  • то́нна (tonne): 1000 kilograms, roughly equivalent to ton (or about 2205 pounds, to be more exact)

Square («квадратный») meters and kilometers are used for areas (м², км²).

For areas of land, «гекта́р» (Га, 10000 м²) is often used. In spoken speech people also use «со́тка» (100 м²) for their garden plots in the country (the name comes from the fact that it is 1/100 of a hectare)

Instrumental

To speak about an object of a certain length/weight etc., the Instrumental form of a quality is used:

  • стол длино́й 2 ме́тра = a table 2 meters long
  • о́зеро глубино́й 30 ме́тров = a lake 30 meters deep
  • дом высото́й 20 этаже́й = a house 20 storeys tall

про-verbs

To express the idea of a certain activity "covering" a certain space or time interval, verbs with the prefix «про-» are often employed. Of course, you should consult the dictionary to know if a certain verb of this structure exists or has that particular meaning.

It is different from verbs of motion like "пройти" because many other verb can have this prefixs:

  • Мы прошли́ 5 киломе́тров = We walked 5 kilometers
  • Я проспа́л весь день. = I slept the entire day.
  • Мы простоя́ли тут два часа́. = We stood here for two hours.

NOTE about VERBS OF MOTION: some of these derivatives will not be verbs of motion and actually can differ in stress or form (проезжа́л/прое́здил). We are only covering distances here. You see, when talking about motion, the derivative of the one-way verb is used for distance. For times, you use just the multidirectional verb, or, if you want to put an emphasis on how extremely long it took, its про-prefixed derivative:

  • Я пробежа́л 6 миль.
  • Я (про)бе́гал пять часо́в.

The проходи́л, пробе́гал, прое́здил options are not neutral in style but are encountered in spoken speech anyway.

Levels

  1. 1) Alphabet 1
  2. 2) Basics 1
  3. 3) Phrases 1
  4. 4) Единственное число
  5. 5) Name and polite "You"
  6. 6) Plurals
  7. 7) Where is it?
  8. 8) Animals 1
  9. 9) Genitive Case - 1
  10. 10) Possessive Modifiers 1
  11. 11) Partitive
  12. 12) Accusative Case: the direct object
  13. 13) Verbs Present 1
  14. 14) Infinitive, Likes and Dislikes
  15. 15) Food
  16. 16) Adjectives Introduction
  17. 17) Conjunctions
  18. 18) There is
  19. 19) Questions
  20. 20) People 1
  21. 21) Around you
  22. 22) Prepositions and Places
  23. 23) Verbs Present 2
  24. 24) Time and Numbers
  25. 25) Family
  26. 26) People 1
  27. 27) Weather and Nature
  28. 28) Sport
  29. 29) Adjectives 1
  30. 30) Past & Infinitive
  31. 31) VLAD
  32. 32) Dative and Plurals
  33. 33) Reported speech
  34. 34) Perfective Verbs
  35. 35) I
  36. 36) Body and Health
  37. 37) Genitive Plural
  38. 38) Adjectives 2
  39. 39) Short and Long
  40. 40) Perfective verbs
  41. 41) Countries and Places
  42. 42) House
  43. 43) Reflexive
  44. 44) Time expressions 2
  45. 45) Imperative and Adverbs
  46. 46) Образовние
  47. 47) City and People
  48. 48) Imperative2
  49. 49) That Which
  50. 50) Technics
  51. 51) Future Simple
  52. 52) Being Instrumental
  53. 53) Placing Objects
  54. 54) Kitchen and Food
  55. 55) Speaking
  56. 56) Subjunctive
  57. 57) Compound Future
  58. 58) Prefixed Verbs of Motion
  59. 59) Arts & Entertainment
  60. 60) Together
  61. 61) Numbers 2
  62. 62) Adjectives 3
  63. 63) Plans
  64. 64) Prepositions 2
  65. 65) The Same
  66. 66) Fleeting Vowels
  67. 67) Measure
  68. 68) Business
  69. 69) Morphology
  70. 70) History & Fantasy
  71. 71) Participles
  72. 72) Computers & Internet
  73. 73) Adverbial Participles
  74. 74) Science
  75. 75) Politics
  76. 76) Spiritual
  77. 77) Some Spoken Patterns
  78. 78) Nothing Left
  79. 79) Crime and Justice