Russian MiniLessons: Love and Relationships

The following bilingual Russian MiniLesson is meant to build your vocabulary by providing Russian phrases within English text. Hover over the bold Russian to reveal its English translation.

If a man likes a woman, he can ask of her “Давай встретимся”let's meet or, if he is more bashful, “Я хотел бы с тобой встретиться”I would like to meet with you and she will understand that he is asking her on a date. She can agree прийти на свиданиеto go on a date or meeting. When they meet, he might pay her compliments by saying “Ты очаровательна”You are charming/enchanting or, if he wanted to seem more “hip” and modern, he could say “Ты классная”You are first-class/cool. If, over time, he develops stronger feelings, he might tell her that “Ты мне очень сильно понравилась”I like you very much or, if he wanted to use another common but less direct phrase he might say that, “Мне с тобой хорошо”It is pleasant to be with you. Of course, if he wants to get right to the point, he would say “Я в тебя влюбился”I have fallen in love with you.

To describe his feelings to his friends using slang, he might say “Я по уши влюбился”I've fallen in love up to my ears or he might use the more commonly accepted phrase “Я влюбился с первого взгляда”I fell in love at a first sight. If the woman likes him as well, she might begin “строить глазки”to make eyes, and say “Я скучаю по тебе”I miss you when he calls her. He might respond with and say “Я думаю о тебе”I am thinking about you or even “Я тебя обожаю”I adore/worship you.

The two might begin to refer to each other with pet names such as “солнышко”little sun, and “милая” or “милый”sweetheart.

Russian lovers don’t call each other “honey” and often think it amusing when English speakers do. They most often use the words дорогаяdear, and милаяsweetie, and very often some derivation of the word заяц (зайчик, зайчишка)hare (little hare). More creative titles include “родная”, which comes from the same stem as “родина”homeland and “родственник”relative, two of the highest valued elements in traditional Russian culture. Other terms are “солнышко”little sun, “золотко”golden one, and even “рыбка”little fish (not commonly used).

Probably no one is more famous for sweet nothings in Russian than A.C. Pushkin. His best known diatribe on love starts as follows: “Я помню чудное мгновение: / Передо мной явилась ты, / Как мимолетное видение, / Как гений чистой красоты.”I remember the many miracles / as you appeared before me / Like a fleeting vision, / As if a marvel of pure splendor. Most of Pushkin’s poems on the subject juxtapose love and sorrow. Take, for example, “Унынья моего / Ничто не мучит, не тревожит, / И сердце вновь горит и любит – оттого, / Что не любить оно не может”.My despondence / Knows no grief nor even sorrow / For again my heart burns and loves, as / Not to love the heart cannot

The man might decide one day to tell the woman “Жить без тебя не могу”I can't live without you or “Я люблю тебя больше всего на свете”I love you more than anything in the world. He might simply say “Ты мне нужна”I need you and she will understand that he feels that he needs her in his life always.

At this time, the man might decide that it is time to “сделать предложение”to make a proposal/to propose. He might say, after repeating much of the above phrases, “Выходи за меня замуж”marry me or he might use “Будь моей женой”be my wife, which is more common and pithier.

Later on, if their family is happy, people can say about them “Они живут душа в душу”they live soul-in-soul, meaning that they live in perfect harmony, that they are soul mates. People may also say simply “У них счастливая семья”they have a happy family. He might call he by more mature terms of endearment such as “моя половинка”my (other) half or “родная”, which means “darling” but also implies “my home” or “my own place, where I am meant to be”. She can call him “моя опора”my support, my rock, meaning that she can rely on him for anything.

Although many Russians are beginning to adopted more western-oriented values in this regard, most Russians believe that ideal home is one in which the wife “обеспечивает хороший тыл”provides a solid home front, to which the man will always “летит домой как на крыльях”fly home as if on wings.

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