Thread: Изучить/Учить

Hey, I know I'm building up the record for highest amount of questions on this forum but this is another Rosetta Stone problem that's bugging me, and I can't find the answer elsewhere at the moment. Even Wiktionary doesn't help. (I have now got a grammar book in the post).

Are these two completely separate words or is из a prefix that gives certain connotations to the way the studying was done. The dictionary I found seems to have every other prefix under the son except for из and this is the one I've seen most used, so it got me confused.

The example I am current on is;

- Вы изучали русский?

- Да. Я изучала русский.

Cheers.

изучать = to study
учить = to learn

Sometimes, they are interchangeable, but typically, "изучать" would apply to a broader area. You would typically "study" a language, but "learn" the rules. That is not strict distinction though.

изучать emphasizes the labor you invest in learning, the wholeness of the process, its methodicalness

think of из- (ис-) as 'inside and out', 'completely', 'wholly'

These words are rather close synonyms. Below are imperfective and perfective forms of both (perfective form implies that the action is completed):

Изучать (imp)/изучить (perf)
Учить (imp)/выучить (perf)

"Изучать" means to study something seriously or to research.

Я изучаю математику - I study mathematics (for example, this person is a Math major)

"Учить" is often used as an equivalent of "изучать" in informal speech, but generally it means that you learn something at the moment or work on some specific task.

Я учу математику - I('m) learn(ing) math (a homework, for example)
Я выучил математику ~ I've done my Math homework (lterally "I've learnt math")

In other words "учить" and "изучать" can be interchangable in certain situations (the nuances are still there, but they can be neglected):
Я учу французский
Я изучаю французский

While sometimes it's only one or the other:

Я изучил эту проблему - I've studied/researched this issue
You can't say "Я выучил эту проблему", it will sound as if a problem is something you can learn by heart.

Я выучил это стихотворение - I've learnt this poem (by heart)
Я изучил это стихотворение - I've researched this poem, I've learnt a lot about it (its structure, etc.)

А ещё есть Разучивать (imp)/Разучить (perf)
Children разучивают songs in the kindergartens.
But please don't expect that Разучивать = Unlearn