I know there's друг and there's подруга, but подруга is more for a relationship. Is there a better equivalent for друг or is друг also applied for females?
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I know there's друг and there's подруга, but подруга is more for a relationship. Is there a better equivalent for друг or is друг also applied for females?
Друг can also be applied to female. When applied to female by male it explicitly denies sexual/romantic relationships. When applied to female by female it often implies and emphasizes stronger mutual obligations than just "подруга".
I was told that a male can say "подруга" and it's not used for a relationship just for friendship. I have been using that the last few years with no issues.
Scott
Quote:
Originally Posted by Valda
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It depends on the context. In its direct meaning "подруга" is just female friend. But it can be used as an euphemism for a "relationship".Quote:
Originally Posted by fortheether
подруга = girlfriend
друг = friend or boyfriend
Meanings are the same as in English
If "подруга" can be used as just a friend also then it's not the same as American English in my opinion. In my opinion girlfriend is used only for a relationship when a male says it about a female. I'm not sure if a female can say it about another female but not imply a relationship.
Scott
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doomer
I'm sure they can, that's why I'm saying it's the same meaningQuote:
Originally Posted by fortheether
I've heard a guy saying "подруга" referring to all girls in his circle, he had a lot of female colleagues (he was not in relationship with any of them), he just couldn't find another word. But still it sounded a bit strange (may be it was OK in his circle of liberal city boys and city girls), because in most cases when a guy says "подруга", in most contexts that would be his girlfriend. So an innocent word would be "моя знакомая" - can't imply any relationship. It seems to me this area of language in Russian is rather complicated, sometimes even native speakers are somewhat in doubt as to what word to use.Quote:
Originally Posted by fortheether
Зависит от контекста, наверное.