# Forum Learning Russian Language Grammar and Vocabulary  Most common Russian words?

## oatmealia

Hello!  I registered here a long time ago, but I haven't posted for quite awhile.  I've had to take a break from Russian, but now that I'm coming back to it it's a delight to realize how much vocab/grammar is still hanging out in my long-term memory.  It's much easier to learn now with the basics down. 
Anyhow, I'm looking for a list of most common Russian words that I can start working on as a vocabulary list.  I've found lists of 100 or so words, but I'm looking for more, a list that will last me a long time.  I'm sure someone's probably posted something like this before, but I'm having a hard time sifting through the posts here, especially in the Grammar and Vocab section, because most of the topics are titled in Russian.  I apologize if I'm being redundant.  All I need is a link!

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## Оля

Ну вот слово "овсянка" ничего так... Популярное.   ::

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## Оля

oatmealia, I just wanted to say that "овсянка" (an oatmeal) is not bad word, for example.   ::  And that it is quite popular - that's true.   ::   
So I liked your nick.   ::

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## gRomoZeka

5000 most popular words in order of their popularity: http://www.artint.ru/projects/frqlist/5000lemma.num.zip 
This list was made after the analyse of different fiction and non-fiction texts (app. 40 mln. words), written from 1970 to 2002 (but mostly between 1980 and 1995). 
1000 words make up to 64.0708% of text. 
2000 words make up to 71.9521% of text. 
3000 words make up to 76.5104% of text. 
5000 words make up to 82.0604% of text.  *Example: (# of word - index - word - part of speech)*
419 235.48 немного adv
420 235.11 впрочем misc
421 234.99 видно misc
422 234.74 являться verb
423 234.68 муж noun
424 231.93 разве misc
425 231.13 движение noun
426 230.76 порядок noun
427 229.66 ответ noun
428 229.48 тихо adv
429 229.36 знакомый adj
430 228.44 газета noun
431 227.34 помощь noun
432 225.26 сильный adj 
The same 5000 most popular words in the alphabet order: http://www.artint.ru/projects/frqlist/5000lemma.al.zip 
PS. Since all these words are listed from the most popular to the less poular, I'd advise to delete the excess 'indexes'. All you need to know is the number of the word in Top5000.  ::

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## oatmealia

Thank you!  I had to run your comment through a translator and it didn't make a lot of sense when it came out.  I'll make "oatmeal" my first vocab word. :)

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## oatmealia

Wonderful, *gRomoZeka*!  Exactly what I was looking for.  You posted while I was replying to Olya, but thank you so much!

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## Yazeed

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bookse ... 7928&itm=1

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## gRomoZeka

> Wonderful, *gRomoZeka*!  Exactly what I was looking for.  You posted while I was replying to Olya, but thank you so much!

 You are welcome!  ::  I hope it will help.
But be aware that most popular words (the words you hear most often) and words you need to know are not the same. For example, the simple word "корова" (a cow) is #2066 here.  :: 
(Still it's an interesting list).

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## oatmealia

> Originally Posted by oatmealia  But be aware that most popular words (the words you hear most often) and words you need to know are not the same.
> (Still it's an interesting list).

 Good point.  Actually, any vocabulary resources would be welcome, come to think of it.

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## Grogs

Спасибо за ссылку, гРомоЗека.  This seems like an excellent resource, especially for the price.   ::  I had actually looked at the book Yazeed linked before, but I decided I've spent enough on Russian books for the time being. 
I do find the statistics a bit disheartening though.  From my understanding, 5000 words is a pretty large vocabulary in a foreign language.  The curriculum at Middlebury College, for example, suggests that their top level Russian students have a vocabulary of ~2500 words.  If I'm reading those statistics correctly, even if I have a 5000 word vocabulary, I still have to pull out the dictionary and look up every fifth word I come across.

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## Superman

Guys...I've logged here before, but actually, I came across this article from a google search...so it brought me back to this topic. 
The formula for determining the most popular words, is not what most people want.  Authors, in general, command more words and its in their nature to try to vary the words they use for dramatic effect, so....looking through works of fiction is not going to produce the same count as looking through written letters. 
The NY Times did this once with english, looked through letters written by 2000 different people, from doctors to lawyers, to ordinary people.  And only 2001 different words were used in total by the 2000 different people! 
Amazing....but anyway thats English. 
My point for the would be learner...is, take me as an example.  I got to about word 515 before I found the first word I didn't know.  I then looked at 4900 through 5000 on the word list, and found I was still getting 55 out of 100 words correct. 
So, going from 100% on the first 500 down to about little over 50% by the last 100...and assuming that means I know a signficant amount in the 5000 to 10000 word range (if there was a such a list)... 
what would my vocab be...I estimate about 4000 words. 
Just to let you know.  I cannot understand a TV show.  I cannot watch a movie to follow the plot.  I cannot read a simple website to understand the story, and I cannot read any book except the simplest of childrens books. 
I can read a reader designed for an intermediate student, and I can read certain children's books, like Dr. Aibolit (other children's books, full of rhymes and children's slang, also escape me)...but if its the right children's book, I do OK. 
I can hold a 30 to 90 second conversation in a Russian chat board....sometimes even long enough that they don't think I'm American...that is a thrill. 
But, the would be student should know, that in Russian, 4000 words isn't going to cut it.  Not at all.

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## Superman

I am right now watching Татьянин день. 
This is a show on Channel 1.  Before they started playing this show, I used to watch Любовь как Любовь. 
These soaps are full of dialogue, and for that reason, I pick up a sentence here and there...but not enough to understand the plot. 
So, after I wrote this article, I glance at the tv, I hear a word I don't know, I type it into my dictionary...the word was показательный which means significant, explanatory, or representative. 
I checked it against the 5000 list...not there.  Not there, of course.
I know this is just anecdotal, but, it just seems typical to me. 
Isn't there a phrase in Russian, the more I learn, the less I know. 
I wanted to believe 3000 would get me a working vocabulary, when I first started...but now I'm convinced its at least 10000 and I'm afraid if I get to 10,000 someday, only then I'll figure out that I'm only half way there. 
Even the NY times article hinted at that.  English speakers only command 2,000 words, but they understand 20,000.    
God, its probably 20,000.  Dang it....I'm not even close yet.  Geez. 
OK, I've psyched myself out enough for today. 
показательный 
показательный 
показательный 
make that 4001.

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## kalinka_vinnie

You are thinking too linearly. You think that each word has to be learned separately. The fact is the learning curve is exponential! The more words you know, the easier it is for you to understand unfamiliar words. This is a human condition known as pattern recognition. In Russian, once you have learned the basic words, you have all the basic roots and from those roots come all the other "new" words and little by little, in no time you can guess what words like показательный mean. Did you not know what показать means (to show, explain)... that should have made it obvious!!! 
So there is hope for you, my supermanfriend! 
Keep it up!   ::

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## xRoosterx

to be quite honest, I don't think you need to learn Russian. I mean...you can fly, man.   ::

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## Matroskin Kot

> Even the NY times article hinted at that.  English speakers only command 2,000 words, but they understand 20,000.

 I'm not sure that the article is accurate.  I've heard estimates that the average person's active vocabulary (that is, what he commonly uses himself in conversation) is more than 8,000, and his passive vocabulary (what he understands) is around 40,000 words.  A well-educated person may have 2 or 3 times that number. 
There may have only been 2,000 different words used in those letters, but that is a very specific area to take your sample from.  For example, if you hang around a supermarket and were able to take note of all the words people were using, you might conclude that "people" use even fewer words than 2,000 (200?) because conversations are usually quite specific in a supermarket.  Likewise, most letters are basically similar, not to mention simple. 
I've got a similar problem to yours.  I have what I thought  (when I started) would be a more than adequate vocabulary (easily 5,000+), but I'm always confronted with new and unfamiliar words.  You just have to realize that a native speaker's vocabulary is massive compared to a learner's. 
What you're doing is good.  Get familiar with as much actual situational speech as you can, and that alone will show what is and what isn't a "common" (and, therefore, needed) word.

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## Lampada

> to be quite honest, I don't think you need to learn Russian. I mean...you can fly, man.

 Could it be that it is not necessarily always important what you think?

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## xRoosterx

я только шутил...ты знаешь Superman, да?

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## Lampada

> я только шутил...ты знаешь Superman, да?

 О да,  какая смешная была шутка!  "РЖУНИМАГУ!"

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## xRoosterx

ты правда...ничего толкового не могу писать-сплошная  вина получается. извини

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## Zaya

Администрация, затрите мат, пожалуйста.

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## Rtyom

Рустер однозначно жжёт!   ::     ::

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## Zaya

Йа криведко.

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## xRoosterx

крайне...  ::

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## Lampada

> крайне...

 Ты можешь нормально общаться?  Какой у тебя родной язык?

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## Matroskin Kot

> Йа криведко.

 Да?  Дай сливочное масло, или пикантный соус, пожалуйста!  Еще вкуснее получишься. 
Ничего не понимаю.  Объясни в личке, если хочешь.

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## Zaya

Зачем отвечаешь, если не понял смысла сказанного?  :P   ::

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## Lampada

> Originally Posted by Zaya  Йа криведко.   Да?  Дай сливочное масло, или пикантный соус, пожалуйста!  Еще вкуснее получишься. 
> Ничего не понимаю.  Объясни в личке, если хочешь.

   ::   Чем народ в России занимается?   Вот тебе объяснение: http://www.blog-buster.ru/authors/10/1449/2/theme.php

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## Zaya

Что-то я не в духе сегодня. Когда начну хамить, скажите.))

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## Lampada

> Что-то я не в духе сегодня. Когда начну хамить, скажите.))

  Главное, хами по-русски.  Может, кому-то пригодится.   ::

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## xRoosterx

> Originally Posted by xRoosterx  крайне...    Ты можешь нормально общаться?  Какой у тебя родной язык?

 по-английский..странно, да? извини за не имение смысл. Как видно, мне нужна практика.

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## Lampada

> Originally Posted by Lampada        Originally Posted by xRoosterx  крайне...    Ты можешь нормально общаться?  Какой у тебя родной язык?   по-английский..странно, да? извини за не имение смысл. Как видно, мне нужна практика.

 _Мой родной язык - английский. Мои посты по-русски иногда трудно понять. _ 
Do not worry about a thing, just study and you'll get there.  
No need to apologize.   ::

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## Matroskin Kot

> Do not worry about a thing, just study and you'll get there.  
> No need to apologize.

 Хороший совет  ::

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## Zaya

*xRoosterx*, you can post in Russian, but with the translation into English. Just not to puzzle us every time.   ::   And manage without obscenities, please! 
PS: Please correct my mistakes if there're any.

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## Оля

> по-английск*ий*..

 The language is _английский_, but "in English" is _по-английски__!
I hate this mistake...   ::

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## Zaya

Я уже тоже.   ::   Третий раз здесь вижу, как не возненавидеть.)

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## Оля

> Третий раз здесь вижу

 Всего третий????   ::   ::  Везёт же!   ::

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## Matroskin Kot

> *xRoosterx*, you can post in Russian, but with a translation into English. Just so as not to puzzle* us every time.    And try to manage without obscenities, please! 
> PS: Please correct my mistakes if there're any.

 *_Puzzle_ is ok, but it's usually a word we use in the *passive voice*.  _Confuse_ is probably a simpler and better choice.  _Confuse_ seems to be a difficult word to adopt naturally for native speakers of Russian.  I wonder if it is because of a conflict with the Russian cognate конфуз.  But, I digress...  ::

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## Zaya

> I wonder if it is because of a conflict with the Russian cognate конфуз.

 Нет-нет, ничего подобного.) Русское "конфуз" устарело, английское confuse - нет, мы все это прекрасно понимаем. 
Большое спасибо за исправления.   ::

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## Matroskin Kot

> I wonder if it is because of a conflict with the Russian cognate конфуз.
> 			
> 		  Нет-нет, ничего подобного.) Русское "конфуз" устарело, английское confuse - нет, мы все это прекрасно понимаем. 
> Большое спасибо за исправления.

 Да еще бы!  ::  
Может быть, это _англо_говорящие, которые путают _конфуз_ и _confuse_.   ::

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## xRoosterx

> *xRoosterx*, you can post in Russian, but with the translation into English. Just not to puzzle us every time.    And manage without obscenities, please! 
> PS: Please correct my mistakes if there're any.

 Знаю, знаю. Но, О, Я люблю мат!    ::

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## kalinka_vinnie

> *xRoosterx*, you can post in Russian, but with the translation into English. Just not to puzzle us every time.    And manage without obscenities, please! 
> PS: Please correct my mistakes if there're any.

 I wouldn't use there're, it is ungrammatical and slangish. "There are"  should be used at all times  ::  
Of course, Matrosin Kot can overrule me anytime  ::

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## Оля

> Но, О, Я люблю мат!

 Тогда тебе на другой форум.

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## Matroskin Kot

> Originally Posted by Zaya  *xRoosterx*, you can post in Russian, but with the translation into English. Just not to puzzle us every time.    And manage without obscenities, please! 
> PS: Please correct my mistakes if there're any.   I wouldn't use there're, it is ungrammatical and slangish. "There are"  should be used at all times  
> Of course, Matrosin Kot can overrule me anytime

 Well, I don't think I'll overrule you, although I will disagree with calling it ungrammatical.  I think it depends on whether you stress the word _are_ or _any_. 
I noticed what Vinnie is saying, too, and it *is* more common to stress _are_, which would make the contraction "wrong".  If you stress _any_, then the contraction is ok.  Either one is fine for colloquial speech as long as you say it right, IMO.

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## xRoosterx

> Originally Posted by xRoosterx  Но, О, Я люблю мат!      Тогда тебе на другой форум.

 Я буду сдерживать, Оля. Обещаю.

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## Leof

> Originally Posted by Оля        Originally Posted by xRoosterx  Но, О, Я люблю мат!      Тогда тебе на другой форум.   Я буду сдерживаться\сдерживать себя, Оля. Обещаю.

 Perhaps I'm wrong, but your signature needs some corrections too...   

> Южжжжжжжжжжииииииииииииии  икккккк......
> Кто-то, Разрешите закурить....спасибо.

 If the first is a snakelike hedgehog, then it must be  *Ё*жжжжжжжжжжиииииииииииииии  кккккк...... 
The second part is not the common Russian either, but, if you like, you could write the English version and then we would find the best Russian translation for your signature.  *corrections (c) xRoosterx*

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## Vadim84

> Confuse seems to be a difficult word to adopt naturally for native speakers of Russian. I wonder if it is because of a conflict with the Russian cognate конфуз.

 I hadn't associated "confuse" with "конфуз" until you pointed out the similarity. "Конфуз" is part of my passive vocabulary, whereas "confuse" is definitely in my active lexicon.

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## xRoosterx

> Originally Posted by xRoosterx        Originally Posted by Оля        Originally Posted by xRoosterx  Но, О, Я люблю мат!      Тогда тебе на другой форум.   Я буду сдерживаться\сдерживать себя, Оля. Обещаю.   Perhaps I'm wrong, but your signature needs some corrections too...     
> 			
> 				Южжжжжжжжжжииииииииииииии  икккккк......
> Кто-то, Разрешите закурить....спасибо.
> 			
> 		  If the first is a snakelike hedgehog, then it must be  *Ё*жжжжжжжжжжиииииииииииииии  кккккк...... 
> The second part is not the common Russian either, but, if you like, you could write the English version and then we would find the best Russian translation for your signature.

 Да, Ёжик. Well, I intended it to be "Someone, let me smoke....thank you"  
и спасибо Леоф.   ::

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## Zaya

[quote=Matroskin Kot] 

> Originally Posted by Zaya  PS: Please correct my mistakes if there're any.   I wouldn't use there're, it is ungrammatical and slangish. "There are"  should be used at all times  
> Of course, Matrosin Kot can overrule me anytime

 Well, I don't think I'll overrule you, although I will disagree with calling it ungrammatical.  I think it depends on whether you stress the word _are_ or _any_. 
I noticed what Vinnie is saying, too, and it *is* more common to stress _are_, which would make the contraction "wrong".  If you stress _any_, then the contraction is ok.  Either one is fine for colloquial speech as long as you say it right, IMO.[/quote:1vggkcet]
Thank you both, I'll take it into consideration.   ::

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## Zaya

> Но, О, Я люблю мат!

  

> Кто-то, Разрешите закурить... спасибо.

 Когда читала "Тайну угрожающих писем" Энид Блайтон, то не верила, что кто-то и вправду может писать большие буквы вместо маленьких в середине слова. Теперь готова поверить.

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## Zaya

> и спасибо Леоф.

 *xRoosterx*, мне даже неудобно об этом говорить.
Если ты не умеешь слова на русском подбирать, то хотя бы знаки препинания расставляй как следует и пиши с большой буквы в начале предложения. Например:  

> И спасибо, Леоф.

 Надеюсь, ты меня понял.

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## Zaya

> Originally Posted by xRoosterx  Но, о, я люблю мат!      Тогда тебе на другой форум.

 Присоединяюсь. Люби его в другом месте.

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## vox05

> по-английский..странно, да? извини за не имение смысл. Как видно, мне нужна практика.

 Вопрос - твой ник читается как "иксрустеркс", да?

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## xRoosterx

> Originally Posted by xRoosterx  по-английский..странно, да? извини за не имение смысл. Как видно, мне нужна практика.   Вопрос - твой ник читается как "иксрустеркс", да?

 Да.  
И спасибо, Зая за информацию. Теперь понимаю.

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## Zaya

> И спасибо, Зая, за информацию.

   ::

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## xRoosterx

Конечно!   ::

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## kalinka_vinnie

[quote=Matroskin Kot] 

> Originally Posted by Zaya  
> PS: Please correct my mistakes if there're any.   I wouldn't use there're, it is ungrammatical and slangish. "There are"  should be used at all times  
> Of course, Matrosin Kot can overrule me anytime

 Well, I don't think I'll overrule you, although I will disagree with calling it ungrammatical.  I think it depends on whether you stress the word _are_ or _any_. 
I noticed what Vinnie is saying, too, and it *is* more common to stress _are_, which would make the contraction "wrong".  If you stress _any_, then the contraction is ok.  Either one is fine for colloquial speech as long as you say it right, IMO.[/quote :: kpu2i83] 
In written English, one shall not use the contraction as it is colloquial and used only in speech. I know Zaya, and she doesn't want to come across as a sloppy individual!   ::

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## Matroskin Kot

> In written English, one shall not use the contraction as it is colloquial and used only in speech. I know Zaya, and she doesn't want to come across as a sloppy individual!

 That's true, but there is also such a thing as formal and informal writing.  We tend to write in a conversational style on this forum, so I wouldn't make an issue of it here.

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