# Forum Other Languages Slavic languages Ukrainian  Is the Ukrainian language similar to Russian?

## Kim_2320

I'm just wondering....

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## laxxy

> I'm just wondering....

 Well, yes. It does not mean that you can learn one and understand the other of course.

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## Dogboy182

This question has been asked one million and 1 times so i'll keep it short. 
Ukrainian and Russian are more closely related than say, German and English. Though they share close slavic roots, they are diffrent languages and are not very mutually intelligible. 
Perhaps you can compare them to portugese and spanish, only if you like.

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## TATY

> This question has been asked one million and 1 times so i'll keep it short. 
> Ukrainian and Russian are more closely related than say, German and English. Though they share close slavic roots, they are diffrent languages and are not very mutually intelligible. 
> Perhaps you can compare them to portugese and spanish, only if you like.

 In writing they are quite mutually intelligible. A Russian with no knowledge of Ukrainian could understand quite a lot of written Ukrainian and vice versa.

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## Dogboy182

Sure. 
You know honestly, I miss all the Ukrainians at my old school. I miss their accents so much!

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## andrei_michaelovich

Hey dog,  
Where you at, man? Are you studying Russian for a profession now? 
I have to say, a little bearing as my opinion owns, your Russian is quite good and you obviously had close and lasting ties with the immigrant community. I am impressed. 
My wife is Ukrainian, from Dnepropetrovskaya oblast', and her accent is sooo cute. Though she hates it when I bring it up!  ::

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## Dogboy182

I'm in california right now learning Pashtu for in the Air force. I've never taken russian classes or studied it formally or anything. I pretty much learned it all myself and from my friends.

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## Cesar

> This question has been asked one million and 1 times so i'll keep it short. 
> Ukrainian and Russian are more closely related than say, German and English. Though they share close slavic roots, they are diffrent languages and are not very mutually intelligible. 
> Perhaps you can compare them to portugese and spanish, only if you like.

 Italian is more similar to Spanish. 
C

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## Pasha

Italian is not more similar to spanish

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## TATY

Overall Spanish and Portuguese are far closer. Italian pronunciation may be closer to Spanish, but yes, C

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## Dogboy182

Pashtu is close to nothing. In past tense transitive verbs conjugate to the object, and the subject automatically becomes accusative. Making 
 "I watched tv" - مه تلیزون لیدل  - "Tv watched me." 
Its so weird...  ::

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## Cesar

[quote=TATY]Overall Spanish and Portuguese are far closer. Italian pronunciation may be closer to Spanish, but yes, C

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## Dogboy182

There isn't a whole lot more to say. Kim probly wont even be back. The question has been answered, and been answered 10,000 times over.

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## possopo

portuguese understand spoken spanish, spaniards don't understand spoken portuguese. written languages are quite similar.
as for italian, it's extremely close to french.

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## MalenkayaKatinka

As someone who has studied French for 7 years and has studied Italian, they are both similar in regards to grammar and with some words, not all though. 
For example here are some words that are alike:
Dire - to tell - in Italian, the 'e' is pronounced, whereas in French it is not.
Venire (Italian), Venir (French) - to come 
Parlare (Italian), Parler (French) - to speak
mangiare (Italian), manger (French) - to eat 
But others are not similar at all:
capire (Italian), comprendre (French) - to understand
leggere (Italian), lire (French) - to read
comminare (Italian), promener (French) - to walk 
 I think Spanish is more similar to Italian. 
As for Ukrainian and Russian, they are similar to some extent, but also very different. I know a fair amount of Russian and can understand Ukrainian when I read it, but it's more difficult to understand it when someone speaks or sings.

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