Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "rain" in Russian

This Russian word is one of the top 1000 words in Russian. The complete list of most common Russian words is available here.

дождь

Meaning: rain

Pronunciation: [dohsht']

Part of speech: noun (masculine noun)

Rank: #796 (see frequency list)

It's raining.
Photo by John-Morgan, licensed under CC GA 2.0

Example sentences:

В Москве́ идёт дождь.
It's raining in Moscow.
На́чался дождь.
It started raining.
literal The rain started.
Ната́лья укры́лась от дождя́ под де́ревом.
Natalia took shelter from the rain under a tree.
На зе́млю упа́ли пе́рвые ка́пли дождя́.
The first drops of the rain hit the ground.
Де́ти бе́гают под дождём.
The children are running under the rain.
В э́том году́ ма́ло дожде́й.
There is not enough rain this year.
literal There are few rains this year.
Андре́й ду́мал о дожде́.
Andrey was thinking about the rain.
К двум часа́м дождь прекрати́лся.
The rain has stopped by two o'clock.
Дождь не перестава́л.
The rain wouldn't stop.
Дождь ко́нчился, и в не́бе показа́лось со́лнышко.
The rain has stopped and the sun showed up in the sky.
Он лежа́л на крова́ти и слу́шал, как дождь бараба́нит по кры́ше.
He was laying in bed and listening to the rain drumming on the roof.
Ка́жется, дождь собира́ется.
It looks like it's going to rain.
Cезо́н дожде́й начина́ется в ию́не.
The rainy season begins in June.

Idioms and set expressions:

ме́лкий дождь = drizzle
literal fine rain
проливно́й дождь = downpour
literal pouring rain
ли́вень = downpour, heavy shower
дождь льёт как из ведра́ = it is raining cats and dogs
literal rain pours like out of the bucket
дождь переста́л/прекрати́лся = the rain has stopped
под дождём = in the rain
literal under the rain
мо́рось = drizzle (noun)
мороси́ть = to drizzle (verb)
cезо́н дожде́й = wet season, rainy season

Related words:

дождли́вый = rainy
до́ждик = small rain (diminutive form)
пого́да = weather
оса́дки = precipitation
ли́вень = downpour, heavy shower

Proverbs and sayings:

Ли́бо дождь, ли́бо снег, ли́бо бу́дет, ли́бо нет.
May be rain or may be snow, may be yes or may be no.
По́сле до́ждичка в четве́рг.
When pigs begin to fly.
literal After the rain on Thursday.
Без ту́чи нет дождя́.
No cloud, no rain.

Other forms of the word (declensions):

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	дождь	дожди́
Genitive	дождя́	дожде́й
Dative	дождю́	дождя́м
Accusative	до́ждь	дожди́
Instrumental	дождём	дождя́ми
Prepositional	дожде́	дождя́х

Phrase recordings: Copyright(c) 2011 MasterRussian.com. All rights reserved.
Word recordings: Copyright(c) 2006 Streit Goulnara, Streit Eric, Vion Nicolas. Copyright(c) 2007 S. Sakhno, N. Vion. Distributed under CC-BY.

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