Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "city" 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.

город

Meaning: city, town

Pronunciation: [GOH-raht]

Part of speech: noun (masculine noun)

Rank: #149 (see frequency list)

The view of the city of Sochi from the sea.

Example sentences:

Я люблю́ свой го́род.
I love my city.
В моём го́роде мно́го па́рков.
There are many parks in my city.
Ири́на живёт в го́роде Владивосто́к.
Irina lives in the city of Vladivostok.
Он лю́бит больши́е города́.
He loves big cities.
Вы из како́го го́рода?
What city are you from? (polite or plural)
Населе́ние го́рода Со́чи составля́ет 337 947 челове́к.
The population of the city of Sochi is 337,947 people.
В како́м го́роде роди́лся Пётр Пе́рвый?
What city was Peter the First born? (a/k/a Peter the Great)
Мы горди́мся свои́м го́родом.
We are proud of our city.
Го́роду испо́лнилось сто лет.
The city turned 100 years old.
Го́род располо́жен на берегу́ реки́.
The city is situated on the bank of the river.
Моя́ сестра́ живёт в це́нтре го́рода.
My sister lives in downtown.
Зи́мние Олимпи́йские и́гры 2014 го́да пройду́т в го́роде Со́чи. (2014 is pronounced as "две ты́сячи четы́рнадцатого")
2014 Winter Olympics will be held in the city of Sochi.

Idioms and set expressions:

за городом = in the country; out of town
центр города = downtown
literal the center of the city
деловая часть города = downtown
literal the business part of the city

Related words:

городо́к = a small town, township, village, community (diminutive from город)

Proverbs and sayings:

Что ни город, то норов, что ни деревня, то обычай.
So many countries, so many customs.
literal Another city -- another temper, another village -- another custom.
Ни к селу, ни к городу.
Neither here nor there.
literal Neither to a village, nor to a city.
Смелость города берёт.
Courage overcomes all obstacles.
literal Courage conquers the cities.

Other forms of the word (declensions):

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	го́род	города́
Genitive	го́рода	городо́в
Dative	го́роду	города́м
Accusative	го́род	города́
Instrumental	го́родом	города́ми
Prepositional	го́роде	города́х

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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