Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "boy" 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.

мальчик

Meaning: boy

Pronunciation: [MAHL'-cheek]

Part of speech: noun (masculine noun)

Rank: #320 (see frequency list)

Do you have a boy or a girl?
Photo by Rachel Coleman Finch CC-BY-SA-2.0

Example sentences:

У вас ма́льчик и́ли де́вочка?
Do you have a boy or a girl? (plural or polite "you")
Пе́тя ещë ма́ленький ма́льчик.
Petia is a small boy yet.
Ма́льчики купа́лись в óзере.
Boys were swimming in the lake.
Ма́льчиком он пошëл рабо́тать на фабрику.
When he was a little boy, he started working at a factory.
literal As a boy, he went to work to a factory.
Я хочу́ постри́чься под мáльчика.
I want to have a short haircut.
literal I want to have my hair cut as a boy.
Он же взро́слый мужчи́на, а ведëт себя́, как мáльчик.
He's an adult man already, but he behaves as a boy.
Не плачь, ты уже́ не ма́льчик.
Don't cry, you're not a small boy anymore.

Idioms and set expressions:

ма́льчик на побегушках = gofer
ма́льчик для битья́ = whipping boy
стри́чься под ма́льчика = have a short haircut
literal have a boyish haircut
ма́льчик с па́льчик = hop-o'-my-thumb
literal a fingerbig boy

Related words:

мальчи́шка = boy (diminutive)
мальчи́шеский = boyish
пáрень = guy
мужчи́на = man

Proverbs and sayings:

Слова́ на ма́льчика, но му́жа.
There are not the boy's words, but the man's words.

Case

Singular

Plural

Vocabulary lesson: By Russificate blog exclusively for MasterRussian

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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