Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "about (+ prepos.)" 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.

Meaning: about (+ prepos.), concerning, of, on, against (+ accusative), with

Pronunciation: [uh]

Part of speech: preposition (pronounced as [uh] and is unstressed. о is written as об before the vowels а, э, и, о, у; обо is used before such letter clusters as мн- and вс-)

Rank: #34 (see frequency list)

I've read a book about evolution.
Photo by peterpan_harris, licensed under CC GA 2.0

Example sentences:

Я ду́маю о тебе́.
I think about you. (informal)
Анна мечта́ет о сча́стье.
Anna dreams about happiness.
Иван мечта́ет об Анне.
Ivan dreams about Anna.
О чём вы говори́ли?
What were you talking about? (polite or plural)
Я люблю́ кни́ги о живо́тных.
I like books about animals.
Она́ уда́рилась голово́й о сте́ну.
She banged her head against the wall.
Маши́на разби́лась о ка́мни.
The car smashed against the rocks.
Она́ уда́рилась лицо́м о лобово́е стекло́.
She bumped her face against the windshield.
Профе́ссор прочита́л ле́кцию о Росси́и.
The professor gave a lecture on Russia.
literal The professor read a lecture about Russia.
Ма́льчик споткну́лся о ка́мень.
A boy stumbled on a stone.
Что ты ду́маешь обо мне?
What do you think about me? (informal)
Он зна́ет обо всём.
He knows about everything.

Idioms and set expressions:

би́ться голово́й о сте́ну = to fight windmills
literal to knock one's head against the wall
суди́ть о други́х по себе́ = to judge others by oneself
па́льцем о па́лец не уда́рить = not to raise a finger
literal not to strike a finger against fingure
би́ться как ры́ба об лёд = to struggle desperately for a living; to have hard times
literal to beat oneself like a fish on ice

Related words:

об = same meaning. Used before the vowels а, э, и, о, у
обо = same meaning. Used before such letter clusters as мн- and вс-
про (+ accusative) = about, concerning, of (colloquial)

Proverbs and sayings:

Вся́кая меда́ль о дву́х сторона́х.
Every medal has two sides.
Конь о четырёх нога́х, да и тот спотыка́ется.
It's a good horse that never stumbles.
literal A horse has four legs but it still stumbles.
Па́лка о дву́х конца́х.
Two-edged sword.
literal A stick with two ends.
Как об сте́нку горо́х.
То throw straws against the wind.
literal Like peas against a wall.

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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