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.

о

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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