Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "to write" 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.

писа́ть

Meaning: to write, paint, compose

Pronunciation: [pee-SAHT']

Part of speech: verb (imperfective aspect)

Rank: #218 (see frequency list)

Example sentences:

Мы пи́шем письмо́ роди́телям.
We are writing a letter to our parents.
Я пишу́ дипло́м уже́ полго́да.
I’ve been writing my undergraduate thesis for six months already.
На уро́ке студе́нты писа́ли дикта́нт.
The students took a quiz during the lesson.
Моя́ подру́га — журнали́стка. Она́ пи́шет статьи́ в журна́л мод.
My friend is a journalist. She writes articles for a fashion magazine.
Когда́ вы бу́дете писа́ть отчёт?
When will you write the report?
Пиши́те чётко и аккура́тно, не торопи́тесь.
Write plain and neatly, don’t rush.
Э́́́́тот худо́жник пи́шет карти́ны ма́слом.
This artist paints his pictures with oil paint.
Ты уме́ешь писа́ть по-япо́нски? — Нет, но я немно́го говорю́ и чита́ю по-япо́нски.
Can you write in Japanese? — No, but I can speak and read in Japanese a bit.
Ру́сский компози́тор Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский писа́л о́перы, бале́ты, конце́рты, симфо́нии. Его́ бале́ты "Лебеди́ное о́зеро", "Спя́щая краса́вица", "Щелку́нчик" изве́стны во всём ми́ре.
The Russian composer Peotr Ilyich Chaikovsky wrote operas, ballets, concerts, and symphonies. His ballets “Swan Lake”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “The Nutcracker” are known all over the world.
Е́сли бы ты меня́ не отвлека́л, я бы писа́ла бы́стрее.
If you didn’t distract me I would write faster.

Idioms and set expressions:

писа́ть как ку́рица ла́пой = to write like chicken scratches / someone’s writing is a scrawl
literal to write like a hen by its claw
писа́ть вензеля́ = to stagger / reel along (of a drunken person)
literal to write monograms
писа́ть кро́вью = to write in one’s own blood
literal to write in blood
говори́т как пи́шет = about someone who speaks smoothly and well
literal speaks like writes

Related words:

написа́ть = to write, paint, compose
писа́тель = writer
писа́тельница = writer (female)
письмо́ = letter
запи́ска = note

Proverbs and sayings:

Пиши́ пропа́ло.
It is as good as lost.
literal Write “disappeared”.
Пошла́ писа́ть губе́рния.
Things started moving. / And the ball started rolling. / There they go!
literal The province went to write.
Дела́ иду́т, конто́ра пи́шет.
Things go on and never stop. / Things are on the move, and the office is open. / Our busy office hums and clatters: we do our best to speed up letters!
literal Things go on, the office writes.
За неиме́нием ге́рбовой пи́шут на просто́й.
All is good in a famine. / When all fails welcome haws. / Something is better than nothing.
literal Not having a stamped paper they write on a plain one.

Vocabulary lesson: By RT: Learn Russian 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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