Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "against" 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.

против

Meaning: against, opposite, facing, versus, contra

Pronunciation: [PROH-teef]

Part of speech: preposition

Rank: #440 (see frequency list)

Example sentences:

Я про́тив твое́й пое́здки в Австра́лию.
I'm against your trip to Australia.
Оте́ц был про́тив того́, что́бы сын жени́лся так ра́но.
The father was against his son getting married so early.
По́чта нахо́дится пря́мо про́тив до́ма.
The post office is just opposite the house.
А́нна сиде́ла про́тив окна́.
Anna was sitting facing the window.
Нам бы́ло тру́дно плыть про́тив тече́ния.
It was difficult for us to swim against the stream.
Пове́рь мне, Марк не бу́дет поступа́ть про́тив во́ли роди́телей.
Believe me, Mark won't act against his parents' will.
Пацифи́ст ― э́то челове́к, кото́рый про́тив войны́.
A pacifist is a person who is against war.
Дава́йте проголосу́ем: кто за, а кто про́тив э́того предложе́ния.
Let’s vote: who is for and who is against this proposal.
Де́ти сиде́ли друг про́тив друга.
The children were sitting face to face.
Четвёртое февраля́ ― Всеми́рный день борьбы́ про́тив ра́ка.
February 4th is World Cancer Day.

Idioms and set expressions:

гла́дить про́тив ше́рсти = to rub up the wrong way / to stroke the wrong way
literal to stroke against the hair
плыть про́тив тече́ния = to go against the stream
literal to swim (sail) against the stream
плева́ть про́тив ве́тра = to spit into the wind
literal to spit against the wind
быть про́тив = to be against (smth) / to mind (smth); to vote against
име́ть что́-либо про́тив = to have smth against / to be against it / to mind smth
ничего́ не име́ть про́тив = to have nothing against smth

Related words:

проти́вник = opponent, antagonist, adversary, enemy
проти́виться = to oppose, to resist, to stand up (against)
противоре́чить = to contradict
противополо́жный = opposite, contrary

Proverbs and sayings:

Про́тив ло́ма нет приёма.
Might makes right. / Don't bring a knife to a gunfight.
literal There isn't a method against a scrap.
Молоде́ц про́тив ове́ц, а про́тив молодца́ и сам овца́.
A bully is always a coward.
literal Brave against sheep, but himself a sheep against the brave.
Всё бы́ло про́тив него́.
The cards were stacked against him.
literal Everything was against him.

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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