Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "side" 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.

сторона

Meaning: side, direction, land, place, party

Pronunciation: [stah-rah-NAH]

Part of speech: noun (feminine noun)

Rank: #122 (see frequency list)

The compass rose displays the directions (north, south, east, and west)
Photo by Andrew pmk, licensed under CC-SA3.0

Example sentences:

В Росси́и е́здят по пра́вой стороне́ доро́ги.
In Russia, traffic keeps to the right side of the road.
literal In Russia, they drive on the right side of the road.
Я стою́ с ле́вой стороны́ окна́.
I'm standing on the left side of the window.
Они́ смо́трят в ра́зные сто́роны.
They look in different directions.
Влади́мир нашёл сча́стье в чужо́й стороне́.
Vladimir found happiness in a foreign land. (colloquial)
Ско́лько сторо́н в квадра́те?
How many sides does a square have?
В квадра́те четы́ре стороны́.
A square has four sides.
С одно́й стороны́, он хоро́ший челове́к. Но с друго́й стороны́, у него́ е́сть недоста́тки.
On the one hand, he is a good person. But on the other hand, he has drawbacks.
Дава́йте посмо́трим на э́то с друго́й стороны́.
Let's look at this from another angle.
Она́ перешла́ на на́шу сто́рону.
She came over to our side.
Не волну́йтесь, я на ва́шей стороне́.
Don't worry, I'm on your side. (polite or plural)
Мы рассмотре́ли вопро́с со всех сторо́н.
We have considered the question in all its aspects.
Это бы́ло глу́по с мое́й стороны́.
It was stupid on my part.
Я огляде́лся по сторона́м.
I looked around.
Сто́роны заключи́ли догово́р.
The parties entered into a contract.
literal The parties made an agreement.

Idioms and set expressions:

в стороне = aside
в разные стороны = in different directions
С одной стороны, ... = On the one hand...
literal from one side
С другой стороны, ... = On the other hand...
literal from another side
родная сторона = native land
чужая сторона = foreign country
держаться в стороне = to stand aside; to keep aloof
искать на стороне = to seek elsewhere
шутки в сторону = joking apart
передняя сторона = front; face; obverse
задняя сторона = backside; back; rear
оглядеться по сторонам = to look around
literal to look by directions
сторона света = one of the four directions (north, south, west, east)
идти на все четыре стороны = to be free to go to the four corners of the earth
обратная сторона медали = the other side of the medal; reverse side

Proverbs and sayings:

Бойся быка спереди, коня сзади, а человека со всех сторон.
Beware of the bull from the front, the horse from behind, and the man from all sides.
Всякому мила своя сторона.
Every bird likes its own nest. (There is no place like home.)
На чужой стороне и кости по родине плачут.
The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet.
Всякая медаль о двух сторонах.
Every medal has two sides.
Со стороны виднее.
The onlooker sees most of the game.

Other forms of the word (declensions):

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	сторона́	сто́роны
Genitive	стороны́	сторо́н
Dative	стороне́	сторона́м
Accusative	сто́рону	сто́роны
Instrumental	стороно́й (стороно́ю)	сторона́ми
Prepositional	стороне́	сторона́х

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.

Got questions?

Ask them in the Russian Questions and Answers — a place for students, teachers and native Russian speakers to discuss Russian grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and other aspects of the Russian language.