Russian House

Many students struggle with how to say “different” in Russian, so in this first of a series of tips on studying Russian we’ll visit the myriad of ways Russian approaches this deceptively simple concept.

The first word that usually comes to the English speaker’s mind for different is “другой“, though this may better be thought of as “a different one” or “another one” as below.

Маша купила одну бутылку минеральной воды, а я купила другую.

Masha bought one bottle of mineral water, and I bought another (different) one.

Маша и Саша договорились встретиться в книжном магазине. Маша долга ждала Сашу, но Саша пошел в другой магазин.

Masha and Sasha agreed to meet at the bookstore. Masha waited a long time for Sasha, but he’d gone to a different store.

Or consider an advertisement for “Другая Москва” as “The Other Moscow,” a collection of photographs of the seedier side of capitol life.

For the word “разный” I should note that it is most often used in the plural to mean different kinds.

Маша и Саша купили разные книги. Она любит историю, а он читает только поэзию.

Masha and Sasha bought different (kinds of) books. She loves history but he only reads poetry.

У меня много студентов и все они такие разные.

I have a lot of students and they are all so different (of differing natures or abilities).

Or the headline “Разные страны – разный интернет” meaning “Different countries – a different type of internet”

Разичный is often a synonym for разный, also used predominantly in the plural and having just a slightly more official or technical sound.

У местных учёных появились совсем различные теории.

Local scientists have developed quite disparate theories.

All these examples maintain the same part of speech in Russian and English, namely, using an adjective to express this idea. The fact is that there are a number of verbal expressions in Russian for talking about difference, and I’ll give a few examples below.

Это не соотвествует тому, что он говорил.

That’s different than (doesn’t correspond to) what he said.

Моя точка зрения на этот вопрос отличается от общепринятой.

My point of view on that matter differs from the commonly held one.

Русский и английский языки отличаются тем, как они выражают разницы.

Russian and English differ in how they express differences.

Это не имеет значения. That makes no difference.

So while this may not be the definitive study of the expression of difference, I hope this helps you to start thinking about different ways to say “different”. Comments, questions, further examples and different points of view most welcome!

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