Russian Classes: Use the letter 'Ж' when proposing!

Credits: Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch, Joosep Martinson/Getty Images, реж. Леонид Гайдай, 1973/Мосфильм, В. Блиох/Sputnik

Привет!
What do you think of the letter ‘Ж’? Some say it doesn’t even look like a letter, but a bug,,, which is fitting, since 'bug' in Russian is 'жук'!

In Russian there are two words for the phrase 'to be married': the masculine version is 'женат' (from the word for 'wife' - жена), while the female is 'замужем' (from the word for 'husband' - 'муж'). So, if you're a woman, you'd effectively be saying: "married to a man", and vice versa.

Here are some examples:
- Вы замужем?
- Да, я замужем.
- Вы женаты?
- Нет, я не женат.
Note that 'замужем' doesn’t change, but 'женат' has a singular and plural form - the latter being used as a polite form (like in the example above).

Congratulations! Now you know what to do if you fall in love with a Russian man or woman. (But, first things first - let them know that you're not married!).

Check out more lessons in our Telegram channel, using the tag #russianclasses!

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