390–391 The Adverb 405

(3) It can also be synonymous with уж in a temporal context:

Он ухал ещё/уж на пршлой недле
He left last week

Note
(a) The use of ещё with comparatives, as an adverb of degree: ещё
лчше ‘still/even better’.
(b) Ещё раз ‘once more’, referring to a repeated action (but not a
repeated state): Я позвон' ещё раз ‘I’ll ring again’. Compare
снва, which may denote resumption rather than repetition:
Пbсле болзни он снва стал ходть в кин ‘After his illness
he has begun going to the cinema again’. Опть may be used as
a synonym of снва (Снва/опть пошёл дождь ‘It began
raining again’), but may also have emotional overtones, sometimes
expressing irritation (Опть пезд опздывает! ‘The train is
late again!’).

391 The temporal adverbs lókuj, lfdyó and ytládyj

(1) Длго denotes a definite but unspecified period of time:

Он длго одевется
He takes a long time to dress
(2) Давн ‘for a long time’ (it also means ‘a long time ago’) implies an
unfinished action or process:
Он давн рабтает здесь
He has been working here for a long time (and still is)
Он давн жил там
He had been living there for a long time

Note
(a) Cf. 256 (2) (vii).
(b) Cf. tense usage in negative contexts: Я давн не кур4 ‘I haven’t
smoked for some time’ (have given it up) and Я давн не курл
‘I haven’t smoked for some time’ (but may do so again).
(3) Недвно refers to a recent event
Он мер недвно
He died recently
while (в/за) послднее врмя ‘recently, of late’ refers to a process or
406 The Adverb 391–392

state extending over a period of time. Absence of a preposition represents

more colloquial usage:
Послднее врмя н было дожд
There hasn’t been any rain recently

392 Primary adverbs of manner and extent

(1) 1ак and так may denote:

(i) Manner:
Вот как ндо писть! That’s how to write!
Ндо вест себ так You should behave like that

Note
(a) 1ак also combines with the verb любть ‘to like’ in expressing
manner: Любл', как ты готвишь ед ‘I like the way you
cook’.
(b) Не так may mean ‘wrongly’: Вы не так менете прбку
‘You’re not changing the fuse the right way’ (cf. непрвильно
‘incorrectly’).
(ii) Degree or extent:
1ак хорош он игрет! How well she plays!
Я так мнго ходл, что I have walked so much that
устл I am tired
(2) In comparisons, the particle же usually follows так:
Он так же умён, как я He is just as clever as I am
but this does not occur in a negative comparison
Он не так умён, как я He is not as clever as I am
When two qualities relate to the same person, the particle и is used for
emphasis:
Он так же умён, как и добр He is as clever as he is kind
(3) 1ак? is used as the equivalent of English ‘what?’ in establishing
personal and other details:
1ак твоё мя?/твоё тчество?/тво фамлия?
What is your first name?/your patronymic?/your surname?
 392–394 The Adverb 407

1ак теб зовт?

What is your name?
1ак ваш дрес?
What is your address?
Note also the phrase 1ак .то по-рсски? ‘What is the Russian for
that?’

393 Interrelating adverbs

Interrelating adverbs
там, где
туд, куд
туд, отк#да
тогд, когд
так, как etc.
may be used when no specific referent of place, time or manner is
named:
Я рабтаю там, где он рабтал рньше
I work where (lit. ‘there, where’) he used to work
Пмню, как побежли мы туд, куд нас вел густя толп
людй (Grekova)
I recall how we ran to where a dense crowd of people led us
Любя рабта тлько тогд увлекет, когд ты в ней уж
каке-то тйны откр3л (Yunyi naturalist)
A job only becomes absorbing when you have discovered some of
its secrets
Он поступл так, как я ем велл
He acted as I told him to

394 Nó;t, nár;t

(1) Both тже and ткже mean ‘also, as well, too’. Тже may be

regarded as the more colloquial variant, ткже as the more official:
Он тже/ткже подет He will go too
Мы тже/ткже соглсны We also agree
408 The Adverb 394

Note
(a) Тже/ткже не means ‘not . . . either’: Он тже/ткже не подет
‘He won’t go either’.
(b) See 472 (9) for тже as a particle.
(2) Тже is preferred in contexts which express identification with an
action, state or attribute already referred to:
Вы зняты? Я тже
Are you busy? So am I
— Я чень хоч пойт на концрт
‘I am very keen to go to the concert’
— Он тже хчет пойт
‘She wants to go too’
У стен3 стол блый стол и чет3ре стла, тже блых
A white table and four chairs, also white, stood by the wall
(3) Ткже is preferred when providing additional or supplementary
information (in the meaning крBме тог, ещё и ‘apart from that, in
addition’):
Я нчал, крbме книг, читть ткже и журнльные стать
I began to read magazine articles as well as books
Он чень хитёр, не хже брта; но он ткже чень талнтлив
He is very cunning, no less so than his brother; but he is also very
talented
Существют ткже стереотпы маскулнности и феминнности
(Nedelya)
There also exist stereotypes of masculinity and femininity
(4) Ткже is particularly common with the conjunction a:
Речь шла в основнм о проблмах двусторнних отношний,
а ткже о положнии в Ливне
It was basically a question of problems of bilateral relations, and also
the situation in the Lebanon

Note
A never combines with тже.
(5) Compare the contrasting usage of тже and ткже in the following:
Он тже в3разил готвность помчь
He also expressed his willingness to help (emulating someone else’s
willingness to help)
 394–395 The Adverb 409

Он ткже в3разил готвность помчь

He also expressed his willingness to help (in addition to other action
he had agreed to take)

395 Indefinite adverbs (adverbs in -nj, -yb,elm, -kb,j and

ròt-)

Adverbs in -то, -нибудь and -либо are adverbial counterparts to the

indefinite pronouns (see 138). They include:
гд-то somewhere гд-нибудь somewhere, anywhere
куд-то somewhere куд-нибудь somewhere, anywhere
(direction) (direction)
кк-то somehow кк-нибудь somehow, anyhow
когд-то once, at one time когд-нибудь at any time, ever
почем#-то for some reason почем#-нибудь for some, any reason
All the adverbs can also combine with -либо. 1Bе- combines with где,
как, когд and куд.

(1) Adverbs in -то

Гд-то/куд-то denote a particular but unidentified place, когд-то a
particular but unidentified time, почем#-то a particular but unidentified
cause. The adverbs relate predominantly to the past or present tense:
Вор прчется гд-то поблзости
The thief is hiding somewhere nearby
Он кк-то спрвился с задчей
Somehow he coped with the task
— 5то мой друг, игрли когд-то в футбл (Vanshenkin)
‘That is my friend, we used to play football at one time’
Тртий пассажр тже есть, но, вдно, куд-то в3шел
(Rasputin)
There is a third passenger too, but he must have gone out somewhere
Он почем#-то недовлен ншим решнием
For some reason he is displeased with our decision

(2) Adverbs in -нибудь

Adverbs in -нибудь are used:
410 The Adverb 395

(i) In questions:
Вы когд-нибудь отдыхли на Чёрном мре?
Have you ever holidayed on the Black Sea?
(ii) In the future, implying a choice still to be made:
Через гдик куд-нибудь переберсь: в Хрьков, Кев,
Днепропетрвск (Rybakov)
In a year or so I shall move somewhere: to Kharkov, Kiev,
Dnepropetrovsk
(iii) After imperatives:
Заглян ко мне когд-нибудь
Pop in to see me some time
(iv) In referring to different circumstances on different occasions,
irrespective of tense:
По воскресньям мы всегд здим куд-нибудь на машне
We always go for a drive somewhere on Sundays (different places on
different occasions)
(v) In contexts where the adverb implies inferior quality:
Я стал коммунстом. И не гд-нибудь, а в Средизмном мре
(Russia Today)
I have become a Communist. And not any old where, but in the
Mediterranean

(3) Adverbs in -либо

Adverbs in -либо express an even greater degree of indefiniteness than
adverbs in -нибудь. They denote ‘anywhere’ (at any place you like to
name), ‘ever’ (at any time you like to name) etc.:
5то был сильнйшая комнда, котрая когд-либо выгрывала
чемпионты мра (Sputnik)
It was the strongest team that had ever won world championships

(4) Adverbs in кbе-

(i) 1Bе-гд means ‘in various places’:
1Bе-гд в ншем гроде проводлись демонстрции
Demonstrations were held at various localities in our town
(ii) 1Bе-кк means ‘with great difficulty’
 395–396 The Adverb 411

Мы кBе-кк добралсь домй

Somehow we struggled home
or ‘carelessly’
Рабта сдлана кBе-кк
The work has been done any old how

Note
1Bе-когд means ‘occasionally’, кBе-куд ‘to a particular place’.

396 The negative adverbs ybulé, ybrelá, ybjnr‘lf,

ybrjulá, ybrár, ybcrókmrj

(1) Negative adverbs are formed by affixing ни- to the adverbs где
‘where’, как ‘how’, когд ‘when’, куд ‘where to’, отк#да ‘from
where’, склько ‘how much’:
нигд ‘nowhere’ никуд ‘nowhere’ (direction)
никк ‘in no way’ ниотк#да ‘from nowhere’
никогд ‘never’ нисклько ‘not at all’

Note
‘Hardly ever’ is rendered as почт никогд, ‘hardly anywhere’ as
почт нигд etc.
(2) Like negative pronouns (see 133), negative adverbs combine with the
particles не/нет:
Он нигд не рабтает He does not work anywhere
Он никуд не идёт He isn’t going anywhere
Ниотк#да нет псем There are no letters from anywhere
Он никогд не лжёт She never tells lies
Он никк не реагровала She did not react at all
Я нисклько не обделся I wasn’t at all offended

Note
Нельз also combines directly with a negative adverb: Никк нельз
согласться с ним ‘One can in no way agree with him’.
(3) It is possible to accumulate negatives within one sentence:
Никт никогд никуд не здит
No one ever goes anywhere
Дти никогд ничег не узнют о них (Zalygin)
The children will never learn anything about them
412 The Adverb 396–397

Note
Ни рзу ‘not once’ and не раз ‘more than once’. Compare:

Он ни рзу не прибрл в кмнате у Gндерсена (Paustovsky)

Not once did he tidy Andersen’s room
and

О недосттках не раз уж пислось

These shortcomings have been written about more than once

397 The negative adverbs yéult, yérelf, yérjulf,

yéjnrelf, yépfxtv

(1) Like the ‘potential’ negative pronouns (see 137), the ‘potential’
negative adverbs appear in infinitive constructions: (Нам) нгде жить
‘There is nowhere (for us) to live’. The series comprises

нгде ‘there is nowhere to’

нзачем ‘there is no point’
нкогда ‘there is no time to’
нкуда ‘there is nowhere to’ (direction)
ноткуда ‘there is no place from where’

Note
Нкогда can also mean ‘once, at one time’.
(2) There are two variants of the construction:
(i) The impersonal:
Утерться б3ло нчем, переодться нгде (Vanshenkin)
There was nothing to dry oneself on and nowhere to change
Копть моглу б3ло нкогда и нзачем (Rybakov)
There was no time to dig a grave and no point in doing so
(ii) The personal, with the logical subject appearing in the dative case
(see 93):
Ем# нгде рабтать He has nowhere to work
Ей нкогда б3ло She had no time to converse
разговривать
Нам нкуда бдет хать We shall have nowhere to go
 397–398 The Adverb 413

Note
As with the ‘potential’ negative pronouns, there is a positive counterpart
to this construction involving сть (present tense), б*ло (past) and б#дет
(future), e.g.

?сть/б*ло/б#дет куд пойт

There is/was/will be somewhere to go

398 Comparative adverbs

(1) The comparatives of adverbs in -о/-е are identical with short-form

comparative adjectives (see 179 and 180):

Всё сильне и гл#бже осознаём духвное родств с другми

нардами (Kostomarov)
We are more and more intensively and profoundly conscious of our
spiritual kinship with other nations

Note
Adverbs with more than two syllables have an alternative comparative in
блее: в*годнее/блее в*годно ‘more beneficially’, cf. мнее в*годно
‘less beneficially’. The form with блее is the norm for comparatives
of adverbs other than those in -о/-е: блее логчески ‘more logically’
(cf. мнее лоччески ‘less logically’).

(2) Comparative adverbs appear in the same types of construction as

comparative adjectives (see 182), i.e. constructions:

(i) With чем ‘than’:

Но сильнй, чем завд, любл Пётр Телепнёв свой сад (Trifonov)

But Petr Telepnev loved his garden more than the factory

(ii) With the genitive:

Трнер чще другх слов употреблет слво «рабта» (Salnikov)

The trainer uses the word ‘work’ more often than other words

(iii) With горздо ‘much’ (also мнго, намнго, куд):

Он вернлся домй горздо пзже

He returned home much later
(iv) With чем . . . тем ‘the . . . the’:
414 The Adverb 398–399

Чем бльше я отдыхл от футбла, тем сильне хотлось

игрть
The more I rested from football the more I wanted to play
(v) With the prefix по- ‘a little’:
Нчью капитн пот#же затгивался ремнём (Gagarin)
At night the captain would tighten his belt a little
(vi) With instrumental or на + accusative in quantifying a difference:
Я вернлся на пять мин#т/пять4 мин#тами рньше, чем
ожидл
I arrived five minutes earlier than I had expected
(vii) With как мжно ‘as . . . as possible’:
Мы хали как мжно мдленнее
We were driving as slowly as possible

399 Variant forms of some comparative adverbs

Some comparative adverbs have variant forms:

(1) Бльше/блее ‘more’; мньше/мнее ‘less’

(i) These may be differentiated stylistically, the comparatives in -ше
belonging to the ‘neutral’ register and those in -ее to a more ‘bookish’
style (бльше/блее тридцат ‘more than thirty’).
(ii) Only бльше/мньше are used to denote extent or degree: Он
л'бит дочь бльше (not блее), чем с3на ‘He loves his daughter more
than (he loves) his son’.
(iii) Блее and мнее are mainly used in the formation of long
comparative adjectives and adverbs (see 177 and 398 (1) note), and in a
number of set phrases: блее Oли мнее ‘more or less’, блее тог
‘furthermore’ etc.

(2) Дльше/длее ‘further’

Apart from its spatial meaning, дльше ‘further’ also implies subsequent
action (A дльше что случлось? ‘And what happened next?’) or
encouragement (Hy — дльше! ‘Well, go on!’). Длее is limited mainly
to the phrase и так длее (и т.д.) ‘and so on’.