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Russian word of the day: Писк
Sep 23, 2017 (see all)
Declension of the word писк
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative Nom. | писк | пи́ски |
| Genitive Gen. | пи́ска | пи́сков |
| Dative Dat. | пи́ску | пи́скам |
| Accusative Acc. | писк | пи́ски |
| Instrumental Inst. | пи́ском | пи́сками |
| Prepositional Prep. | пи́ске | пи́сках |
Anita says:
Hello, what is the meaning of за in the first example? thanks.
Learn Russian Words says:
Hi Anita,
It does not have a particular meaning but is rather added so you can use “что” in your question.
You can use this construction when you encounter something for the first time and want to know more about it, for example:
– Что это за штука у тебя на столе?
– What is this thing on your table?
– Что это за машина?
– What car is it? (brand/model)
Alternatively, you can use a bit more formal constructions where often “что” is not applicable:
– Откуда этот писк?
– Where does this squeak come from?
– Что это у тебя на столе?
– What is it on your table? (still can use “что” here)
– Эта машина какой марки? Это какая модель?
– What brand is this car? Which model is this?
Anita says:
Just to confirm, so the difference between with and without за, is that with за is informal and without is formal?
Learn Russian Words says:
Not really. Some sentences without “за” are simply incorrect.
We don’t say “Что это/этот запах?” or “Что это/эта машина?”, this does not make sense in Russian.
I called it “formal” because while “что это за …?” is quite a universal colloquial construction, alternatives always sound more sophisticated/formal in some way.
You can use this construction every time when you encounter something for the first time, you understand what it is and want to know more about it. Some more examples:
– Что это у тебя за пятно на рубашке?
What is this stain on your shirt? Meaning, where does this stain come from?
– Что это за звук?
What is this sound?
Now when I’m writing it, I come to think it’s a sort of compensation for the absence of the verb to be in the Present Tense. If we used есть, there would be no need for “за”. Let me illustrate why I say this:
“Что есть этот звук?” sounds weird (don’t say it, it’s not proper Russian), but it is at least grammatically correct comparing to “Что этот звук?”
Having said that, this construction can be used in all tenses, not only the Present.
I hope it helps to grasp it 🙂