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Russian word of the day: Уснуть

Apr 19, 2021 (see all)
усну́ть
[ us-nút' ]
Verb , perfective
to fall asleep
Daily actions in Russian
Russian Pod 101

Examples

  • Он не мог усну́ть до 4-x часо́в утра́.

    on nye mok us-nút' da chee-ty-ryóh chee-sóf ut-rá

    He could not sleep until 4 o'clock in the morning.

  • Де́ти усну́ли пе́ред телеви́зором.

    dyé-tee us-nú-lee pyé-ryet tee-lee-vée-za-ram

    The children fell asleep in front of the TV.

Уснуть - Conjugation
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Related words
переста́ть to stop, to cease, to quit
сде́лать to do, to make
разу́ться to take off one's shoes
чи́стить зу́бы / почи́стить зу́бы to brush one's teeth

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2 thoughts on “Уснуть”

  1. Anita says:

    Hello, is there any difference between засну́ть and усну́ть? Can засну́ть be used in the above examples without any change in meaning? Thanks.

    • Learn Russian Words says:

      Hi Anita,

      Good question. The dictionaries say that these verbs are interchangable.

      However, there are opinions that since the prefixes are different, the scope of application does not always coincide. The prefix у- usually denotes the completeness of the action (being fully asleep) and the prefix за- denotes the beginning of it (to fall asleep).

      Having said that, in many cases, as well as in the given examples, you can use both verbs, it does not change the overall meaning.

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