31 Comments
If that is pronounced the way I think ("pastyél") it will forever remind me of the word I use in Spanish for cake ("pastel"). Cake-bed... bed-cake... idk. Funny word x)
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Thanks. What is used more? Are there regional preferences? My husband was born in Moscow, and later the family moved to Latvia.
Кровать - is a piece of furniture.
There are two beds in the room. - В комнате две кровати. You can't say: "В комнате две постели"
Постель - bedclothes: a sheet, blankets, pillows. It originates from a verb "стелить" - "to lay, to spread".
So, one can't call a bed without bedclothes "постель". The usage of "Постель" is always somehow related to sleeping or sex.
Он лежит в постели (He is lying in bed) - It is assumed that he is sleeping, going to sleep soon or has just woke up.
Hah, I have only ever heard the "кровать " version. I learned a new word because of you . Thanks ;-)
Maybe it is a word used in Moscow more often. My relatives in Saint Petersburg don't use that word.
Very good observation, and you're actually not that far from the truth, and I'll tell you why :-) .
French word for "cravate" is called that way because ties were invented in Croatia, and the name of their country in Serbo-Croatians is "Hrvatska" , (from Krv in the Old Slavic), which basically means blood :-) , Like, people "related by blood" or something.
See how Etymology can lead you anywhere and everywhere? :D
this should be the last sentence you'll need at the end of a successful night out ;)
I may be wrong but in some bases if it ends with ь it could masculine or feminine.
Кровать is a feminine word. They usually end with 'а', 'я', 'ь'.
And yes, as Darkwisp said, there are some exceptions.
So this Ь is female... Is there a rule or a link to study? How do I know when words ending in ь is male or female?
I never thought of it but it really seems there every day maculine words ending with ь , which you just have to memorize:
http://masterrussian.com/nounsandcases/gender_and_number.htm
EDIT: Only ones I am sure which are always feminine are --сть : ярость старость кость мудрость
EDIT 2: I've found here http://masterrussian.com/htgender.shtml
that nouns ending with -teль tend to be masculine as well
Гость (guest) is masculine, постель (bed) is fem. So the only rule is that there's no rule. :)
I think those rules only apply when the ending "-тель" or "-ость" is a suffix - for example, the word "учитель" (teacher) is formed by taking the word "учить" (to teach) and adding the suffix "-тель" (-er), and is masculine as per dempl's rule above. In Bkofman's examples, the endings aren't suffixes (they're just integral parts of the words) so the rules don't apply.
That sounds right, Mark! At least, I can't think of any exceptions to that rule. And when I think of arbitrarily adding "-тель" to a word, to me that word would be masc. The fem. version would end with "-тельница", e.g., учительница.
I've just come across this discussion: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/12477769 where Shady_arc mentions these rules, and gives a couple of others, too. Worth a read.
I was about to blame someone else for not knowing this sentence but then I realized it's my bed.
