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Questions & Answers about Я люблю учить новые слова.
Why is люблю directly followed by the infinitive учить and not another form?
In Russian, to express “I like to do something,” you use the verb любить + infinitive. There’s no gerund or separate particle needed. So Я люблю учить literally means “I like to learn” (or “I like to teach,” depending on context—with слова it means “learn”).
In this sentence, does учить mean “to teach” or “to learn”?
Here учить means “to learn” or “to memorize.” Context decides: since слова (words) is the object, the speaker is learning words, not teaching them. If you wanted “teach,” you’d need a person as the object (e.g. учить детей).
Why is учить in the imperfective aspect rather than the perfective выучить?
The imperfective учить describes a habitual or ongoing activity: “I like learning new words” as a regular process. The perfective выучить would imply a single completed action: “I liked (or I like) to learn (and finish) new words,” which doesn’t fit well with expressing a general preference.
What case are новые слова, and why?
Новые слова is in the accusative plural. Since учить is a transitive verb, its direct object must be in the accusative. Because слова (words) is an inanimate noun, its accusative form is identical to the nominative (слова). The adjective новые agrees with it in number, gender (neuter/hard stem), and case (accusative plural).
Could you change the word order to слова новые?
You could say Я люблю учить слова новые, but it sounds poetic or emphatic. The standard, neutral word order is учить новые слова (adjective before noun).
How do you pronounce люблю учить новые слова, and where is the stress?
Stress falls on the second syllable of люблю (люблю́) and on the second syllable of учить (учи́ть). The full pronunciation (using IPA) is roughly [lʲʉˈblʲu ʊˈt͡ɕitʲ ˈnovɨjɪ ˈslovə].
What’s the difference between учить and изучать in this context?
- учить: focus on memorizing or repeating material (e.g. vocabulary).
- изучать: focus on studying something in depth or systematically.
Here, учить новые слова emphasizes the act of learning/memorizing words rather than a structured course.
Why is there no preposition before новые слова?
In Russian, direct objects of most transitive verbs (like учить) take the accusative case without a preposition. Adding a preposition (e.g. о or за) would change the meaning or require a different case.
Can you say Я люблю учиться новым словам instead?
No, that would be ungrammatical. Учиться is an intransitive verb meaning “to learn/to study” and requires a preposition or different structure (e.g. Учиться новым словам doesn’t work). To express your liking for learning words, you use любить учить + accusative.