Мы познакомились в трамвае и до сих пор продолжаем общаться.

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Breakdown of Мы познакомились в трамвае и до сих пор продолжаем общаться.

• мы: we
• в: on
• познакомиться: to meet
• продолжать: to continue
• трамвай: the tram
• до сих пор: still
• общаться: to keep in touch

Questions & Answers about Мы познакомились в трамвае и до сих пор продолжаем общаться.

What exactly does познакомились mean here? Does it just mean “met”?

Познакомились is from познакомиться, which literally means “to get acquainted, to be introduced to each other for the first time.”

So:

• Мы познакомились в трамвае = We first got to know each other / We were introduced / We met for the first time on a tram.

It implies:

• You did not know each other before.
• You started being acquainted at that moment (exchanged names, started talking, etc.).

If you just want to say you happened to encounter each other (maybe you already knew each other), you would use встретились:

• Мы встретились в трамвае – We met (ran into each other) on a tram.
  (Could be the first time, but often sounds like “bumped into each other.”)

So познакомились focuses on the first introduction, not just physical meeting.

What verb form is познакомились (tense, aspect, person, number), and why is that form used?

Познакомились is:

• Past tense
• Perfective aspect
• 1st person plural (“we”)
• From the verb познакомиться.

Aspect:

• Perfective (познакомиться) describes a completed, one‑time action with a clear result:
  • Action: the act of getting acquainted
  • Result: now we know each other

This is exactly what you want when you say “we met (for the first time)” at some point in the past: a finished event that created a new state (now we are acquainted).

If you used the imperfective знакомиться in the past (мы знакомились), it would sound like “we were in the process of getting acquainted” (focusing on the ongoing process, not the completed result), which would be strange in this context.

Why does познакомились end in -сь? What does that reflexive ending mean here?

The -сь / -ся ending marks a reflexive verb, but in many verbs (including познакомиться) it actually indicates a reciprocal action: something people do to each other.

• познакомились literally: “acquainted ourselves” but really means:
  • “got acquainted with each other” / “became acquainted with one another.”

So, мы познакомились = we got to know each other.

In such verbs, the reflexive ending:

• Does not mean each person did something only to themselves.
• Instead, it means the action is mutual / reciprocal between the participants.

Other similar verbs:

• обниматься – to hug each other
• переписываться – to correspond with each other
• целоваться – to kiss each other

So here -сь shows a mutual social interaction.

Why is it в трамвае and not на трамвае? What’s the difference?

Both exist, but they mean different things:

• в трамвае = in the tram, inside the tram (as a place/space)
  → Focus on location: Where did we meet? Inside the tram.

• на трамвае = by tram, on the tram (as a means of transport)
  → Focus on transport mode: How did we travel? By tram.

In this sentence, you want to say where you met each other, so в трамвае is correct:

• Мы познакомились в трамвае – We met (for the first time) in a tram.

If you said:

• Мы поехали на трамвае – We went by tram.

What case is трамвае in в трамвае, and why does it end with -е?

Трамвае is in the prepositional case (also called locative), singular.

Base form:

• Nominative: трамвай (masculine noun)

Prepositional:

• After в and на (when they mean location), you usually use the prepositional case to say where something is:
  • в трамвае – in the tram
  • в доме – in the house
  • на столе – on the table

Masculine noun трамвай in the prepositional singular becomes трамвае:

• й → е

So:

• в + трамвае (prepositional) = in the tram (where?)

Is до сих пор продолжаем общаться a bit redundant? Could you just say до сих пор общаемся?

Yes, you can absolutely say:

• Мы познакомились в трамвае и до сих пор общаемся.

This is natural and common, meaning:

• We met on a tram, and we’re still in touch / still communicate.

The version with продолжаем adds a slight nuance:

• до сих пор общаемся – simply states the fact: we still communicate.
• до сих пор продолжаем общаться – adds a feeling of duration and persistence:
  • We keep on communicating, it hasn’t stopped, it’s still going on.

In many contexts, the shorter version (до сих пор общаемся) is enough and sounds more neutral.
The longer one can sound a bit more expressive, like you’re emphasizing that the contact has continued for a surprisingly long time or “we’ve stayed in touch all this time.”

What exactly does общаться mean, and how is it different from говорить or разговаривать?

Общаться is a broad verb meaning:

• to communicate, to socialize, to be in contact, to interact (socially).

It can include:

• Talking in person
• Chatting online
• Texting
• Calling
• Hanging out together

So продолжаем общаться means roughly:

• We continue to keep in touch / we still communicate / we’re still in contact.

Compared with other verbs:

• говорить – to speak, to talk (more direct speech: saying words, using a language).

  • говорить по-русски – to speak Russian
  • говорить с ним – to talk with him

• разговаривать – to converse, to have a conversation (focus on the act of talking).

  • разговаривать по телефону – to talk on the phone

• общаться – more about the relationship / ongoing contact than one specific talk.

  • Мы часто общаемся – We’re often in touch / We interact a lot.
  • Could include talking, messaging, hanging out, etc.

So in this sentence, общаться is perfect: it highlights that you maintain a relationship / contact over time, not just had one conversation.

Why is it продолжаем общаться and not something like продолжаем общаемся?

In Russian, after продолжать (“to continue”), you must use the infinitive form of the verb:

• продолжать + infinitive

So:

• продолжаем общаться – we continue to communicate.

Общаться is the infinitive form (like “to communicate” in English).

Using продолжаем общаемся would be incorrect because общаемся is a finite present tense form (1st person plural), and продолжать doesn’t combine with that; it needs the infinitive.

How does до сих пор work here? Does it always translate as “still / up to now”?

До сих пор literally means “up to this time / until now / to this day.”

In this sentence:

• до сих пор продолжаем общаться ≈ we’re still in touch / we have kept in touch up to now.

Common uses:

• Я до сих пор помню это. – I still remember this.
• Он до сих пор не пришёл. – He still hasn’t come.
• Мы до сих пор вместе. – We are still together.

Rough equivalents in English:

• still
• up to now / until now
• to this day

Similar expressions in Russian:

• по-прежнему – still, as before
  • Мы по-прежнему общаемся. – We still keep in touch (just like before).

But до сих пор is particularly strong at emphasizing continuity from some point in the past right up to the present moment.

Can the word order be changed? For example, could you say Мы до сих пор продолжаем общаться и познакомились в трамвае?

Russian word order is relatively flexible, but not all permutations sound equally natural.

The original:

• Мы познакомились в трамвае и до сих пор продолжаем общаться.
  • First: how you met
  • Then: what your relationship is like now

This is the most natural order for telling a mini-story.

If you say:

• Мы до сих пор продолжаем общаться и познакомились в трамвае.

it is grammatically correct, but the logic feels slightly reversed: you first say that you’re still in touch and only then mention where you originally met. It can sound like an afterthought (“…and, by the way, we met on a tram”).

Other natural variations:

• Мы познакомились в трамвае и до сих пор общаемся.
• До сих пор мы продолжаем общаться; мы познакомились в трамвае.
  (More formal / narrative, with a stronger emphasis on “up to now”.)

So yes, you can move pieces around, but the original order is the cleanest and most neutral storytelling sequence.