Breakdown of Я хочу обновить это приложение.
Questions & Answers about Я хочу обновить это приложение.
Russian verbs typically come in aspect pairs:
- обновлять – imperfective (ongoing, repeated, process)
- обновить – perfective (single, completed action, result)
With хотеть (to want), both aspects are possible, but they mean different things:
Я хочу обновить это приложение.
“I want to update this app (once, to get it up to date).”
– Focus on the result: you want it to be updated.Я не люблю обновлять приложения.
“I don’t like updating apps (in general).”
– Focus on the activity / process in general.
In your sentence, you mean a single update that should be completed, so the perfective обновить is used.
Обновить is broader than just software. Literally it means “to make something new again”, “to renew,” “to refresh,” “to update.”
Examples:
- обновить приложение – to update an app
- обновить гардероб – to update/refresh one’s wardrobe
- обновить мебель – to replace/refresh the furniture
- обновить в памяти – to refresh in one’s memory
In modern tech contexts, обновить is the normal way to say “to update” (apps, programs, pages).
The word приложение is neuter in Russian. The demonstrative “this” has to agree with the gender of the noun:
- этот – masculine (этот стол – this table)
- эта – feminine (эта книга – this book)
- это – neuter (это окно – this window)
- эти – plural (эти книги – these books)
Since приложение is neuter, you must use это:
- это приложение – this app
In Russian, most nouns ending in -о or -е are neuter.
Приложение ends in -е, so it is neuter:
- окно – neuter
- море – neuter
- здание – neuter
- приложение – neuter
There are exceptions in Russian, but -о / -е endings are a strong clue that the noun is neuter.
It is in a case: the accusative (the case for direct objects).
For neuter nouns, the accusative = nominative in form. So:
- Nominative (dictionary form): приложение
- Accusative (as a direct object): приложение
You see no ending change, but grammatically the word is in the accusative after обновить.
Yes, that’s perfectly correct and often very natural.
Я хочу обновить это приложение.
“I want to update this app (the one we’ve just mentioned or are looking at).”Я хочу обновить приложение.
“I want to update the app / an app.”
The context will show which app is meant.
Including это makes it more specific: this particular app that is somehow indicated or obvious.
Approximate stresses (capitals for stressed syllables):
- Я хоЧУ обноВИТЬ Э́то приложЕ́ние.
More precisely (with accents):
- Я хочУ
- обновИть
- Э́то
- приложЕ́ние
Pronunciation tips:
- Я хочу – like ya kha-CHU, with х as a harsh “kh” (like in German Bach).
- обновить – ab-na-VEET’ (final -ть is soft and almost not pronounced as a full [t]).
- это – E-ta (short, clear E).
- приложение – pree-la-ZHEN-ee-ye (the ж is like “s” in “measure”).
You don’t need to over-pronounce the final ть in обновить; it mainly softens the preceding в.
Хотеть (“to want”) is irregular in the present tense. The forms are:
- я хочу – I want
- ты хочешь – you (sg, informal) want
- он / она / оно хочет – he / she / it wants
- мы хотим – we want
- вы хотите – you (pl/formal) want
- они хотят – they want
The stem changes (хоч- / хот-) and the endings are mixed, so you just have to memorize these forms.
In the past tense, it’s regular:
- он хотел, она хотела, оно хотело, они хотели.
It’s neutral and fine in most contexts. It’s like saying “I want to update this app” in English: straightforward, not rude.
If you need to sound more polite/soft (for example, in customer service or speaking to strangers), you might use:
- Я бы хотел(а) обновить это приложение. – “I would like to update this app.”
The conditional я бы хотел(а) sounds more polite and less direct than я хочу.
Yes, Russian word order is flexible. However, changes can slightly affect emphasis:
Я хочу обновить это приложение.
Neutral, default order. Focus on the action “update this app.”Я хочу это приложение обновить.
Slightly emphasizes это приложение as the thing to be updated (as opposed to something else).
It can sound a bit stylistic or emotional, depending on context.
The first version is the most common and “textbook” one.
Actually, it’s the same word это, but used in two roles:
As a demonstrative adjective/pronoun modifying a noun:
- это приложение – this app
Here it agrees in gender/number with приложение (neuter → это).
- это приложение – this app
As a stand‑alone pronoun meaning “this / it is”:
- Это приложение. – This is an app.
- Это мой телефон. – This is my phone.
Context and sentence structure show whether это is being used as “this” (= “this app”) or “this is / it is.”
Yes. In everyday speech you might hear:
- приложение – the standard, neutral “application/app.”
- прога (slang, from программа) – like saying “app / program” in a casual, somewhat geeky way.
- программа – “program,” sometimes used for apps, especially on computers.
For a smartphone app, приложение is the most common and correct word.
Example:
- Я хочу обновить это приложение. – natural and standard.
- Я хочу обновить эту программу. – also possible, slightly more general.
- Я хочу обновить эту прогу. – very informal/slangy.
Yes, but the meaning changes:
Я хочу обновить это приложение.
“I want to update this app.” – your desire.Мне надо обновить это приложение.
“I need to update this app.” – obligation, necessity.Мне нужно обновить это приложение.
Very similar to надо: “I need to update this app.”
Structure with надо / нужно:
- Мне надо / нужно + infinitive
Literally: “To me it is necessary to update this app.”
So you choose хочу / надо / нужно based on want vs need.