Breakdown of Моя подруга недавно вышла замуж за музыканта.
мой
my
подруга
the friend (female)
музыкант
the musician
недавно
recently
Questions & Answers about Моя подруга недавно вышла замуж за музыканта.
Why do we say вышла замуж? It looks like “went out for a husband” instead of just “married”.
Выйти замуж is a fixed idiomatic expression in Russian meaning “(a woman) gets married”.
- Выйти = to go out / to exit (perfective of выходить)
- Замуж historically comes from за муж = behind/for a husband
Historically the idea was “a woman goes out behind a husband,” i.e., leaves her family to live with her husband. Over time, it fused into the set phrase выйти замуж, and now people don’t feel the literal meaning; they just understand it as “to get married” (for a woman).
Important points:
- It’s only used about women.
- It is always used with за + accusative to show whom she married:
выйти замуж за кого? – за музыканта, за инженера, за Ивана.
What is the difference between выйти замуж, жениться, and пожениться?