Breakdown of Со временем я стал увереннее говорить по‑русски.
Questions & Answers about Со временем я стал увереннее говорить по‑русски.
Со временем is an adverbial phrase meaning “with time / over time / as time went on.”
Grammatically, временем is the instrumental case of время after the preposition с/со.
Russian often uses со instead of с to make pronunciation easier, especially:
- before certain consonant clusters (to avoid awkward sounds),
- and in some fixed/common phrases.
Со временем is a very common set phrase, so you’ll usually see со here.
Because the preposition с/со (in the sense of “with”) typically governs the instrumental case.
So: с + (instrumental) → с временем, со временем.
Стал is the past masculine singular of стать. In this structure it’s best understood as “became”:
я стал увереннее = “I became more confident.”
Russian also uses стать + infinitive to mean “started to (do)”, but in this sentence the key change is in the degree of confidence, not merely starting an action.
Because увереннее is a comparative adverb meaning “more confidently.” It describes how you speak.
- стал увереннее говорить = started speaking more confidently / became more confident at speaking
- стал уверенным (instrumental) would mean “became a confident person” (a broader personal trait), not specifically about speaking.
So увереннее is chosen because it targets the manner/degree of speaking.
Here it functions as an adverb (comparative) modifying the infinitive говорить.
It answers the question как? (how?) → увереннее (more confidently).
It comes from уверенно (confidently) → comparative увереннее (more confidently).
Russian commonly uses the pattern:
стать + (comparative/adverb) + infinitive
This expresses a change over time in how easily/well someone does something:
- стал лучше понимать = began understanding better
- стал быстрее читать = began reading faster
- стал увереннее говорить = began speaking more confidently
The infinitive keeps the focus on the activity (to speak).
Because Russian normally expresses languages with the construction:
говорить + по‑(language adverb)
So:
- по‑русски = in Russian
- по‑английски = in English
- по‑французски = in French
говорить русский is not the standard way to say “speak Russian” (it can appear in special contexts, but learners should default to по‑русски).
Yes, it’s standard spelling: по‑русски is written with a hyphen.
Many по‑ adverbs (especially “in a … way / in … language”) are hyphenated, e.g. по‑новому, по‑старому, по‑русски.
You may sometimes see different dash/hyphen characters depending on typography, but the idea is the same: it’s a hyphenated word.
In Russian, names of languages are usually not capitalized: русский, английский, французский.
They’re capitalized only when part of a proper name or title.
Yes, that word order is also possible. Word order affects emphasis:
- …стал увереннее говорить по‑русски emphasizes the increase in confidence first.
- …стал говорить по‑русски увереннее emphasizes the action speaking Russian first, then adds that it became more confident.
Both are natural; the original is a very common, smooth order.
Past tense verbs in Russian agree with the subject’s gender and number:
- male: я стал
- female: я стала
- plural: мы стали
So a female speaker would say: Со временем я стала увереннее говорить по‑русски.
Common alternatives with slightly different nuance:
- со временем = over time (gradual change)
- со временем всё лучше… = with time, better and better…
- постепенно = gradually
- с течением времени = with the passage of time (more formal)
- со временем vs в конце концов: в конце концов means “eventually” (often a final outcome), while со временем focuses on the gradual process.
For this sentence, со временем and постепенно are the closest in feel.