Sometimes, doing an action just a little bit isn't enough. When dealing with stress or exhaustion, you often need to do something until you are completely satisfied, relieved, or empty.
In Russian, you can express this "achievement of a state through saturation" by wrapping a verb in a circumfix: adding the prefix вы- and the postfix -ся (or -сь).
Finding Relief
When dealing with emotional tension, simply sleeping isn't enough. You need to sleep until you are fully rested (выспаться).
| They say that one just needs to get a good night's sleep to relieve emotional tension. | Говорят, что нужно просто хорошо выспаться, чтобы снять эмоциональное напряжение. |
| Yesterday I finally managed to get enough sleep, and now I feel relief. | Вчера я наконец смог выспаться, и теперь чувствую облегчение. |
Similarly, if you need to release sadness or tension, you might need to cry until you have no tears left (выплакаться).
| She needed to have a good cry to relieve the tension. | Ей нужно было выплакаться, чтобы снять напряжение. |
Venting and Unburdening
This pattern is incredibly useful for emotional release and venting anger (гнев). If you have a lot on your mind, you might need to unburden yourself by talking it all out (выговориться).
| She hid her anger for a long time, until finally she was able to unburden herself. | Она долго скрывала свой гнев, пока наконец не смогла выговориться. |
If you are deeply frustrated, sometimes a sharp release is exactly what brings relief—like getting a curse word out of your system (выругаться).
| When the driver swore, it brought him relief. | Когда водитель выругался, это принесло ему облегчение. |
| Sometimes one just wants to swear loudly because of all the problems. | Иногда хочется просто громко выругаться из-за всех проблем. |
Running Empty
Saturation isn't always about feeling better; sometimes it means you have pushed an action until you have completely depleted your reserves.
- выдохнуться: to run out of steam (literally, to exhale oneself entirely)
- выложиться: to give it your all (to lay oneself out completely)
| I have completely run out of steam and cannot argue anymore. | Я совершенно выдохнулся и больше не могу спорить. |
| To win, the whole team must give it their all at a hundred percent. | Чтобы победить, вся команда должна выложиться на сто процентов. |