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### Losing Track of Time: "за- ... -ся"

To express getting so completely absorbed in an activity that you lose track of time, go too far, or stay up late, Russian wraps a verb in the prefix **за-** and the reflexive postfix **-ся** (or **-сь** after a vowel).

When this deep focus involves consuming media, the object of your attention often takes the Instrumental case (meaning you were absorbed *by* it), as with **зачитаться** (to get carried away reading). You will also often see this paired with the adverb **допоздна** (until late).

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You will notice two additional grammar patterns in the examples below:
- **"Both":** The word for "both" is **оба** (masculine/neuter) or **обе** (feminine). It declines to match its noun (e.g., Instrumental **с обоими**, Accusative/Genitive **обеих**).
- **"Having done...":** You can express "having done [something]" by adding the suffix **-в** to a perfective verb stem (e.g., **закончив** — having finished; **встретив** — having met).

### Staying Up and Working Late

You can use this structure for staying somewhere too long (**засидеться**) or working too hard (**заработаться**). These verbs are perfective, usually describing a finished result in the past or a hypothetical situation in the future.

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### Talking and Playing

Just as adults can lose track of time talking (**заговориться**), children often get carried away playing (**заиграться**).

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### Lost in Sight and Thought

Getting carried away looking at something (**засмотреться**) pairs with the preposition **на** + Accusative case.

If the absorption happens entirely in your head, you might instead get lost in thought (**задуматься**) or lost in daydreams (**замечтаться**).

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### Getting Carried Away Listening

Similar to reading, when you get carried away listening to something (**заслушаться**), the object you are listening to takes the Instrumental case.

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Getting carried away (за- ... -ся)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

predicative

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Presentative (это)

Noun gender

Soft-sign nouns (-ь)

Subject pronouns (я, ты, он...)

Yes/no questions (да / нет)

Basic interrogatives (кто / что)

Basic negation (не)

Coordinating conjunctions (и / а)

Possessive pronouns (мой, твой, наш, ваш)

Demonstrative pronouns (этот, эта, это)

Adjective agreement

Which and whose (какой, чей)

First conjugation verbs, singular (-ать)

First conjugation verbs, plural (-ать)

Second conjugation verbs (-ить)

Irregular present tense verbs

Adverbs of manner (как, очень)

Locations in prepositional case (в / на)

Prepositional case modifiers (-ом, -ой)

Topics of speech (о, об)

Direct objects (-у, -ю)

Direct object pronouns (меня, тебя)

Verbs of motion (идти, ехать)

Destination (куда, в, на)

Plural nouns (-ы, -и, -а, -я)

Irregular plural nouns (друзья, дети)

Plural adjectives and pronouns (-ые, -ие)

Numbers 1 to 10 (один, два, три)

Possession with pronouns (у меня есть)

Possession with nouns (-а, -я, -ы, -и)

Genitive of negation (нет)

Numbers 2, 3, and 4

Quantities with mass nouns (сколько, много, мало)

Animate direct objects

The past tense of to be (был, была, было, были)

Regular past tense verbs

Time sequence expressions (вчера, завтра, раньше, потом)

Verb aspect in the past tense

Dative personal pronouns (мне, тебе, ему)

Expressing likes (нравится, нравятся)

Absence (нет)

Expressing age (год, года, лет)

Indirect objects (-у, -ю, -е)

Modal verbs (хотеть, мочь)

Reason and contrast (поэтому, но)

Double negation (ничего, никогда)

Reflexive verbs (-ся, -сь)

Polite requests and instructions (-ите, -йте)

Days of the week (в + Accusative)

Compound future tense (буду...)

Simple future tense

Accompaniment (с)

Multidirectional verbs of motion (ходить, ездить)

Greetings and goodbyes (здравствуйте, привет)

Thank you and sorry (спасибо, извините)

Countries and languages (русский, английский)

Meeting people (меня зовут, как дела)

Public transport (трамвай, остановка)

Left, right and the compass (слева, справа)

Places in the city (цирк, зоопарк)

Fruit and vegetables (помидор, огурец)

Post and travel (открытка, чемодан)

Family and relatives (внук, родственник)

Jobs and professions (инженер, продавец)

Sport and games (футбол, теннис)

Describing people (умный, сильный)

Health and the body (болен, здоровье)

The months of the year (январь, февраль)

Accusative feminine and inanimate adjectives (-ую, -юю)

Accusative animate masculine adjectives (-ого, -его)

Short-form adjectives (готов, занят)

Personal obligation (должен, должна)

Professions in the instrumental case

Genitive singular adjectives and possessives

Prepositions of absence and purpose (без, для)

Dative singular adjectives and possessives

Impersonal states (мне холодно)

Impersonal obligation (надо, нужно)

Impersonal permission (можно / нельзя)

Instrumental adjectives and pronouns

Reciprocal verbs (с + Instrumental)

Reflexive possessive pronouns (свой)

Reflexive pronouns (себя)

Specific indefinite pronouns (-то)

Non-specific indefinite pronouns (-нибудь)

Negative pronouns (никто / ничто)

Numbers 11 to 20

Question	Answer
to get carried away reading	зачитаться
until late	допоздна
The student got carried away reading an interesting novel until late.	Студент зачитался интересным романом допоздна.
Having opened a new book, I got carried away reading until late.	Открыв новую книгу, я зачитался допоздна.
to sit up late	засидеться
Yesterday we stayed up late at the cafe with both friends.	Вчера мы засиделись в кафе с обоими друзьями.
My brother was very busy and stayed up late at the computer.	Мой брат был очень занят и засиделся за компьютером.
to get carried away working	заработаться
Sorry, I got carried away working and could not call you.	Простите, я заработался и не мог вам позвонить.
Having finished the important project, we realized that we had gotten carried away working.	Закончив важный проект, мы поняли, что заработались.
to get carried away playing	заиграться
Children can get carried away playing in the yard and forget about the time.	Дети могут заиграться во дворе и забыть о времени.
The boy got carried away playing with the new toy.	Мальчик заигрался с новой игрушкой.
to get carried away talking	заговориться
Having met both friends (f), she got carried away talking.	Встретив обеих подруг, она заговорилась.
The neighbors got carried away talking about politics in the kitchen.	Соседи заговорились о политике на кухне.
to get carried away watching	засмотреться
I got carried away looking at this beautiful painting.	Я засмотрелся на эту красивую картину.
We got carried away watching both actors.	Мы засмотрелись на обоих актёров.
to get lost in thought	задуматься
Having heard the difficult question, he got lost in thought.	Услышав трудный вопрос, он задумался.
I read the article and got lost in thought about life.	Я прочитал статью и задумался о жизни.
to get lost in daydreams	замечтаться
The girl looked out the window and got lost in daydreams.	Девушка смотрела в окно и замечталась.
At a lecture a student can get lost in daydreams.	На лекции студент может замечтаться.
to get carried away listening	заслушаться
I got carried away listening to this beautiful song and was late.	Я заслушался этой красивой песней и опоздал.
Having heard the song, we all got carried away listening.	Услышав песню, мы все заслушались.