In Russian, you can create adverbs by adding the prefix по- and a hyphen to certain pronouns and adjectives. Today, we will look at how this structure is used to express opinions, talk about cultural customs, and describe the way things are done.
Opinions and Personal Ways
When the prefix по- and the ending -ему or -ому are added to possessive pronouns, they create adverbs with two distinct meanings depending on how they are used:
- "In my/your/our opinion": When placed at the beginning of a sentence and set off by a comma.
- "In my/your/our way": When used as a standard adverb describing how an action is performed.
Let's look at по-вашему (your opinion/way), по-моему (my opinion/way), and по-нашему (our opinion/way) in the context of talking about a традиция (tradition) or an обычай (custom).
| In your opinion, is this a good tradition? | По-вашему, это хорошая традиция? |
| He came and did everything your way. | Он пришёл и сделал всё по-вашему. |
| In my opinion, this is a very strange custom. | По-моему, это очень странный обычай. |
Doing Things Differently
This same grammatical pattern applies to other descriptive words to explain how something happens.
- по-другому: differently (in another way)
- по-своему: in one's own way
Here they are in action, using the word народ (a people or nation):
| Now they celebrate Christmas differently. | Теперь они празднуют Рождество по-другому. |
| Every people lives in its own way. | Каждый народ живёт по-своему. |
The Russian Way
When referring to nationalities, you attach по- to the adjective root and add the ending -ски. While this is most commonly used to talk about speaking a language (like speaking Russian), it also means doing something in the cultural style of that nation.
| They welcomed the guests in the Russian way. | Они встретили гостей по-русски. |
Continuing and Genuine Actions
Finally, there are two extremely common adverbs built with this pattern that describe the status or reality of a situation:
- по-прежнему: as before, still (literally "according to the former")
- по-настоящему: truly, genuinely, for real (literally "according to the present")
Here is how they might be used to describe a привычка (habit) or to emphasize a point:
| This is still a bad habit. | Это по-прежнему плохая привычка. |
| All this is not for real. | Всё это не по-настоящему. |
You can even combine these adverbs in a single sentence to express your perspective clearly!
| In our opinion, this is a truly important tradition. | По-нашему, это по-настоящему важная традиция. |
