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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:

1. **"In my/your/our opinion"**: When placed at the beginning of a sentence and set off by a comma.
2. **"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).

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### 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):

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### 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.

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### 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:

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You can even combine these adverbs in a single sentence to express your perspective clearly!

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Opinion adverbs (по-моему, по-вашему)

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
in your opinion / your way	по-вашему
tradition	традиция
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 our opinion / our way	по-нашему
We are doing this our way.	Мы делаем это по-нашему.
people / nation (a people, collective)	народ
custom	обычай
The whole nation came to see this custom.	Весь народ пришёл посмотреть на этот обычай.
differently (in another way)	по-другому
Now they celebrate Christmas differently.	Теперь они празднуют Рождество по-другому.
in one's own way	по-своему
Every people lives in its own way.	Каждый народ живёт по-своему.
as before / still (continuing unchanged)	по-прежнему
habit	привычка
This is still a bad habit.	Это по-прежнему плохая привычка.
They welcomed the guests in the Russian way.	Они встретили гостей по-русски.
You do not need to do this differently.	Не надо делать это по-другому.
We still love all our traditions.	Мы по-прежнему любим все наши традиции.
truly / really (genuinely)	по-настоящему
All this is not for real.	Всё это не по-настоящему.
In my opinion, this is a very strange custom.	По-моему, это очень странный обычай.
Every person decides in their own way.	Каждый человек решает по-своему.
You do not need to change this habit.	Не надо менять эту привычку.
In our opinion, this is a truly important tradition.	По-нашему, это по-настоящему важная традиция.
unfortunately	к сожалению
Unfortunately, I cannot come.	К сожалению, я не могу прийти.
Unfortunately, the shop is already closed.	К сожалению, магазин уже закрыт.
fortunately	к счастью
Fortunately, everyone came back home.	К счастью, все вернулись домой.
Fortunately, the weather was good.	К счастью, погода была хорошая.
point of view	точка зрения
He has a different point of view.	У него другая точка зрения.
From my point of view, this is a mistake.	С моей точки зрения, это ошибка.

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