Question 1

If один normally means 'one', how does it act as 'alone' here?

Accepted Answer

In Russian, the number один doubles as the word for 'alone'. When used this way, it acts like an adjective describing the subject and must agree with its gender. Because the speaker says один (masculine), we know a man is speaking. A woman would say я живу одна.

Question 2

Could I use сам instead of один to say 'I live by myself'?

Accepted Answer

Not quite, because they have different nuances. Один focuses on being physically alone or without company, which is why it is used for living alone. Сам means doing something independently without outside help, like building a house or fixing a car by yourself.

Question 3

Is the word одиночество (solitude) related to один?

Accepted Answer

Yes! They share the exact same root. You can see один right at the start of одиночество, making it literally translate to 'aloneness' or the state of being one.

Question 4

Why is there a dash and это after одиночество?

Accepted Answer

In Russian, when you link a noun subject (одиночество) directly to a noun predicate (выбор) in the present tense, the verb 'to be' is omitted and replaced by a dash. Adding это after the dash is a very common way to emphasize 'is' when giving a definition or explaining what a concept means.

Одиночество — это мой личный выбор, я живу один.

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