Breakdown of С одной стороны, умный дом — это удобство, с другой стороны, это зависимость и риск взлома.
это
this / it is
дом
house
и
and
один
one
умный
clever, intelligent
другой
other
сторона
side
удобство
comfort
с
off / down from (a surface)
риск
the risk
зависимость
the dependence
взлом
the hack
Questions & Answers about С одной стороны, умный дом — это удобство, с другой стороны, это зависимость и риск взлома.
Why does the Russian phrase use стороны instead of a word for 'hand'?
The Russian idiom literally translates to 'from one side... from the other side'. You must use the preposition с (from) with the genitive form of сторона (side).
Can I drop the word стороны in the second half of the sentence?
Yes, absolutely. Just like in English where you can say 'on the one hand... on the other', it is very common and natural in Russian to shorten the second marker to just с другой.
Is it mandatory to put commas around с одной стороны and с другой стороны?
Yes. In Russian, these are considered introductory phrases that express how a thought is organized. They must always be set off from the rest of the sentence by commas.
Why is there a dash before это удобство, but no dash before это зависимость?
In the first clause, умный дом and удобство are two nouns in the nominative case being equated (home = convenience), so a dash is required to replace the missing 'is'. In the second clause, это is acting as a simple pronoun subject meaning 'it' (it is a dependence), and Russian grammar does not put a dash between a pronoun subject and a noun predicate.
Why is the word for 'hacking' (взлом) in the genitive case here as взлома?
It links two nouns together to show relation, translating as the 'risk of hacking'. When one noun modifies another in this way, the second noun takes the genitive case.
Learn С одной стороны, умный дом — это удобство, с другой стороны, это зависимость и риск взлома and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free