more russian help please if you can?

Question

Why is Po put in front of some words for example/ (Pa)smatrI means LOOK. what does the (pa) (smatri) mean each word individually.. Like in a song i know it says "nye smatri Ti pa storonam" would this be something like" You dont look....." thats all i get.. can you help? thanks thanks thanks! Spahseebah~

Answer 1

The Po- and Pa- is used very often...although it's difficult to explain.
You can say
- pokushat' - which is a verb meaning "to eat"...but you could also say "kushat'" without the "po" and it would still be the same verb with the same meaning. However, Pokushat' would mean eat right now....but Kushat' would mean eat in general..."kushat' budem" translates to "we will eat" (unclear when), but when you say "pokushaem" we will eat most likely now. You can use this with almost any verb:
- Pospat' (to sleep) versus Spat' (also to sleep)
- Popit' (to drink) versus Pit' (same thing)

However, it takes on a whole new meaning when you say "ne smotri ti po storonam" this translates to "don't look around you" or "or don't look from side to side" ...don't look at other people basically, and don't pay attention to what others are doing or saying (I know what song you're taking about by the way, it's a good song!).

Russkimuzhik: I didn't write "паспать" - I know perfectly well that it would be considered illiterate. I wrote "pospat'" because it would be easier for a someone learning the language to pronounce it that way, becuase there really is no pause in between.
But it's undeniable that the preposition "по" (po) can be used with almost any verb...maybe not when you are writing your doctoral dissertation but most certainly when you are speaking out loud!

Answer 2

You've asked a tricky question. Well, "po" is a prefix and it doesn't have any particular meaning in itself. When you say "posmotri" to smb, you ask them to look at smth, or it may sound as a command as well. If you want to attract smb's attention to smth happening right now, you can also say "smotri": in the sentence "Look what he's doing!" you may use both "smotri" and "posmotri". Still "posmotri" is closer to "have a look", you're more interested in the result. "Smotri" emphasizes the duration.
The phrase from the song means "Don't look around". There's a negation "nye" before the word, and in such cases they don't add the prefix "po" to the verb. No particular rule - with a prefix it simply won't sound good.

Answer 3

OK EASY AND SIMPLE ANSWER- PO IS A PREPOSITION THAT IS USED IN FRONT OF A WORD OR IN THE BEGINNING OF A WORD IT CAN PROMPT YOU OR THE PERSON TO TAKE THE ACTION WHEN IT IS IN A WORD AND WHEN IT IS BEFORE/IN FRONT OF THE WORD IT MEANS-ON,AT, ETC DEPENDING ON THE CONTEXT. JUST REMEMBER IN THE WORD IT PROMPTS ACTION AND BEFORE IT IS A PREPOSITION.

Answer 4

смотри [smo-TREE] = look
посмотри [po-smo-TREE] = take a look

Prefix "по-" means "begin an action of", this word (посмотри)
literally means "begin an action of looking".
Another example, попробуй [po-PRO-booy] means "take a try".

Preposition "по" means "at / around".

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Contrary to Yulka's opinion, there is no prefix "па-" in Russian. It would be considered illiterate to write "паспать".

Answer 5

"po" is a preposition that has a few different meanings, depending upon how it is used. It can mean "about", "for", or "according to".

Answer 6

its sbaseeba
kak dyela?
___________ a tebya?
Tak cyebe....

heee

have no idea wat po or pa is