Russian Translation(s) & Details for 'Arraign'

English Word: Arraign

Key Russian Translations:

• обвинять /ɐb.vʲiˈnʲætʲ/ - [Formal, Legal context]
• привлечь к суду /prʲiˈvletʂʲ k suˈdu/ - [Formal, Used in official legal proceedings]

Frequency: Medium (Common in legal and formal contexts, but not everyday conversation)

Difficulty: B2 (Intermediate; requires understanding of legal terminology and verb conjugations)

Pronunciation (Russian):

обвинять: /ɐb.vʲiˈnʲætʲ/

привлечь к суду: /prʲiˈvletʂʲ k suˈdu/

Note on обвинять: The stress falls on the second syllable (/ˈnʲætʲ/), and the palatalized 'нʲ' can be tricky for beginners. Pronunciation may vary slightly in fast speech.

Audio: []

Meanings and Usage:

To officially accuse someone of a crime and bring them to court

Translation(s) & Context:

• обвинять - Used in formal legal settings, such as courtrooms, to indicate the act of charging someone.
• привлечь к суду - Employed when initiating legal proceedings, often in written documents or official statements.

Usage Examples:

• Судья обвинил подозреваемого в совершении преступления. (The judge arraigned the suspect for committing the crime.)

  English Translation: The judge arraigned the suspect for committing the crime.

• Прокурор решил привлечь к суду всех причастных лиц. (The prosecutor decided to arraign all individuals involved.)

  English Translation: The prosecutor decided to arraign all individuals involved.

• В суде обвинили бывшего министра в коррупции. (In court, the former minister was arraigned for corruption.)

  English Translation: In court, the former minister was arraigned for corruption.

• Полиция привлекла к суду вора после сбора доказательств. (The police arraigned the thief after gathering evidence.)

  English Translation: The police arraigned the thief after gathering evidence.

• Судебное заседание началось, когда обвинили подсудимого в мошенничестве. (The court session began when the defendant was arraigned for fraud.)

  English Translation: The court session began when the defendant was arraigned for fraud.

Russian Forms/Inflections:

For обвинять (a verb of the first conjugation), it follows regular patterns but has palatalization in some forms. Below is a conjugation table for the present tense:

For привлечь к суду (a phrase involving the verb "привлечь", which is irregular), "привлечь" is the perfective form of "привлекать". It does not inflect as a single word but follows verb conjugation rules: e.g., past tense: привлек (privlek), future: привлеку (privleku). This phrase remains invariant in most contexts.

Russian Synonyms/Antonyms:

• Synonyms:
  • обвинить (obvinic') - More direct accusation, often used in completed actions.
  • привлечь (privlech') - General term for attracting or drawing into a situation, with subtle differences in legal shades.
• Antonyms:
  • оправдать (opravdat') - To acquit or justify.
  • освободить (osvobodit') - To release or exonerate.

Related Phrases:

• Привлечь к уголовной ответственности - (To bring to criminal accountability; used in serious legal contexts.)
• Обвинить в преступлении - (To charge with a crime; common in courtroom dramas.)
• Вызвать в суд - (To summon to court; implies the initial step of arraignment.)

Usage Notes:

In Russian, обвинять directly corresponds to "arraign" in legal English, emphasizing the ongoing process, while привлечь к суду is more formal and action-oriented. Use обвинять in narrative descriptions and привлечь к суду in official documents. Be mindful of the formal register; these terms are rarely used in casual speech. When translating, consider the context: in Russian legal systems, arraignment may involve specific procedures under the Criminal Procedure Code, differing from common law systems.

• Grammar note: Verbs like обвинять require agreement with the subject in person and number.
• Choose between translations based on tense: привлечь for perfective actions.

Common Errors:

English learners often confuse обвинять with обвинить, using the imperfective when a perfective is needed. For example:

• Incorrect: Я обвиняю его сейчас. (This implies an ongoing action, but if you mean a completed arraignment, say: Я обвинил его.)
• Correct: Я обвинил его в суде. (I arraigned him in court.) - Explanation: Use the perfective form for completed events to match the precise timing in English.
• Another error: Omitting prepositions, e.g., saying "обвинять в" incorrectly as "обвинять для" (for instead of in), which changes the meaning entirely.

Cultural Notes:

In Russia, the concept of arraignment is tied to the inquisitorial legal system, where judges play a more active role than in adversarial systems like in the U.S. or U.K. Terms like обвинять carry historical connotations from Soviet-era justice, emphasizing state authority, which can influence their use in modern contexts to evoke themes of accountability and public order.

Related Concepts:

• Суд (Sud) - Court
• Обвинение (Obvinenie) - Accusation
• Подсудимый (Podsudimyj) - Defendant