Russian Translation(s) & Details for 'famish'

English Word: famish

Key Russian Translations:

• голодать [ɡə.lɐˈdatʲ] - [Informal, Common in everyday speech]
• уморить голодом [u.mɐˈrʲitʲ ˈɡo.lə.dəm] - [Formal, Literary or descriptive contexts]

Frequency: Medium (The word and its translations are not extremely common in casual conversation but appear in discussions about hunger, survival, or literature.)

Difficulty: B1 (Intermediate; requires understanding of basic verb conjugations and vocabulary related to health and emotions. For 'голодать', it's straightforward; for 'уморить голодом', it may be slightly more advanced due to phrasal structure.)

Pronunciation (Russian):

голодать: [ɡə.lɐˈdatʲ]

уморить голодом: [u.mɐˈrʲitʲ ˈɡo.lə.dəm]

Note on голодать: The stress is on the second syllable ('da'), and the final 'tʲ' is a soft 't' sound, which can be challenging for English speakers due to Russian's palatalization. Pronunciation may vary slightly in fast speech.

Audio: []

Meanings and Usage:

Meaning 1: To suffer from extreme hunger or starvation (intransitive use)

Translation(s) & Context:

• голодать - Used in informal contexts to describe personal experiences of hunger, such as in daily life or narratives.
• уморить голодом - Used in more formal or literary contexts to emphasize causing starvation to someone or something.

Usage Examples:

• Я голодал целый день, потому что забыл взять lunch.

  I famished (starved) all day because I forgot to take lunch.

• В военное время многие голодали из-за нехватки еды.

  During the war, many famished (starved) due to the lack of food.

• Он уморил голодом свою собаку, забыв покормить её.

  He famished his dog by forgetting to feed it.

• Дети голодали в деревне, пока не пришла помощь.

  The children famished in the village until help arrived.

Meaning 2: To cause someone to starve or suffer from hunger (transitive use)

Translation(s) & Context:

• уморить голодом - Applied in contexts involving neglect, hardship, or deliberate action, often in stories or serious discussions.
• голодать - Less common in transitive form; typically used reflexively.

Usage Examples:

• Родители не хотели уморить голодом ребёнка, но еды не было.

  The parents didn't want to famish the child, but there was no food.

• В фильме враги пытаются уморить голодом главных героев.

  In the movie, the enemies try to famish the main characters.

• Она голодала себя, чтобы похудеть, но это было опасно.

  She famished herself to lose weight, but it was dangerous.

• Люди уморили голодом животных в зоопарке во время кризиса.

  People famished the animals in the zoo during the crisis.

Russian Forms/Inflections:

For 'голодать' (an imperfective verb), it follows standard Russian verb conjugation patterns for first conjugation verbs. It is irregular in some aspects due to its stem changes.

For 'уморить голодом' (a phrase with 'уморить', a perfective verb), 'уморить' conjugates as follows, but 'голодом' remains in instrumental case and does not inflect: e.g., уморил голодом (he famished with hunger).

This verb does not have significant irregularities but requires attention to aspect (imperfective vs. perfective forms in Russian).

Russian Synonyms/Antonyms:

• Synonyms:
  • голодать - морить голодом (more emphatic)
  • голодать - страдать от голода (to suffer from hunger; more descriptive)
• Antonyms:
  • наесться (to eat one's fill)
  • сытно поесть (to eat heartily)

Related Phrases:

• Голод не тетка (Hunger is not an aunt) - A proverbial phrase meaning hunger makes one act desperately; used to express how hunger drives behavior.
• Уморить голодом до смерти (To famish to death) - Refers to starving someone fatally; often in dramatic or historical contexts.
• Голодать как волк (To famish like a wolf) - Implies extreme hunger, comparing to a wild animal; informal expression for being very hungry.

Usage Notes:

'Голодать' directly corresponds to the intransitive form of 'famish' and is commonly used in Russian to describe personal or general experiences of hunger, especially in informal settings. In contrast, 'уморить голодом' aligns with the transitive use and is more formal, often implying an external cause. English speakers should note that Russian verbs have aspects (imperfective for ongoing actions, like 'голодать', and perfective for completed ones), which affect sentence structure. Choose 'голодать' for everyday contexts and 'уморить голодом' for narrative or emphatic speech. Be cautious with gender agreements in past tense conjugations.

Common Errors:

• Error: Using 'голодать' transitively without proper structure, e.g., saying "Я голодал его" (incorrect, as it's intransitive). Correct: "Я уморил его голодом." Explanation: 'Голодать' doesn't take a direct object; use 'уморить голодом' for causing hunger to someone.

• Error: Mispronouncing the soft 'тʲ' in 'голодать' as a hard 't', leading to confusion with similar words. Correct pronunciation: [ɡə.lɐˈdatʲ]. Explanation: This can alter the word's meaning or make it sound unnatural to native speakers.

• Error: Forgetting aspect in verbs, e.g., using 'голодать' for a completed action. Correct: Pair with perfective forms like 'проголодаться' for specific events. Explanation: Russian requires precise aspect to convey whether an action is ongoing or finished.

Cultural Notes:

In Russian culture, themes of hunger and famine are deeply tied to historical events like the 1930s Holodomor in Ukraine or World War II shortages, often reflected in literature and proverbs. Phrases like 'Голод не тетка' highlight how hunger influences human behavior, emphasizing resilience and survival in adversity.

Related Concepts:

• голод (hunger)
• едa (food)
• выживать (to survive)
• недоедание (undernourishment)