Murillo Costa
Professional Teacher
Verbs "To clean" and "to wash" in Russian. Hello dear Russian speakers! I have a question that always gets me confused here in the russian world. I constantly need to tell someone that "I am cleaning or washing" something and I get so frustrated about it. So, here you go my examples: How to say these "clean" in Russian. To clean the house (I need to clean the house // I am cleaning the house now) To clean a mess (I spilt coffee on my shirt, I'll go to the bathroom and clean it) = This one involves "water", would you use the verb "to wash" instead? To wash clothes/do the laundry = Sundays I usually do the laundry To wash the dishes = I hate washing the dishes. Thanks in advance!
Oct 23, 2017 8:47 PM
Answers · 6
2
мыть/ помыть = использовать воду стирать / постирать = одежда + вода застирывать / застирать = стирать не всю одежду, а только пятно, грязь убирать / убрать( transitive) или убираться/ убраться( разговорная форма) = организовать вещи чистить / почистить = + химия или щётка. Например, чистить зубы
October 24, 2017
2
to clean the house - убираться дома (мне нужно убраться дома/я убираюсь дома сейчас) to clean a mess - прибирать беспорядок (я пролил кофе на рубашку, пойду в ванную и застираю пятно) to clean with water (if you're talking about the cloth) - застирать. but to do the laundry - стирать/заниматься стиркой to wash the dishes - мыть посуду = я ненавижу мыть посуду.
October 23, 2017
2
To clean the house - убраться в доме/сделать уборку в доме To clean a mess - убрать мусор To wash clothes/do the laundry - постирать вещи/одежду To wash the dishes - мыть посуду
October 23, 2017
1
мыться - lit. 'wash[one]self' - bath or shower. умываться - your face. Also that's what cats do. умывать - someone else's face. Also that's what cats do with kittens and each other. these two can be applied to other things, actually, including metaphorically. мыть руки, мыть голову (hair) мыть посуду мыть пол (to wash floor, with water). подметать - to sweep (floor or street) with a broom. мести, заметать etc - related verbs. убирать(ся), делать уборку, and synonymous "приводить в порядок" (put in order) - mostly about spaces, like rooms. Mostly about overall disorder, or large litter, but may include dirt too. убирать also means 'remove'. протирать, вытирать, вытираться - lit. 'rub through', 'rub out' 1) cleaning surfaces - dusty mirrors or bookshelves, stained table - with cloth, wet or dry, in your hand. 2) drying anything (dishes, hands, body, even floor) with a towel or a piece of cloth... as long as it involves Rubbing movement. 3) if you spilt coffee on the floor, you "вытираешь пол тряпкой", стирать - washing clothes. чистить - literally "clean". 1) removing dirt when it needs considerable phisical effort. 2) in number of situations when other verbs are misleading - metal surfaces, that you want to make shining. Or when stains are hard to remove. - shoes. - your coat with a brush. - birds do this with their feathers. - dry cleaning.
October 24, 2017
Oh God, it's better if I do my cleaning in silent and in secret! No one needs to know about my life anyways :D Thank you everyone for the awesome answers!
October 24, 2017
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