Lesson 062

Why? in Russian

In this lesson, we will learn how to ask why? in Russian and practice it with examples.

There are two main ways to ask why? in Russian: заче́м and почему́.

заче́м – means “for what purpose?”

почему́ – means “for what reason?”

I.e. the first one focuses on the goals of the action and the last on its causes.

Заче́м? – Why? For what purpose?

Заче́м is made of two parts: за and чем, and can be literally translated as for what?.

Заче́м тебе́ э́та су́мка?
Why do you need this bag for?

Заче́м ты э́то сде́лал?
Why did you do it? (What are you trying to achieve?)

Заче́м ты мне врёшь?
Why are you lying to me? (What are you trying to achieve?)

Russian Pod 101

Почему? – Why? For what reason?

Почему is also made of two parts: по and чему, and can be literally translated as over what?.

Почему́ ты э́то сде́лал?
Why did you do it? (What made you do that?)

Почему́ ты мне врёшь?
Why are you lying to me? (What is the reason you are lying? What are you hiding?)

Почему́ тебе́ гру́стно?
Why are you sad?

Practice the examples of this lesson with an audio file and come back for the next lesson to learn Russian with us!

The offline version of this lesson is available here

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