While we were in Russia, Luisa took the opportunity to learn more Russian. At one point, I figured that she had learned enough verbs that it would be useful to explain the “system” behind them – Russian has a rich system of prefixes, which can be used to form numerous verbs from each verbal root, a bit like the English phrasal verbs (like “run off” or “write up”) but more extensive. I showed her the basic prefixes, explained their common meanings, and the showed how some specific verbal roots can be combined with them. Of the three examples I gave, somehow the variations on the verb to “drink” have become most memorable.

Below are some of the Russian verbs that can be formed from the root “пить” (pit', to drink). Note that “-ся” (‘-sya’) suffix is reflexive (like English “… yourself”) and “-ва-” (‘-va’) suffix signifies habitual or continuous action. (All the verbs below have a habitual or continous form, but I am only including those for which the habitual form has a specific meaning).

• пить (pit') – to drink
• распить (paspit') – to get started on a bottle
  • рас- (ras-) generally signifies opening or distribution
• допить (dopit') – to finish drinking (e.g., to finish the bottle)
  • до- (do-) generally signifies finishing or reaching some specific place or result result
• недопить (nedopit') – to drink insufficiently (lit. “to underdrink”)
  • недо- (nedo-) generally means failing to reach a result
• перепить (perepit') – to drink to much or to drink more than others (lit. “to overdrink” or “to outdrink”)
  • пере- (pere-) generally means crossing a limit or a barrier
• выпить (vypit') – to get a drink or to have drunk
  • вы- (vy-) generally means outward movement or emptying
• выпивать (vypivat'sya) – to get drunk habitually
  • -ва- (-va-) suffix signifies habituality
• попить (popit') – to drink a little bit (not alcohol)
  • по- (po-) usually means “a little bit” or “along”
• попивать (popivat') – to drink a little habitually (or to sip)
• напиться (napit'sya) – to get drunk or to have quenched thirst
  • на- (na-) generally suggests filling a container
• упиться (upit'sya) – to get totally wasted
  • у- (u-) generally refers to movement away, so this is more like “drink yourself away”, i.e., to a point where you are “gone”
• запить (zapit') – to wash something down with a drink or to go into a drinking binge (lit. “to drink in”)
  • за- (za-) generally means “behind” or “into closed space” (this might refer to the fact that binge drinking usually implies disappering behind closed doors for a long time)
• допиться (dopit'sya) – bring yourself to some unpleasant result through excessive drinking, e.g. delirium tremens (lit. “to drink yourself upto something”).
  • same as допить above, but with a reflexive suffix
• пропить (propit') – to lose something through drinking (e.g., by selling it to buy alcohol)
  • про- (pro-) often means “through”, in this case to drink “through” or “all of” ones property
• спиться (spit'sya) – to destroy ones life through drinking (lit. “to drink yourself down”)
  • с- (s-) often means downward movement from the top of something