Dobrota, terpenie, upryamstvo: the tails of qualities
Names of qualities are built from ready words by hanging on a tail. Catch the trick and half the unfamiliar words fall away. For example: “Его порядочность и терпение знали во всём доме” — His decency and patience were known in the whole house. A rule from the Russian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Names of qualities are built from ready words by hanging on a tail. Catch the trick and half the unfamiliar words fall away.
-ost is the most fruitful: poryadochnyy gives poryadochnost, nakhodchivyy gives nakhodchivost, bespechnyy gives bespechnost. All such words are she-gender.
-stvo and -nie grow from verbs and adverbs: upryamo gives upryamstvo, lyubopytno gives lyubopytstvo, terpet gives terpenie. And -ota is the elder tail: dobryy gives dobrota, bednyy gives bednota.
Two traps. Dobro is a kind deed or belongings, while dobrota is a trait of a person. Terpenie is the ability to wait; terpimost is the ability to accept the unlike — close, but not the same.
Table
| The tail | From what | Example | Gender |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ost | from an adjective | nakhodchivost | she |
| -ost | from an adjective | poryadochnost | she |
| -stvo | from an adverb | upryamstvo | it |
| -stvo | from an adverb | lyubopytstvo | it |
| -nie | from a verb | terpenie | it |
| -ka | from a verb | vyderzhka | she |
| -ota | from an adjective | dobrota | she |
| -izm | from Latin | egoizm | he |
By example
- Его порядочность и терпение знали во всём домеEgo poryadochnost i terpenie znali vo vsyom domeHis decency and patience were known in the whole house
- Детское упрямство проходит с годамиDetskoe upryamstvo prokhodit s godamiChildish stubbornness passes with the years
- Терпение и выдержка спасли походTerpenie i vyderzhka spasli pokhodPatience and grit saved the hike
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
How to name a quality from a word?
Names of qualities are built from ready words by hanging on a tail. Catch the trick and half the unfamiliar words fall away.
Dobrota vs dobro?
-stvo and -nie grow from verbs and adverbs: upryamo gives upryamstvo, lyubopytno gives lyubopytstvo, terpet gives terpenie. And -ota is the elder tail: dobryy gives dobrota, bednyy gives bednota.
Terpenie vs terpimost?
Two traps. Dobro is a kind deed or belongings, while dobrota is a trait of a person. Terpenie is the ability to wait; terpimost is the ability to accept the unlike — close, but not the same.
Words ending in -ost?
-ost is the most fruitful: poryadochnyy gives poryadochnost, nakhodchivyy gives nakhodchivost, bespechnyy gives bespechnost. All such words are she-gender.
What does it look like in a Russian example sentence?
“Его порядочность и терпение знали во всём доме” (Ego poryadochnost i terpenie znali vo vsyom dome) — His decency and patience were known in the whole house. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.