помогите!
“помогите!” (pomogite!) — help! in Russian. Interjection, level A0, topic — phrases that save you. The imperative of pomoch. The -te form is polite, but people shout it at one person too — it carries farther. In a live sentence: “Помогите, я потерялся!” — Help, I am lost! Written with the characters п, о, м, о, г, и, т, е. One of 17 words in the set “phrases that save you” in the Russian course.
In short
| Written in Russian | помогите! |
| Read in Latin letters | pomogite! |
| Translation | help! |
| Part of speech | interjection |
| Level | A0 |
Why it looks that way
The imperative of pomoch. The -te form is polite, but people shout it at one person too — it carries farther.
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Помогите, я потерялся!Pomogite, ya poteryalsya!Help, I am lost!
Nearby words: phrases that save you
“I don't understand”, “say that again”, “slower, please”, “help”. They are learned first for a reason: they bring back a conversation that has already gone wrong.
- я не понимаюya ne ponimayuI do not understandThe little ne stands before the verb as a word of its own. In speech the I is dropped: Ne ponimayu! does the whole job.
- повторите, пожалуйстаpovtorite, pozhaluystarepeat, pleaseThe -te ending is the polite "you" built into the verb. The laziest way to ask again is a bare Chto? — "what?".
- медленнееmedlenneeslowerOne word where English needs "more slowly": the -ee ending is the comparative. Govorite medlennee — "speak slower".
- вы говорите по-английски?vy govorite po-angliyski?do you speak English?Language names turn into adverbs: the question says "you speak in-the-English-way". No helper verb is needed for the question — intonation alone does the job.
- я потерялсяya poteryalsyaI am lostThe result verb: lost and done, no process. A woman says ya poteryalas — the past tense knows the speaker's gender.
- не работаетne rabotaetit does not workThe universal diagnosis: Metro ne rabotayet? — "the metro is not running?" — for machines, plumbing and plans alike.
- подождите минутуpodozhdite minutuwait a minutePodozhdite minutu, pozhaluysta — the polite wait; podozhdi is its informal twin.
- я не могу открытьya ne mogu otkrytI cannot open itMogu plus the infinitive, and no preposition between them: ya ne mogu otkryt dver.
- скорая помощьskoraya pomoshchambulanceLiterally "quick help": the vehicle named by its job. Skoraya pomoshch u doma.
- мне нужен врачmne nuzhen vrachI need a doctorLiterally "to me is needed a doctor": the person in the to-form, the need impersonal. Mne nuzhen vrach, zub bolit.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “phrases that save you”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “help!” in Russian?
The imperative of pomoch. The -te form is polite, but people shout it at one person too — it carries farther.
- How do you say “wait a minute” in Russian?
Podozhdite minutu, pozhaluysta — the polite wait; podozhdi is its informal twin.
- How do you say “slower” in Russian?
One word where English needs "more slowly": the -ee ending is the comparative. Govorite medlennee — "speak slower".
- How do you say “I need a doctor” in Russian?
Literally "to me is needed a doctor": the person in the to-form, the need impersonal. Mne nuzhen vrach, zub bolit.
- How do you say “it does not work” in Russian?
The universal diagnosis: Metro ne rabotayet? — "the metro is not running?" — for machines, plumbing and plans alike.
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “help!” in Russian?
«помогите!», read “pomogite!” In a live sentence: “Помогите, я потерялся!” — Help, I am lost! Interjection, level A0, from the set “phrases that save you”; written with the characters п, о, м, о, г, и, т, е.
How is “помогите!” written in Latin letters?
pomogite! This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The imperative of pomoch. The -te form is polite, but people shout it at one person too — it carries farther. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.