цирк
“цирк” (tsirk) — circus in Russian. Noun, level A1, topic — buildings and premises. The international word, one syllable here: tsirk na ploshchadi. In a live sentence: “Цирк на площади” — The circus is on the square. Written with the characters ц, и, р, к. One of 19 words in the set “buildings and premises” in the Russian course.
In short
| Written in Russian | цирк |
| Read in Latin letters | tsirk |
| Translation | circus |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
The international word, one syllable here: tsirk na ploshchadi.
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.
- Цирк на площадиTsirk na ploshchadiThe circus is on the square
Nearby words: buildings and premises
Where to go and what is done there. These words are read off a sign more often than they are spoken.
- вокзалvokzaltrain stationThe word came from London: the Vauxhall pavilion outside Petersburg became the name for every station. English never found out — it says station.
- магазинmagazinshopThe false friend of the first order: English "magazine" is zhurnal, and magazin is a shop. The word rode in from Arabic for "warehouse".
- аптекаaptekapharmacyA cousin of "apothecary": Greek for "a storeroom". The green cross on the sign is the same as in the rest of Europe.
- продуктовый магазинproduktovyy magazingrocery storeProdukty are groceries; the adjective pins the shop to them. Produktovyy magazin zdes, a apteka tam.
- больницаbolnitsahospitalFrom bolnoy, "a sick person": the house of the sick. Bolnitsa tam, u vokzala.
- офисofisofficeOfis tam, u metro — "the office is there, by the metro". The international word with a short o.
- университетuniversitetuniversityPosle shkoly — universitet — "after school, university": no article, no preposition. Stress on the end.
- школаshkolaschoolShkola — eto uroki i druzya: "school is lessons and friends" — the course's own definition.
- почтаpochtapost office, mailBoth the service and the building. Pochta segodnya zakryta — "the post office is closed today".
- автовокзалavtovokzalbus stationVokzal with an auto- prefix: the station for buses, built on the same London word.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “buildings and premises”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “circus” in Russian?
The international word, one syllable here: tsirk na ploshchadi.
- How do you say “university” in Russian?
Posle shkoly — universitet — "after school, university": no article, no preposition. Stress on the end.
- How do you say “pharmacy” in Russian?
A cousin of "apothecary": Greek for "a storeroom". The green cross on the sign is the same as in the rest of Europe.
- How do you say “bus station” in Russian?
Vokzal with an auto- prefix: the station for buses, built on the same London word.
- How do you say “office” in Russian?
Ofis tam, u metro — "the office is there, by the metro". The international word with a short o.
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 “circus” in Russian?
«цирк», read “tsirk”. In a live sentence: “Цирк на площади” — The circus is on the square. Noun, level A1, from the set “buildings and premises”; written with the characters ц, и, р, к.
How is “цирк” written in Latin letters?
tsirk. 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 international word, one syllable here: tsirk na ploshchadi. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.