вокзал
“вокзал” (vokzal) — train station in Russian. Noun, level A1, topic — transport. The word came from London: the Vauxhall pavilion outside Petersburg became the name for every station. English never found out — it says station. In a live sentence: “Где ближайший вокзал?” — Where is the nearest train station? Written with the characters в, о, к, з, а, л. One of 16 words in the set “transport” in the Russian course.
In short
| Written in Russian | вокзал |
| Read in Latin letters | vokzal |
| Translation | train station |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
The word came from London: the Vauxhall pavilion outside Petersburg became the name for every station. English never found out — it says station.
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.
- Где ближайший вокзал?Gde blizhayshiy vokzal?Where is the nearest train station?
Nearby words: transport
Bus, metro, taxi, stop, station. These are words you need to recognize in writing — off a departure board and off a sign.
- автобусavtobusbusThe international word, from Latin omnibus, "for all". Stress on the last syllable: avto-BUS.
- ехатьekhatto go (by vehicle)Riding: yedu na avtobuse, yedu v Moskvu. Its present also comes from a different root: yedu, yedesh, yedet.
- поездpoezdtrainFrom poyezdka and ekhat: the thing that rides. "Train" came from a different root, "to pull".
- таксиtaksitaxiFrom the French taximetre, with Latin taxa, "a fee". It does not decline: vyzval taksi, sel v taksi — and it is neuter.
- метроmetrometroShort for metropoliten, also French. It does not decline — na metro, bez metro — and the stress never moves.
- остановкаostanovkabus stopAvtobus stoit na ostanovke — "the bus stops at the stop" — the noun of stopping.
- пассажирpassazhirpassengerPassazhir pokazal bilet — "the passenger showed the ticket" — the international word with the stress on the end.
- сиденьеsideneseatNeuter, like most -e words. Moye sideniye u dveri — "my seat is by the door".
- порученьporuchenhandrailDerzhis za poruchen — "hold on to the handrail" — za plus the whom-what form of what you hold.
- контролёрkontrolyorticket inspectorKontrolyor proveryayet bilety — "the inspector checks the tickets" — the word carries its own stress: kontrol-YOR.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “transport”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “train station” in Russian?
The word came from London: the Vauxhall pavilion outside Petersburg became the name for every station. English never found out — it says station.
- How do you say “passenger” in Russian?
Passazhir pokazal bilet — "the passenger showed the ticket" — the international word with the stress on the end.
- How do you say “train” in Russian?
From poyezdka and ekhat: the thing that rides. "Train" came from a different root, "to pull".
- How do you say “ticket inspector” in Russian?
Kontrolyor proveryayet bilety — "the inspector checks the tickets" — the word carries its own stress: kontrol-YOR.
- How do you say “bus stop” in Russian?
Avtobus stoit na ostanovke — "the bus stops at the stop" — the noun of stopping.
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 “train station” in Russian?
«вокзал», read “vokzal”. In a live sentence: “Где ближайший вокзал?” — Where is the nearest train station? Noun, level A1, from the set “transport”; written with the characters в, о, к, з, а, л.
How is “вокзал” written in Latin letters?
vokzal. 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 word came from London: the Vauxhall pavilion outside Petersburg became the name for every station. English never found out — it says station. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.