Как снег на голову!

An effective way to accumulate new vocabulary is to learn words that have the same root (корень) and different phrases with words that have the same root. Однокоренные слова (words with a common root) will not always have identically spelled roots. The root in snow (снег) has an alternating consonant, so it changes from “г” to “ж”. Some words are formed exactly the same way in both languages, e.g. снегопад = snowfall (“o” is a connective vowel in Russian, падать = to fall). Some are formed the same but mean something quite different: снежный человек (yeti/bigfoot) and snowman.

Match the following snow-rooted words with their English equivalents.

Snow Words

снежинка - snowflake

снежок - snowball (играть в снежки) - to play snowball (fight)

снежный ком - a large snowball (for making a snowman)

снежная горка - snow hill (often man-made, for sledding)

снежная крепость/ снежный городок - snow fort/ “town”

снегирь - bullfinch

снегурочка - snow maiden, granddaughter of Grandfather Frost

снеговик - snowman (лепить снеговика - to build a snowman)

снежная баба - snowwoman (лепить снежную бабу - to build a snowwoman)

снежная королева - snow queen (Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale character)

снежный человек - yeti/ bigfoot

заснеженный лес - snow-covered forest

заснеженная равнина - snow-covered plain

засыпанная снегом скамейка - covered with snow bench

запорошенный снегом автомобиль - snow-dusted car

Combine as many of these words and phrases into a sentence as possible. The “sillier” the sentence the more memorable it will be, and will also help you learn new words faster. For example:

Запорошенный снегом автомобиль снегурочки стоял в заснеженном лесу. В нём сидели снежная королева, снежный человек, снеговик и снежная баба, пили чай с молоком и ждали снегурочку, которая каталась на снежной горке и кормила снегирей.

The snowmaiden’s snow-dusted car stood in a snow-covered forest. Inside sat a snow queen, bigfoot, a snowman, and a snowwoman, and they were drinking tea with milk, waiting for the snowmaiden, who was sledding down the snow hill and feeding bullfinches.

NOTE: The title, Как снег на голову! means Out of the blue/ out of nowhere. Literally: “Like snow (falling) on (your) head.”

KEY: Д, Й, И, Ж, Ё, З, Г, К, Е, В, А, Б