Ways to say it
| Russian | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| оди́н | odín | |
| сам | sam | [sam] (narrow) |
In Russian, оди́н can function as both the number 'one' and the adjective meaning 'alone' depending on the context. If you want to describe the state of being without company, use оди́н. If you want to emphasize self-reliance, independence or that someone performed an action personally without assistance, use сам. For more specific contexts, В одиночестве is used to mean being in solitude or in loneliness, while один(а) в is used when someone is alone in a particular location. To describe the feeling of being alone, you would use the phrase чувствовать себя одиноким/одинокой.
Which one should you use?
Use оди́н to emphasize the state of being without other people, whereas сам emphasizes doing something without assistance or performing an action personally.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective оди́н must agree in gender with the subject. For example, a female subject uses одна instead of оди́н. The word сам changes to the feminine form сама́ when the subject is female to indicate she did something herself. When referring to a group of people acting alone or without help, the word сам changes to the plural form сами.
How do you pronounce it?
odín
Did you know?
- The word сам shares a common Proto-Indo-European ancestor with the English word 'self', showing a deep historical link between the two languages.
- The reflexive particle ся is often used in verbs to indicate an action done to oneself, which is a different way of expressing 'by oneself' than using the adjective сам.
- The plural form сами allows a group of people to be 'alone' in the sense of being unaccompanied by others, even though they are together as a group.
Examples in context
- Сам бы я не справился.I wouldn't have done that alone.This sentence shows the use of сам to express that the speaker could not have done something without help.Tatoeba #10583518 by marafon, translation #6349519 by CK
- Я сам могу это сделать.I can do it alone.This sentence demonstrates the use of сам to show the ability to do something personally.Tatoeba #1670652 by marafon, translation #264808 by CK
- Сами снова остался один.Sami was left alone again.This sentence uses сам to describe a person being left alone.Tatoeba #6728867 by Balamax, translation #6717870 by OsoHombre
- Я одинI am alone
- Он всегда работает в одиночествеHe always works alone
- Я сделал(а) это сам(а)I did it myself
- Мне нравится быть наедине с собойI enjoy being alone with myself
- Я совсем одинI am completely alone
- Я чувствую себя одиноким/одинокойI feel alone
- Я был(а) один(а) в киноI was alone in the cinema
- 63 more sentences on Tatoeba
Sources
- Wiktionary, “alone” translations and entries сам, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries сам, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
