Ways to say it
| Russian | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| глота́ть | glotátʹ | imperfective |
| глотну́ть | glotnútʹ | perfective |
| загла́тывать | zaglátyvatʹ | imperfective |
| заглоти́ть | zaglotítʹ | perfective |
| заглотну́ть | zaglotnútʹ | perfective |
The verbs for gulping describe the act of swallowing eagerly or in large draughts. While глота́ть is the general term for swallowing, you can also use the phrase сде́лать гло́ток, which literally means to make a gulp, to express the act of taking a sip or a gulp.
What does it mean word for word?
The noun глото́к, meaning a gulp or a sip, is derived from the same root as the verbs used for swallowing.
Which one should you use?
The different forms of the word change the nuance of the action. глота́ть is the general imperfective verb for the act of swallowing. In contrast, the perfective forms imply a single, completed action or a specific gulp. Specifically, глотну́ть is used to describe the action of taking a single sip or a quick gulp of a liquid, while заглоти́ть often carries a connotation of swallowing something whole or swallowing something up greedily or suddenly. The forms загла́тывать and заглотну́ть are also available to describe these actions.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
glotátʹ
Did you know?
- The verb глота́ть is used in the common idiom глота́ть пыль, which means to be left behind or to be in a subordinate position, similar to 'eating someone's dust' in English.
- The verb загла́тывать can be used to describe a machine or a mechanism 'swallowing' or catching an object, such as a piece of paper in a printer.
- The noun глото́к, meaning a 'gulp' or 'sip', is closely related to the Russian word for 'throat', which is гло́тка.
Examples in context
- выпить большой глоток водыTo take a large gulp of water
Sources
- Wiktionary, “gulp” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
