Ways to say it
| Russian | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| пря́таться | prjátatʹsja | imperfective |
| спря́таться | sprjátatʹsja | perfective |
| скрыва́ться | skryvátʹsja | imperfective |
| скры́ться | skrýtʹsja | perfective |
These verbs describe the act of putting oneself in a place where one is harder to find. While the пря́таться family refers to the physical act of a person or animal hiding, the скрыва́ться family can also carry the nuance of vanishing or disappearing from sight.
Which one should you use?
The pair пря́таться and спря́таться is used for the physical act of a person or animal hiding themselves. The imperfective пря́таться focuses on the process, while the perfective спря́таться focuses on the completed act of having found a hiding spot. The pair скрыва́ться and скры́ться differs in nuance. While they also mean to hide, скры́ться often implies vanishing or disappearing from sight and is frequently used in formal or literary contexts.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
prjátatʹsja
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not confuse these reflexive forms, which mean to hide oneself, with the transitive verb пря́тать, which is used when you are hiding an object.
Did you know?
- Russian has a specific expression пря́таться от дождя to describe the act of seeking shelter from rain, even if one is not trying to be invisible.
- In Russian, you can use скрыть to mean 'to hide' one's emotions or a secret, whereas пря́тать is more likely to describe hiding a physical object.
- The verb пря́таться is the root of the Russian word for 'game of hide-and-seek', which is пря́тки.
Examples in context
- где ты прятался?Where did you hide?
- давайте поиграем в пряткиLet's play hide and seek
- Дети любят пря́таться в саду.Deti lyubyat pryat'sya v sadu.Children love to hide in the garden.
- Не надо пря́таться от меня.Ne nado pryat'sya ot menya.You don't need to hide from me.
- Кошка начала пря́таться под кроватью.Koshka nachala pryat'sya pod krovat'yu.The cat started to hide under the bed.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “hide” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
