красивая девушка
krasivaya devushka
The English phrase "pretty girl" is translated into Russian as красивая девушка (krasivaya devushka).
This phrase describes a young woman who is attractive or pleasing to look at.
What does it mean word for word?
The adjective красивая means beautiful or pretty, and девушка means girl or young woman.
Which one should you use?
While девушка refers to a young woman, if you were referring to a female child, you would use девочка instead.
How does it change in a sentence?
The form красивая девушка is in the nominative case and is used for the subject of a sentence. When the phrase is the direct object of a verb, such as in "I see a pretty girl", it changes to the accusative case: красивую девушку.
How do you pronounce it?
krasivaya devushka
Did you know?
- In older Russian literature, the word дева was used to denote a virgin, which is the original semantic core of the modern word девушка.
- In Russian, девушка is frequently used by waiters or shopkeepers to get the attention of any young female customer, similar to 'miss' in English.
- If you call a woman who is clearly older than a young adult девушка, she might find it patronizing or even slightly rude.
Examples in context
- Лейла красивая девушка.Layla is a pretty girl.This sentence is useful for identifying someone by name.Tatoeba #7122378 by odexed, translation #7121009 by OsoHombre
- Ты очень красивая девушка.You're a very pretty girl.This sentence is useful for emphasizing how pretty a person is.Tatoeba #9981188 by marafon, translation #2713321 by CK
- Вы очень красивая девушка.You are a very pretty girl.This sentence is useful for addressing someone directly using the formal 'you'.Tatoeba #9981191 by marafon, translation #11181669 by CK
- 14 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Sergey and Olga are talking about a new coworker.
- Ольга OlgaСергей, ты видел новую сотрудницу?Sergey, ty videl novuyu sotrudnitsu?Sergey, have you seen the new employee?
- Сергей SergeyДа, она очень красивая девушка.Da, ona ochen' krasivaya devushka.Yes, she is a very pretty girl.
- Ольга OlgaОна кажется очень дружелюбной.Ona kazhetsya ochen' druzhelyubnoy.She seems very friendly.
- Сергей SergeyСогласен, Ольга.Soglasen, Olga.I agree, Olga.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
