ruso
/ROO-soh/
Russian
Showing something that is Russian in origin.
📝 In Action
La bandera rusa tiene tres colores.
A1The Russian flag has three colors.
Me encanta la comida rusa, especialmente el borsch.
A2I love Russian food, especially borscht.
Los escritores rusos son muy famosos en todo el mundo.
B1Russian writers are very famous throughout the world.
💡 Grammar Points
Gender and Number Matching
As an adjective, 'ruso' must change its ending to match the thing it describes. If you talk about a girl, use 'rusa'. If you talk about multiple items, use 'rusos' (masculine plural) or 'rusas' (feminine plural).
❌ Common Pitfalls
Forgetting the Gender Change
Mistake: "Una mujer ruso."
Correction: Una mujer rusa. (The ending 'o' must change to 'a' to match 'mujer'.)
⭐ Usage Tips
Capitalization Rule
Unlike English, Spanish adjectives referring to nationality or origin (like ruso) are generally NOT capitalized, unless they start a sentence.
Depicting a Russian man.
📝 In Action
El ruso que trabaja aquí es ingeniero.
A1The Russian (man) who works here is an engineer.
Varios rusos visitaron el museo hoy.
A2Several Russians visited the museum today.
💡 Grammar Points
Referring to Groups
When referring to a mixed group of men and women, use the masculine plural form: 'los rusos'.
❌ Common Pitfalls
Using the Adjective Form as a Noun
Mistake: "La mujer es ruso."
Correction: La mujer es rusa. (When 'ruso' is used as a noun meaning 'a Russian woman', it must also match her gender.)
Visualizing the Russian language.
📝 In Action
¿Sabes hablar ruso?
A2Do you know how to speak Russian?
El ruso es un idioma eslavo.
B1Russian is a Slavic language.
Necesito un diccionario de ruso.
A2I need a Russian dictionary.
💡 Grammar Points
Using Articles with Languages
When talking about studying or speaking a language, you usually skip the article ('el'): 'Estudio ruso'. But if the language is the subject of the sentence, you need the article: 'El ruso es difícil'.
Language Gender
All language names in Spanish (like 'ruso', 'inglés', 'francés') are masculine, so they always use 'el' if an article is required.
❌ Common Pitfalls
Adding the Article When Speaking
Mistake: "Hablo el ruso muy bien."
Correction: Hablo ruso muy bien. (Skip 'el' after verbs like 'hablar' or 'estudiar'.)
✏️ Quick Practice
💡 Quick Quiz: ruso
Question 1 of 2
Which sentence correctly uses 'ruso' when talking about the language?
📚 More Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I capitalize 'ruso'?
No. In Spanish, words referring to nationalities, languages, and origins (like ruso) are written in lowercase, unless they appear at the very beginning of a sentence.
What is the feminine form of 'ruso'?
The feminine form is 'rusa'. This applies whether you are using it as an adjective ('la cultura rusa') or as a noun ('una rusa').