Old Church Slavonic

Alternative forms

• объ ‎(obŭ)

Preposition

об • ‎(ob)

1. on, at
2. through
3. during

References

• Mali staroslavensko-hrvatski rječnik, Matica hrvatska, Zagreb, 2004

Russian

Alternative forms

• о ‎(o) (usually before consonants)
• обо ‎(obo) (before some words such as мне or все)

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *o(b), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ebʰi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɐp] before voiceless consonants), [ɐb] (before vowels and voiced consonants)

Preposition

об • ‎(ob)

1. (+ prepositional case): about, of, on

   Я узна́л мно́го об икре́‎ ― Ja uznál mnógo ob ikré ― I found out a lot about caviar.

2. (+ accusative case): against, upon

   опира́ться об окно́‎ ― opirátʹsja ob oknó ― to lean against the window

Pronunciation and usage notes

The об form is usually unstressed. It is stressed in the idioms рука о́‎б руку, как о́‎б стену горох. It can be stressed or unstressed in the word combination о́‎б пол (об по́‎л).

The об form is usually used before vowels and in the idioms как рыба об лёд, рука об руку, and also in the combinations об стену, об пол. Sometimes, especially in colloquial speech, it can be used before any consonant. Before a iotated vowel and before the pronoun их both forms, об and o, are used interchangeably.

Instead of его, её, the forms beginning with н- are used: об него, об неё (о него, о неё are also used).

Tajik

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɔːb]

Noun

об • ‎(ob)

1. water

Related terms

• обӣ ‎(obī)