стараться

Russian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *starati. Cognate with Ukrainian стара́тися (starátysja), Belarusian стара́цца (starácca), Bulgarian стара́я се (starája se), Serbo-Croatian ста̏рати се (“to try to achieve; to try”) (1sg. ста̏ра̄м се), Slovene stȃrati se (tonal orthography), Czech starat se, Slovak starať sa, Polish starać się, Upper Sorbian starać so, Lower Sorbian staraś se. Related to Russian страда́ (stradá, “harvest”) (originally "hard work"), страда́ть (stradátʹ, “to suffer”). More distantly cognate with Lithuanian starìnti (“to pull with difficulty”) (1sg. starinù), Latvian starîgs (“zealous”), Old Prussian stūrnawiskan f (“seriousness, importance”, ins. sg.), Old English stierne (“serious, strict”), Latin sternāx (“absurd”), strēnuus (“active”) (also per Vasmer cōnsternō (“to shake”), inf. cōnsternāre, not cōnsternere, which is a different verb), Ancient Greek στρηνής (strēnḗs, “hard, sharp”), στρῆνος (strênos, “force”), Welsh trîn (“fight, work”) (from Proto-Celtic *strēnā).

Pronunciation

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Verb

стара́ться • (starátʹsja) impf (perfective постара́ться)

1. to try, to attempt

   Я стара́юсь ду́мать о други́х хоро́ших фи́льмах.

   Ja starájusʹ dúmatʹ o drugíx xoróšix fílʹmax.

   I'm trying to think of other good movies.

2. to endeavour/endeavor, to make an effort
3. to pursue
4. to strive

Usage notes

• стара́ться (starátʹsja) refers to a continued effort of trying (synonym: пытаться / попытаться), as opposed to a single attempt. For the act of trying a single time, see про́бовать (próbovatʹ).

Conjugation

Synonyms

• про́бовать (próbovatʹ)

Related terms

• стара́ние (staránije)
• стара́тель (starátelʹ)
• стара́тельный (starátelʹnyj)

Descendants

• → Ingrian: staraittaa

References

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “стараться”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress