Common English mistakes Russian speakers make at work

If you learned English as a Russian speaker, vocabulary is probably not your problem. You can run a meeting, write a spec and argue about a deadline. What gives you away is a small set of habits that Russian grammar quietly pushes you toward: a missing the, a preposition that is right in Russian, a phrase translated word for word. Native readers still understand you. They just notice.

Here are the mistakes that come up most in work email and Slack, why they happen, and what a native speaker would write instead.

Articles: a, the, or nothing

Russian has no articles, so the choice English speakers make in front of almost every noun doesn’t exist for you. That leads to two opposite errors: leaving articles out, and adding the everywhere once you’ve been corrected a few times.

A rough guide that covers most work writing:

• a / an: one of many, or the first time you mention it. If Russian would allow один or какой-то, it’s probably a.
• the: you and the reader both know which one. If Russian would allow этот or тот самый, it’s probably the.
• no article: plurals and uncountable nouns used in general. Deadlines are tight. We need feedback.

Prepositions that are right in Russian

Prepositions rarely map one to one between languages, so it’s natural to reach for the one Russian would use. These are the ones that show up most at work.

Until vs by

Russian до пятницы covers two different ideas, and English splits them. Until means something continues up to that point: I’m out until Friday. By means no later than, which is what you want for any deadline: Send it by Friday.

In the photo, on the internet

Russian puts things на фото and в интернете. English does the reverse. The same goes for events: Russian на usually becomes at.

Phrases translated word for word

These are perfectly logical translations of everyday Russian, which is exactly why they’re hard to spot. Each one has a fixed English equivalent, and once you know it, the Russian version starts to look odd too.

“I live here since 2020”: the present perfect

Russian uses the present tense for something that started in the past and is still going: Я живу здесь с 2020 года. Я работаю тут три года. English needs the present perfect whenever since or for connects the past to now.

The reverse mistake is just as common. Russian has one past tense, so after drilling the present perfect in class, many people use it with finished times like yesterday or last week, where English wants the simple past.

Word order in questions

In Russian, a question is often a statement said with a rising tone: Ты отправил отчёт? English moves a helper verb (do, did, is, have, can) in front of the subject. Without it, a written question reads like surprise: You sent the report?

Indirect questions go the other way. After Do you know, Can you tell me or I wonder, English returns to normal statement order. Russian keeps the question order inside: Не знаешь, когда будет релиз?

Advice, news, money: plural in Russian, not in English

Russian советы, новости, знания and деньги are ordinary plurals. Their English equivalents are uncountable: no -s, no a, and a singular verb. By analogy, information, feedback and equipment often get an -s too. If you need to count, use a countable word: a few tips, two comments, a piece of advice.

False friends: actual, possibility, specific

Some Russian words have an English twin that means something slightly different. These three show up in work writing all the time.

Actual

Актуальный means current, relevant or up to date. English actual means real, as opposed to planned or imagined: the actual cost was higher than the estimate. So “actual information” sounds like you’re contrasting it with fake information.

Possibility

Возможность covers what English splits into several words: opportunity (a chance you’re glad to have), option, ability, and possibility (something that might happen). Most of the time, a native speaker would say opportunity or rephrase with can or possible.

Specific

Специфический often means unusual or peculiar. English specific means particular or precise, as in a specific date. If you mean unusual, say unusual.

Openings and requests that sound too formal

Russian business email starts with Уважаемые коллеги! or Добрый день, Анна! and often stays formal throughout. Translated directly, that reads as stiff in most English-speaking offices, especially in the US. “Dear colleagues” sounds like an announcement from HR.

• Start with Hi Anna, or Hi all, or Hi team,. Save Dear for first contact with someone outside your company who is likely to be formal.
• Put a comma after the greeting, not an exclamation mark. In a Russian letter Анна! is neutral; in English, Hi Anna! sounds excited.

Requests are the other half. In Russian, a direct imperative with пожалуйста is perfectly polite. In English, “Send me the report, please” can read as an order, please or not. Turning it into a question softens it. There’s more on this in casual vs formal English at work.

A quick check before you hit send

• Does every singular countable noun have a, the, or a word like my or this?
• Deadlines take by, not until.
• Since or for with something still going on: have plus the past participle.
• No -s on advice, information, feedback or knowledge.
• Opinions: What do you think?
• Direct questions put the helper verb first; indirect questions don’t.

Let a shortcut catch the rest

Knowing the patterns helps, but they’re hardest to see in your own writing, especially in a fast Slack thread. AI Grammatic is a Mac menu bar app made for this. Select text in any app, press ⌘⌥E, and about a second later it’s replaced with a version that sounds like a native speaker wrote it: articles, prepositions and word-for-word phrases fixed, with your meaning, names and links kept. ⌘Z brings back the original.

It works from Russian too. Write the message the way it comes to you and get natural English back:

Try it on one of your own sentences in the live demo, or read more about AI Grammatic for non-native English speakers.