Meaning of ИМЕННО
The word, “именно,” in Russian means “exactly,” “namely,” or “precisely.” “Именно” puts emphasis on the word that follows it. “Именно” is a versatile adverb and you can play around with its word order. Where it appears in a sentence will result in a different meaning.
Word order with ИМЕННО
Consider the following sentences. Where you place “именно” will create a sometimes dramatically different emphasis and meaning. We've bolded the words that become emphasized in these sentences in their variatns below.
Please note - and you'll notice this especially in Example 2 - translating "именно" into English sometimes requires a creative reordering of the sentence to convey the transformation of emphasis.
Example 1
Example sentence:
- Что я должен делать с этой информацией? = What exactly am I supposed to do with that news?
With ""именно":
- Именно что я должен делать с этой информацией? = Exactly what am I supposed to do with this information?
- Что именно я должен делать с этой информацией? = What am I exactly supposed to do with this information?
- Что я должен делать именно с этой информацией? = What am I supposed to do with this information exactly?
Example 2
Example sentence:
- Я должен купить молоко после работы. = I have to buy milk after work.
With ""именно":
- Именно я должен купить молоко после работы. = It's me who has to buy milk after work.
- Я именно должен купить молоко после работы. = I really must buy milk after work.
- Я должен именно купить молоко после работы. = I have to buy milk after work (as opposed to sell it).
- Я должен купить именно молоко после работы. = It's milk that I have to buy after work.
- Я должен купить молоко именно после работы. = I have to buy milk right after work.
Common ИМЕННО expressions
Here are common "именно" expressions with example sentences.
вот именно! = exactly / that's it / I told you!
- Ты был прав. Вот именно! = You were right. I told you!
именно потому = just because / that's why
- Может, именно потому это теперь и случилось. = Perhaps that is why it is happening now.
именно этим объясняется = it's precisely this fact / this expains
- Именно этим объясняется тот факт, что число возросло. = This explains the fact that the amount has increased.
именно тот = very / just the / exactly
- Вы именно тот, кого я хотел увидеть! = You are just the man I wanted to see!
а именно = namely
- На Russian Film Hub он смотрел фильмы многих русских директоров, а именно: Эйзенштейна, Тарковского, Гайдая, Рязановаи др. = On Russian Film Hub, he watched the films of many Russian directors, namely: Eisenstein, Tarkovsky, Gaidai, Ryazanov and others.
именно так = exactly so
- Всë было именно так, как мы и думали. = Everything was exactly as we thought.
