10 Russian words that even Russians struggle with 

1. Дуршлаг (‘durshlag’)

‘Дуршлаг’ is actually a colander or perforated bowl that you use to drain pasta. This word came into Russian from the German word ‘Durchschlag’. But, for some reason, many Russians say ‘друшлаг’ (‘drushlag’), mixing up the second and third letters. 

Old dictionaries, by the way, did, indeed, list the spellings ‘друшлаг’ and even ‘трушлак’, so many people remember it incorrectly from hearing their grandmothers say it.

2. Винегрет (‘vinegret’)

Everyone knows how to pronounce this word, which means ‘vinaigrette salad’ (a mix of boiled and freshly chopped vegetables: beets, carrots, potatoes, etc.) But, when it comes to spelling it, people's minds become a complete ‘vinaigrette’ (yes, this is a metaphor used for disorderly behavior). ‘Венигрет’ (‘venigret’) and ‘винигрет’ (‘vinigret’) are the most common mistakes. The only correct way of spelling it is ‘винегрет’!

3. Привилегия (‘privilegia’)

The word for ‘privilege’ is another case where Russians are confused with the unstressed letters ‘и’ and ‘е’. Don't confuse it with ‘винегрет’. In the word ‘привилегия’, it's ‘и’ everywhere except for the stressed ‘е’ towards the end.

4. Скрупулёзно (‘skrupulyozno’)

This word means ‘scrupulously’, ‘meticulously’. It has roots in the Latin ‘scrupulus’ (a small, sharp stone), while a ‘scruple’ was an ancient unit of weight (about 1.2 grams). For some reason, Russians make mistakes pronouncing this word especially often; it seems it's just too unusual for the Russian ear. Instead of ‘cкрупулёзно’, Russians often write and say ‘скурпулёзно’ (‘skurpulyozno’). So, we sing praises to autocorrect on phones and in Word files!

5. Прецедент (‘pretsedent’) & инцидент (‘intsident’)

‘Прецедент’ (‘precedent’) and ‘инцидент’ (‘Incident’) is another case of two similar words where ‘и’ and ‘е’ sometimes get mixed up. Furthermore, a treacherous ‘н’ often pops up where it shouldn't, e.g. ‘прецеНдент’ or ‘инциНдент’.

6. Чрезвычайно (‘cherezvychaino’)

This word is an adverb, meaning ‘extremely’ (‘чрезвычайно важно’ – ‘extremely important’). In Russian, there is the preposition and prefix ‘через’ (‘cherez’; ‘through’, ‘over’) and ‘чрез’ (‘chrez’) is its archaic form. That's why modern people often get confused and spell ‘черезвычайно’ with an extra ‘e’.

7. Чересчур (‘chereschur’)

‘Через’/’черес-’ is a paired prefix. Before any silent consonants (such as ‘к’, ‘п’, ‘с’, ‘т’, ‘ф’, ‘х’, ‘ц’, ‘ч’, ‘ш’, ‘щ’), it should be spelled ‘черес’. People rarely confuse this rule, except for the word ‘чересчур’ (which means ‘too much’), where everyone tries to write ‘череЗчур’ (‘chereZchur’).

8. Конфорка (‘konforka’)

In Russian, this word means ‘burner’ at the cooking zone of the stove. This word came into Russian from the Dutch word 'komfoor', where it's spelled with an ‘m’. In the past, the word was also pronounced and written as ‘коМфорка’ in Russian. However, over time, the norms and rules changed to ‘коНфорка’, but people's historical memory proved to be stronger.

9. Искусственный (‘iskusstvenny’)

This word translates into English as ‘artificial’. The double ‘н’ in adjectives (‘искусствеННый’) cause many Russians a lot of trouble. But, what to do when there's another doubling in the word? And so many consonant letters in a row? It's easy to mix them up and write something like ‘искуственный’ (‘iskustvenny’) or ‘исскусвенный’ (‘isskusvenny’) doubling the wrong ‘с’.

10. Следующий (‘sleduyushchii’) & будущий (‘budushchii’)

These words mean ‘next’ and ‘future’, respectively. Because of their similar meaning, Russians often mix up the spelling of these two adjectives. In ‘будущий’, they add an extra ‘ю’ (‘будующий’; ‘buduyyushchii’). While in the word ‘следующий’, they, on the contrary, forget the ‘ю’ (‘следущий’; ‘sledyshchii’). And, the thing is, that it's not clearly pronounced.

‘Gateway to Russia’ thanks Gramota.ru (Грамота.ру) for their help in preparing this article.