раз- ... -ся
Scattering with Раз- and -ся
Раз- ... -ся means apart or get going: Пасля канцэрта ўсе разышліся па хатах. (After the concert everyone went off home.)
How It Works
The prefix раз- with -ся makes perfective verbs with two main meanings.
1. Apart, in different directions. A group spreads out:
- ісці → разысціся (go separate ways)
- бегчы → разбегчыся (run off in all directions)
- ехаць → раз’ехацца (drive off in different directions)
- ляцець → разляцецца (fly off in all directions)
2. Getting going. An action grows until it is in full swing:
- гаварыць → разгаварыцца (get talking, open up)
- плакаць → расплакацца (burst into tears)
Spelling the prefix. Belarusian spells it the way it sounds:
- раз- before a vowel or voiced consonant: разбегчыся, разляцецца.
- рас- before a voiceless consonant: расплакацца, расказаць.
- раз’- with an apostrophe before е, ё, ю, я: раз’ехацца.
- After the prefix, і becomes ы (ы and і): раз + ісціся → разысціся.
Past forms. разышоўся, разышлася, разышліся; разбегся, разбеглася, разбегліся. These verbs are usually plural when they mean scattering, because it takes several people to go apart.
Compare на- ... -ся, another prefix-plus-ся pair.
Examples (6)
- Пасля канцэрта ўсе разышліся па хатах.
After the concert everyone went off to their homes.
Word by Word: After concert all went-apart to homes.
- Дзеці разбегліся па двары.
The children ran off all over the yard.
Word by Word: Children ran-apart around yard.
- Госці раз’ехаліся позна ўвечары.
The guests drove off late in the evening.
Word by Word: Guests drove-apart late in-evening.
- Птушкі разляцеліся ў розныя бакі.
The birds flew off in different directions.
Word by Word: Birds flew-apart in different sides.
- У цягніку мы разгаварыліся з суседам.
On the train we got talking with the person next to us.
Word by Word: In train we got-talking with neighbor.
- Малая раптам расплакалася.
The little girl suddenly burst into tears.
Word by Word: Little-one suddenly burst-into-tears.
Common Mistakes
Writing і after the prefix.
Пасля канцэрта ўсе разішліся.Пасля канцэрта ўсе разышліся.After a prefix ending in a consonant, the і of ісці is written ы: разысціся, разышліся.
Leaving out the apostrophe before е.
Госці разехаліся позна.Госці раз’ехаліся позна.After a prefix ending in a consonant, an apostrophe separates it from е, ё, ю or я.
Writing раз- before a voiceless consonant.
Малая раптам разплакалася.Малая раптам расплакалася.Before voiceless п the prefix sounds and is written рас-.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Scattering needs -ся and the з-/с- rule.
Related Patterns
Words in This Pattern
Practice раз- ... -ся in Bubblegum
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes Belarusian lessons at your level. Tap any grammar point in a lesson to see its full explanation.
