# passing/failing/taking exams



## kurthc

I am thoroughly confused on which verbs to use when talking about school exams. Specifically I want to know what is the best Russian word to use for each the following phrases:

to pass an exam
to fail an exam
to take an exam (in the sense of a student sitting and taking it)
to write an exam (in the sense of a teacher preparing it for the students)

The biggest source of confusion for me is that "сдавать экзамен" seems to translate as "to take an exam" and "to pass an exam". Maybe in context it can be clear, but these two sentences on tatoeba.org confuse me:

На самом деле он и не сдавал экзамен.
The fact is that he didn't even take the exam

Я не сдал экзамен
I failed the exam

Is either sentence ambiguous or is there something in the context that tells you if it's "failed" or "didn't take"? Maybe in the difference between the perfective and imperfective?

Thanks


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## WordOrder

_*to fail an exam* провалить экзамен, не сдать экзамен_

_Семёнов не сдал экзамен — Semenov has failed the exam._

_*to pass an exam* сдать экзамен_

_Алтухова сдала экзамен — Altukhova has passed the exam._

_*to take an exam* сдавать экзамен_

_Сегодня я сдаю экзамен — I'm taking an exam today._

As you can see from the examples, we have a single verb _сдавать_ for the three English verbs. If you want to say that you've just passed or failed the exam you have to use perfective aspect of the verb (_сдал_/_не сдал_), however if you need to express that you're in a process of taking an exam you just use imperfective aspect (_сдаю_).

Conserning _to write an exam_, I don't think we have any stable expression for that.


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## _Mauri_

и как это будет "I'm not going to take this exam now, but I will do it in the future"?

"пропустить экзамен" пожалуй? 

спасибо


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## WordOrder

_*to be going to take* собираться сдавать_
_
Я не собираюсь сдавать экзамен сейчас, но сделаю это в следующий раз._


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## Saluton

kurthc said:


> Is either sentence ambiguous or is there something in the context that tells you if it's "failed" or "didn't take"? Maybe in the difference between the perfective and imperfective?


Yes, exactly.



kurthc said:


> to write an exam (in the sense of a teacher preparing it for the students)


I'd translate it as готовить экзамен, but it should be clear from the context that it's a teacher preparing it. It will be too hard to understand otherwise. By the way, is the English expression so widespread it can be understood without the context?


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## Welshie

Saluton said:


> Yes, exactly.
> 
> 
> I'd translate it as готовить экзамен, but it should be clear from the context that it's a teacher preparing it. It will be too hard to understand otherwise. By the way, is the English expression so widespread it can be understood without the context?




It is clear. After all, the only people who can write exams are teachers. (Students write during the process of the exam, but they write their answers, they don't write the exam). I imagine a simple писать зксамен doesn't work?


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## Natalisha

Welshie said:


> It is clear. After all, the only people who can write exams are teachers. (Students write during the process of the exam, but they write their answers, they don't write the exam). I imagine a simple писать зксамен doesn't work?


I usually say "готовить экзаменационные материалы/вопросы".


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## Saluton

Welshie said:


> It is clear. After all, the only people who can write exams are teachers. (Students write during the process of the exam, but they write their answers, they don't write the exam).


Thanks for your explanation.



Welshie said:


> I imagine a simple писать зксамен doesn't work?


No.



Natalisha said:


> I usually say "готовить экзаменационные материалы/вопросы".


Yes, this is a good option.

(Wow, my 1,000th post ))))


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## kurthc

Saluton said:


> Yes, exactly.
> 
> 
> I'd translate it as готовить экзамен, but it should be clear from the context that it's a teacher preparing it. It will be too hard to understand otherwise. By the way, is the English expression so widespread it can be understood without the context?



When I was in grad school people said things like "I have to write an exam" all the time, but maybe it's only common among people who teach.

It seems like I've heard people say "the students wrote the exam", meaning "the students took the exam" before. I wasn't sure if it was a British usage, and I wanted to be clear what I meant.


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## Natalisha

saluton said:


> (wow, my 1,000th post ))))


Congratulations!!!


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## rusita preciosa

WordOrder said:


> As you can see from the examples, we have a single verb _сдавать_ for the three English verbs.


Actually these are different verbs (совершенный / несовершенный вид).
сдавать/сдавал/буду сдавать - to take an exam
сдать/сдал/сдам - to pass an exam

Я этот экзамен сдавал, но не сдал.


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## rusita preciosa

Saluton said:


> (Wow, my 1,000th post ))))


 Поздравляю, Saluton!


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## Natalisha

Saluton said:


> By the way, is the English expression so widespread it can be understood without the context?


I doubt. 

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1256647


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## Welshie

kurthc said:


> When I was in grad school people said things like "I have to write an exam" all the time, but maybe it's only common among people who teach.
> 
> It seems like I've heard people say "the students wrote the exam", meaning "the students took the exam" before. I wasn't sure if it was a British usage, and I wanted to be clear what I meant.





Natalisha said:


> I doubt.
> 
> http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1256647



In my British English "to write an exam" can only be used for teachers. I'd be shocked to hear a student say that he "wrote" an exam. But apparently usage varies, as shown by Natalisha. At least готовить экзаменационные материалы is precise


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## kurthc

Welshie said:


> In my British English "to write an exam" can only be used for teachers. I'd be shocked to hear a student say that he "wrote" an exam. But apparently usage varies, as shown by Natalisha. At least готовить экзаменационные материалы is precise



Interestng. The person I remember saying this was a Russian speaker who learned British English, so I assumed if it wasn't a Russian thing it was a British thing.


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## Fleur007

For "write an exam", I would say "составлять экзамен". (This is something I do on a regular basis  )


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## Natalisha

Fleur007 said:


> For "write an exam", I would say "составлять экзамен". (This is something I do on a regular basis  )


I never say "составлять экзамен". I usually "готовлю список экзаменационных вопросов", "готовлю экзаменационные вопросы" and "готовлю экзаменационные материалы".


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