i've fallen and i cant say it right...

[im-such-a-slav.livejournal.com]

my dictionary gave two listings for the perfective form of падать: пасть and упасть. this is the first and only time it has done this, so is there a difference between the two? i asked a friend and she said пасть has a negative connotation, but i am still a bit confused. anyone have a better explanation?

also, i need to get a good font for my computer so i can read russian. does anyone know a good free one that i can download. i have windows XP, if that matters.

Comments

[ashalynd.livejournal.com]

Пасть is used mostly in figurative sense: Как ты низко пал! How low did you fall! - said to, e.g. somebody who stopped looking after himself, stole something, drinks all day long, etc.
Also: Город пал. The city yielded (to the enemy).
Упасть is a common translation of to have fallen: Он упал с крыши - He fell from the roof; Температура упала - The temperature dropped; etc.

[svyatogor.livejournal.com]

упасть - means simply to fall. Книга упала на пол - Book has fallen onto the floor.
пасть - can have a negative meaning. Also it can mean to die in a fight. Examples:

Как ты мог так низко пасть? How could you fall so low. meaning that somebody was behaving in a not appropriate way.

other example

Он пал в бою. - He died in the fight. (poetic)

[svyatogor.livejournal.com]

oh, and about fonts. standart windows fonts have cyrillic glyphs. Arial, Verdana, Times New Roman, Courier.

[cema.livejournal.com]

Russification: google up "Paul Gorodyansky" and follow his advice. :-)

[ashalynd.livejournal.com]

Windows XP should have Cyrillic fonts included in a standard configuration. Go Control Panel->Regional and Language Options->Languages->Details... and add Russian input language. You'll get at least the standard fonts, like Arial, Times Roman, etc. for Cyrillic as well.

[rem-lj.livejournal.com]

пасть - that's old form
we use it in some phrases, such as:
падший ангел - fallen angel
падшая женщина - fallen women
пасть жертвой - to fall a victim (to)

упасть - is more common form, we use it in any over cases :)
упала чашка
упасть с дерева

etc.