Russian term (edited): ������

In an appartment building, подъезд is basically the vertical block of appartments (including the appartments themselves) from the ground to the top floor. E. g. it is common to say "он живет в третьем подъезде" meaning that the person lives in an appartment in the third block (подъезды нумеруются по нумерации квартир - в первом находятся квартиры с 1й по, например, 70-ю и т. д.). In phrases like "они курят в подъезде", подъезд refers to the area on the ground floor between the entrance door and the elevator.

The meaning here is that they came up to the entrance of the block of appartments where the person lives and were standing outside encouraging the drug users that were passing by to take part in the interview.

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Note added at 46 mins (2004-06-21 22:06:44 GMT)
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I believe it\'s the word combination that tells you which meaning is used, like \"он живет в третьем подъезде\" (an appartment in a specific block of appartments) и \"они курят в подъезде\" (the area on the ground floor).

And the area in front of a specific appartment or a group of appartments on the same floor is called этаж rather than подъезд, as in \"они курят на этажах\". One can also smoke on the stairs between the floors. The phrase in this case would be \"они курят на лестнице\".

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Note added at 50 mins (2004-06-21 22:10:34 GMT)
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sorry it should be apartment rather than appartment... it\'s late here and I am tired.

Russian term (edited): ������

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