Learning Russian with SP

[coolasfcuk]

Aargh! I like this forum cos people here are so helpful, but sometimes you are TOO helpful. My idea was to keep miss D busy for a while with those Russian sentences, so that we can take our lessons in peace...

Ny ya znaiu ... that is why I didnt translate it... but since someone else already did... I just thought I'd comment on it

hmmm, those Russians always confuse me like that .. thanks for that 'na ulice' explanation...'vne doma' would not confuse me as much... but 'ulica' means 'street' to me at least I translated it correctly once just cebcause it didnt sound right to say it was raining in the street.

[denial]

Originally posted by elf
For extra credit, please determine the gender of the following words (it's not that easy):

okay I'm guessing here:

Тату -- (она) - because "this girl love that girl?"

Тень (Shadow) -- (он) - "I take before the ь is н hard consonant"

Крыло (wing) -- (оно) -

Зверь (animal) -- (он) "I take before the ь is р hard consonant"

кофе (coffee) -- (он) "I take before the ь is ф hard consonant"

---
those with ь we suppose to memorize right?

[denial]

Originally posted by russkayatatu
cool, don't worry, какая разница?

elf, you started this...just in case anyone wants more 'fun' practice with guessing genders (note: these are meant to be not so obvious).

кость (bone) - он

громкоговоритель (loudspeaker) - он

рожь (rye) - он

свежесть (freshness) - оно

слуга (servant) - она

воскресенье (Sunday) - оно

воскресение (resurrection) - оно

щи (cabbage soup) - он

аташе (attache) - оно

жюри (judges (of competition)) - он

кенгуру (kangeroo) - оно

клише (cliche) - оно

чернила (ink) - она

ружьё (gun) - оно

шимпанзе (chimpanzee) - оно

пламя (flame) - она

This is really advanced, though, most of it. I was just trying to find some things that might trip people up

edit: what is this word I found in the dictionary just now:

техред (technical editor, copy editor) - он
-
-- I think they just edit anything and make it their copyright.

[denial]

Originally posted by prostrel
But, there`s something I want to ask: моя дорогая коллега
miss D , what was that Postel thing about? Both "r":s were missing. Was твоя клавиатура broken? Or were you mad at me? (I have no idea why though ). Or maybe you had no time to write those "r":s ? Or maybe your thoughts were quicker than your fingers so fingers missed few letters? You know quite well how important those "r":s are to me... [/b]

LOL .. ohh! you know me that well?.. yes I was mad because I was serious and sincere about your cat ..LOL...nope моя клавиатура is not broken.

Well .. now I know that your cat is мокрое .. ..fingers? ...ahahahaha....


Cools ..still ... thank you for your translation ..

[coolasfcuk]

Well .. now I know that your cat is мокрое

Miss D.....кошка is она ...so, you gotta say: мокрая кошка. мокрое is оно.

Cools ..still ... thank you for your translation ..

ne za chto

[russkayatatu]

prostrel, I was going to PM you about the problems with your 'cat' sentence - cause there are a couple, although I am impressed sounds like you're not a beginner at all - but since other people have already guessed at the translation and wanna talk about it, here is what I'll say:

coolasfcuk read it perfectly (at least, she read it the same way I did) And you do need поэтому instead of потому...let me see if I can explain why. Поэтому means 'for that reason', потому by itself is not really complete in the sentence - usually when it means 'because' it pairs with что to give a 'dummy construction': so, потому что: 'for the reason that'...(and now a whole clause) - i.e., 'because'.

Она мокрая потому что на улице идет дождь.

She's wet because it's raining outside.

На улице идет дождь, поэтому она мокрая.

It's raining outside, so she's wet.

Something like that - see what I mean? I know I'm not explaining so well...

The other mistake is that you need to say домой instead of дома, because you are talking about motion, and when you talk about motion you need an accusative. You say дома when you are in the house (Ты дома? are you at home?) and домой when you are moving into it or towards it я иду домой (I'm going home). But I'm really impressed

вне дома does mean 'outside the house' in Russian, but much more literally...на улице is more generically 'outside'.

vesica, yeah, good guessing !! : погода is the Russian word for 'weather'; it does look a little funny though and улица means 'street', на улице means 'outside'...только means only (wow!), but только что together means 'just', as in 'just got in', 'just finished reading' - i.e., just did something. Дождь идет is an idiom; it means the rain is going, but idiomatically 'it's raining' - lots of difficult stuff, great guessing . *can't believe how much effort people are putting into this*

[russkayatatu]

denial, wow wooooooow, your homework with the computer words was perfect - good job

those with ь we suppose to memorize right?

exactly There are a few rules for soft-sign-ending words if you want to get really into it, but right now it's not important, and a lot of times there is just NO WAY to tell - so don't feel frustrated...you definitely understand all the regular ones, and these words I picked out are all bizarre.

I'm glad the sound file helped... by the way, in the beginning, yes it was like a 'sound-check' nothing was working on any computer that I tried, then then FINALLY I found one where it would record. I thought about redoing it or cutting that part out, but I was in a hurry, so...

sorry about the missing word...I realized it later

No, you don`t have to excuse, you were right. "мая" is "May", it`s just in genetive.

I know; that's what temporarily had me confused. But there's still a big difference from saying май is May and мая is May.

prostrel, you found all the right genders - except for чернила, which is also plural (no singular) - like щи - those weren't quite fair though since we haven't learned plural yet

about техред, I mentioned it cause my dictionary said it was neuter, and I was wondering if that was really true.

btw you were right, it is атташе - another mistake - and воскресенье, I am pretty sure it is оно, not она.

for everyone: you're doing wonderfully; I hope I'm not forgetting anything/anyone...

[denial]

Originally posted by coolasfcuk
Miss D.....кошка is она ...so, you gotta say: мокрая кошка. мокрое is оно.

кюля ...because you already know the cat is female? what if the cat is male? or you don't know the gender of the cat?

Generally animal noun should be? - ..

russkayatatu,

denial, wow wooooooow, your homework with the computer words was perfect - good job

спасибо русская тату ! ... urr ... I just realized!!! OMG!! suddenly your nick has meaning in it!! Russian (fem) tatu?

so.. do you like cat too?


One question. What do you call Russian cat in general .. русская кошка? even for male cat?

[coolasfcuk]

куулая ...because you already know the cat is female? what if the cat is male? or you don't know the gender of the cat?

Generally animal noun should be? - ..well I use он

miss D, it doesnt matter what gender the cat is the word cat itself is a feminine word, so it is она.

it will be different story if you werent using 'cat' but the name of the cat.... say Jonny ... then it will be он.

ufff... Рейч help me here LoL .. I dont think I am doing great job.

edit: D, I liked it how you spelled my name originally...кулая .. or perfect version would be: кули which really means 'towers' in Bulgarian.

[russkayatatu]

Originally posted by denial
куулая ...because you already know the cat is female? what if the cat is male? or you don't know the gender of the cat?

Generally animal noun should be? - ..well I use он

generally animal nouns should be whatever it would be if it were a regular noun: кошка is feminine cause it ends in -a. You just use it without thinking about the gender of the cat; it doesn't matter if it's a male cat or female cat or you don't know. If you want to make a big deal out of the gender - say, a 'tom-cat' - you can say кот, which is the masculine form of кошка, but it's definitely not neutral like кошка is - like a big male cat, that's what you're saying

Look at animal nouns like you would any other noun and don't worry too much about the actual gender - let's try a few more:

собака (dog)
птица (bird)
волк (wolf)
лев (lion)

what gender?

Russian (fem) tatu - very good

OK, as for what cool was saying...let me try to explain it like this...every adjective agrees with the gender of the noun you're using. So if you're talking about a cat and using the word кошка (which means 'cat'), then you need to have everything agree with кошка - so - feminine. Doesn't matter if the cat is male or female or you don't know, because when you already know the grammatical gender; the actual gender of the cat is unimportant.

But if you're talking about the cat, male cat, Jonny, and saying "Jonny's wet"...Jonny (the noun) is male so it would be masculine: мокрый. On the other hand if it's a female cat name - like Fussy (assuming it is ) - it would be мокрая...it all depends on the noun that you're using, whichever gender it is.

does it make sense??

edit: кули is 'coolie' in Russian

[denial]

Originally posted by coolasfcuk
edit: D, I liked it how you spelled my name originally...кулая .. or perfect version would be: кули which really means 'towers' in Bulgarian. [/b]

oops.. you guys answered too fast . I'm still editing LOL .. I got edited better one to call ..кюля ..good?

thanks кюля

[denial]

Thanks russ
I got it!

Originally posted by russkayatatu
Look at animal nouns like you would any other noun and don't worry too much about the actual gender - let's try a few more:

EASY!

собака (dog) - она
птица (bird) - она
волк (wolf) - он
лев (lion) - ои

But if you're talking about the cat, male cat, Johnny, and saying "Johnny's wet"...Johnny (the noun) is male so it would be masculine: мокрый. On the other hand if it's a female cat - like Fussy - it would be мокрая...it all depends on the noun that you're using, whichever gender it is.

ok I understand now .. thank you . Russ. There's no way Prostrel's cat gonna be мокрое ...right?

[coolasfcuk]

If you want to make a big deal out of the gender - say, a 'tom-cat' - you can say кот, which is the masculine form of кошка, but it's definitely not neutral like кошка is - like a big male cat, that's what you're saying

so there is such thing as making up a masculine word for the feminine 'кошка' he heeeee... I had typed it in my previous message how it works in BG, but thought it would confuse people, and wasnt sure they have it in Russian. In Bulgarian: the main word for 'cat' котка - feminine, and ... котарак - masculine, for big fat guy 'tom-cat'

got edited better one to call ..кюля ..good?

he heeee, well I do like the association with Юля... but it sounds a big funny to me... not in a bad way, dont worry sounds Turkish to me of something..

ok I understand now .. thank you . Russ. There's no way Prostrel's cat gonna be мокрое ...right?

psssssss D... getting on a really personal level here... lets leave miss prostrel alone for a bit, eh? be good now and behave.. you are doing great in Russian

[denial]

Originally posted by coolasfcuk
psssssss D... getting on a really personal level here... lets leave miss prostrel alone for a bit, eh? be good now and behave.. you are doing great in Russian [/b]

oh okay ... peace Prostrel ....*hugs* ...see I'm not that bad

[denial]

Originally posted by prostrel
Sexcret? This is internet. Дорогая коллега, are you sure that we are тет-а-тет?

что тет-а-тет?

[prostrel]

You people have been busy here while I was gone.

Russkayatatu , thanks for explanations and corrections!
Of course,"домой". I know "motion verbs" , глаголы движения, (is there an other word for them in English?), and I know you need accusative with them, but I forgot how to do declension with "дома". I knew it is not "дому". So thanks! And I think I got that "потому / поэтому".

Originally posted by denial
что тет-а-тет?

Hmm, can`t you figure it out from the context? Try...

[denial]

тет-а-тет сама с собой

сама - myself (fem)

с - from, since, off, for, with, on, by

собой - looking, in appearance

---->...nope.. I can't figure it out from the context.. *cries*


Oh I found this in the dictionary..
skazhi zachem:
собой, собою see себа


Added:
Wait ...тет-а-тет = sexcretly ?

[denial]

Actually I have question, I don't understand this " ь " and " ъ "

What am I to do with it?

[prostrel]

Originally posted by denial
[b]тет-а-тет сама с собой

сама - myself (fem)

с - from, since, off, for, with, on, by

собой - looking, in appearance

---->...nope.. I can't figure it out from the context.. *cries*)

Oh, please, don`t cry, it breaks my heart

Ah, I meant this sentence with that context:
Sexcret? This is internet. Дорогая коллега, are you sure that we are тет-а-тет?

So here тет-а-тет means "just you and me alone, in private, by ourselves".
And "тет-а-тет сама с собой" means " I`m alone /in private with myself".

[denial]

спасибо prostrel! *целую*