Thread: Deconstructing Russian

Hi all,

A couple of weeks ago I started studying Russian, so far so good. I encountered a new method, which is to deconstruct languages and see how the language is 'built'. In order to be able to do that, I kinda need help with the translation of a couple of sentences. The sentences are:

The apple is red.
It is John's apple.
I give John the apple.
We give him the apple.

He gives it to John
She gives it to him.

Is the apple red?
The apples are red.

I must give it to him.
I want to give it to her.
I'm going to know tomorrow.
I have eaten the apple.
I can't eat the apple.

Would really appreciate the help, and encourage other beginners to 'deconstruct' a language with these sentences.

Thanks!

The apple is red. => Яблоко красное.
It is John's apple. => Это яблоко Джона.
I give John the apple. => Я даю Джону яблоко.
We give him the apple. => Мы даём ему яблоко.

He gives it to John => Он даёт это Джону.
She gives it to him. => Она даёт это ему.

Is the apple red? => Яблоко красное?
The apples are red. => Яблоки красные.

I must give it to him. => Я обязан ему это дать.
I want to give it to her. => Я хочу ей это дать.
I'm going to know tomorrow. => Я узнаю завтра.
I have eaten the apple. => Я съел яблоко.
I can't eat the apple. => Я не могу есть яблоко.

Happy deconstructing!

...the apple =...это яблоко (яблоко, о котором идёт речь)

As an experiment I translated that sentences with Google Translate. Orange are wrong translations. Red are very wrong.

Яблоко красное.
Это яблоко Джона.
Я даю Джон яблоко.
Мы даем ему яблоко.


Он дает ее Джону
Она дает ему.


Это яблоко красное?
Яблоки красные.


Я должен дать ему.
Я хочу дать ей.
Я буду знать завтра.
Я съел яблоко.
Я не могу съесть яблоко.

Я даю Джон яблоко. - It is like one word "john-apple"
Он дает ее Джону - While you say "it" in english, you can say её, его, это и т.д. in russian, because nouns have a gender.
Она дает ему.
Я должен дать ему.
Я хочу дать ей. - It's ok generally. If you give, obviously you give something, in some cases, when you mentioned something earlier, you can omit "это" and so on.

Here's the full description of the deconstruction method by its inventor Tim Ferris. The purpose of deconstruction is just to estimate how easy it will be to learn the language.
How to Learn (But Not Master) Any Language in 1 Hour (Plus: A Favor)

Ironically, he decided not to learn Russian because of the large number of inflections in the language.

Originally Posted by MasterAdmin

Here's the full description of the deconstruction method by its inventor Tim Ferris. The purpose of deconstruction is just to estimate how easy it will be to learn the language.
How to Learn (But Not Master) Any Language in 1 Hour (Plus: A Favor)

Interesting, but the criteria of "fluency" in such kind of sport are questionable. He may feel himself "fluent" in a language but I doubt that such "fluency" will help native speakers understand him or vice versa in practical situations. He means a very primitive level of language understanding. On higher levels difficulty is caused by other features. Even the practical vocabulary is much more essential problem IMHO.

P.S. Spanish is easy. No, really.
"I must give it to him." = "Tengo que darselo." Google translate fails.