Thread: Sentences

Hello!
Could you please help me with the translation of these sentences? I’ve tried translating some of them myself, please correct any mistake, I’d be very thankful.

1) Mom asked the son if he knew what time the shop opened.
мать спросила сына, знал ли он в какое время открыт магазин.
мать спросила сына, если он знал в какое время открыт магазин
please tell me if there’s any mistake and which of the variants is the best.. Is the use “открыть” correct?

2) The doctor asked the patient if his head was hurting.

3) I asked Misha if it had been difficult to find the way to my house.
я спросила мишу, было ли трудно найти дорогу к моему доме.
я спросила мишу, трудно ли было найти дорогу к моему доме.
Which is best?

4) Every parent would want their children to be happy
каждый родитель хотел бы дети были счастливы.

5) Boris asked if they were going to show an American film.
борис спросил если бы они показывают американский фильм

6) Boris asked if it was an American film that they were going to show.
борис спросил был американский ли фильм которого они показывают.

7) I have not been to that show, but I really wish to go there.

My friend wasn’t here.
моего друга здесь не было.

9) Dima knew he had nothing to fear, but he was still scared.

1) Mom asked the son if he knew what time the shop opened.

Мать спросила сына, знал ли он в какое время открыт магазин. - This one is very good, however мать is more like mother and мама is more like mom but this is kind of irrelevant after all. Also it might have been better to replace в какое время with just когда but the phrase is good the way you wrote it initially.

Мать спросила сына, если он знал в какое время открыт магазин - this one is awkward если doesn't fit in in here.

2) The doctor asked the patient if his head was hurting.

Доктор спросил, болела ли у его пациента голова - This composition of the sentence is best because a sentence like доктор спросил пациента, болела ли у него голова is kind of ambiguous due to a possible confusion with who the pronoun него refers to, a doctor or his patient?

3) I asked Misha if it had been difficult to find the way to my house.

я спросила Мишу, было ли трудно найти дорогу к моему дому.
я спросила Мишу, трудно ли было найти дорогу к моему дому.

Both are good but you might want to use the pronoun ему in the sentences to make them sound more fluent.

Я спросила Мишу, было ли ему трудно найти дорогу к моему дому
я спросила Мишу, трудно ли ему было найти дорогу к моему дому

4) Every parent would want their children to be happy
Каждый родитель хотел бы/хочет, чтобы его дети были счастливы.

5) Boris asked if they were going to show an American film.
Борис спросил, собирались ли они показать американский фильм

6) Boris asked if it was an American film that they were going to show.

Борис спросил, американский ли фильм они собирались показать.

7) I have not been to that show, but I really wish to go there.

Я не был на том шоу/представлении (depends on which one you meant), но я бы очень хотел сходить на него

8 ) My friend wasn’t here.

Моего друга здесь не было. - perfect

9) Dima knew he had nothing to fear, but he was still scared.

Дима знал (or понимал and I'd rather use the понимал variant), что ему нечего боятся, но ему все равно было страшно

1) Mom asked the son if he knew what time the shop opened.
мать спросила сына, знал ли он в какое время открыт магазин. - OK
мать спросила сына, если он знал в какое время открыт магазин wrong

2) The doctor asked the patient if his head was hurting.
Врач спросил пациента, болит ли у него голова.

3) I asked Misha if it had been difficult to find the way to my house.
Я спросила Мишу, было ли трудно найти дорогу к моему дому. - Acceptable
Я спросила Мишу, трудно ли было найти дорогу к моему дому. - This one is better.


4) Every parent would want their children to be happy
Каждый родитель хотел бы, чтобы (его) дети были счастливы. - Acceptable
Though I'd translate it as "Все родители хотят, чтобы их дети были счастливы."

5) Boris asked if they were going to show an American film.
Борис спросил, собирались ли они показывать американский фильм

6) Boris asked if it was an American film that they were going to show.
Борис спросил, американский ли фильм они собирались показывать.

7) I have not been to that show, but I really wish to go there.
Я не был на этом шоу, но очень хочу на него сходить.

My friend wasn’t here.
Моего друга здесь не было. - ОК

9) Dima knew he had nothing to fear, but he was still scared.
Дима знал, что бояться ему нечего, но всё равно был испуган.

Thank you both so much, you have been so very helpful and clear! I really appreciate it.

Originally Posted by LizeEmm

Hello!
1) Mom asked the son if he knew what time the shop opened.
мать спросила сына, знал ли он в какое время открыт магазин.

Мама спросила сына, знает ли он, когда открыт магазин.

The present tense.

Доктор спросил, болит ли голова.
Я спросил Мишу, было ли трудно... (because asked / had been)

Originally Posted by Полуношник

Мама спросила сына, знает ли он, когда открыт магазин.

The present tense.

Доктор спросил, болит ли голова.
Я спросил Мишу, было ли трудно... (because asked / had been)

So, is there no accounting for the fact that the action actually happened in the past? Is it absolutely unacceptable to use the past tense or is the rule flexible?

Originally Posted by Полуношник

Мама спросила сына, знает ли он, когда открыт магазин.

The present tense.

Доктор спросил, болит ли голова.
Я спросил Мишу, было ли трудно... (because asked / had been)

You really found something to cavil at I don't really see any difference between

Доктор спросил, болит ли голова and Доктор спросил, болела ли голова.

Well, maybe there might be a subtle difference in some isolated contexts but that is obviously irrelevant

Originally Posted by LizeEmm

So, is there no accounting for the fact that the action actually happened in the past? Is it absolutely unacceptable to use the past tense or is the rule flexible?

The first part of the sentence describes the actions as happened in the past. The second part is in the present because it happened in the same time as the first one.

There is a grammar phenomenon which is called Sequence of tenses in subordinate sentences and indirect speech. Russians that learn English often forget to backshift tenses in English sentences. That fact proves that backsifting is very unnatural for Russian. I don't know why iCake is so surprised.

By the way "Дима знал, но боялся" isn't a sentence with subordinate clauses, so both clauses in the past. Subordinate clauses are like that: "Дима знал, что он может не бояться".

Speaking of "sequence of tenses" -- as a native English speaker, I personally would've translated "She asked him if he knew when the shop opened" as она спросила его, знает ли он, когда магазин открывается.

In other words, I would guess that the mother's original question was "Son, when does the store GENERALLY open on EVERY business day?" -- but she isn't interested in knowing "When HAD the store opened?" earlier that morning.

So, I would assume that "opened" is actually referring to the continuous/habitual present, and is placed into the past here because of the "sequence of tenses" rule. Mind you, the original sentence is ambiguous -- it's possible the intended meaning was "she asked him when the store HAD opened", but the speaker/writer omitted the auxiliary verb "had."

(LizeEmm, note that "когда открыт магазин?" implies "When DID the store open?", and not "When DOES the store open, generally speaking?" -- for which you would use the present reflexive verb "открывается", literally "it is opening.")

I hope all this is clear to both LizeEmm and to the Russian commenters!

Throbert McGee
I must insist on reverse translation of "When DID the store open?" then. Because I have doubt, that "когда открыт магазин?" means for you the same as for me.
For me it asks for working hours, and the answer could be: "с 8 до 20 часов, воскресенье- выходной"

она спросила его, знает ли он, когда магазин открывается. This one I like.

Originally Posted by maxmixiv

Throbert McGee
I must insist on reverse translation of "When DID the store open?" then. Because I have doubt, that "когда открыт магазин?" means for you the same as for me.
For me it asks for working hours, and the answer could be: "с 8 до 20 часов, воскресенье- выходной"

Okay, I didn't know this!

I thought that "когда открыт магазин?" would mean the same as "когда открыли магазин?"

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

I thought that "когда открыт магазин?" would mean the same as "когда открыли магазин?"

It can be understood even that way but without the context "when the shop is open (usually)?" is the preferrable translation.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

I thought that "когда открыт магазин?" would mean the same as "когда открыли магазин?"

Originally Posted by it-ogo

It can be understood even that way but without the context "when the shop is open (usually)?" is the preferrable translation.

This is because we omit "был" in such questions. Full question should be: "Когда был открыт магазин?" and the answer: "Сегодня - в девять утра, а вообще-то в 1980 году"

Okay, thanks for the corrections! But going back to the original English question that LizeEmm used:

Mom asked the son if he knew what time the shop opened.

This question could be answered:

"8 a.m. Monday to Saturday, but 11 a.m. on Sundays" [the most likely answer!]
"Today they didn't open until 9:30 a.m., because of a power outage from last night's thunderstorm"

But this answer is IMPOSSIBLE:

"The store's hours are from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday, but 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays"

If one expects an answer of this type, the "reported-speech" sentence would likely be phrased:

Mom asked the son if he knew [what time / when] the shop was open.

This implies that the mother's wanted to know: "Son, what are the shop's normal business hours?", and not "Son, at what time does the shop open each morning?"