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I noticed that Russians are using the word собираться as "going", for example : "он собирается выиграть = he is going to win".
In the lesson they taught us that the future in russian is expressed only with two structures:
1. он выиграю = He will win
2. он будет выигривать = He will be winning
Can please someone explain me this new form of future with собираться. It can be used as future? Is it future? Can be used in all occasions?
Hello, Antonio,Originally Posted by Antonio1986
Yes, you can express future actions in Russian
1) either by the Future Perfective form of the verb :
-- он выиграет (he will win), я выиграю ( I will win);
-- он напишет письмо; я напишу письмо;
-- он прочитает книгу; я прочитаю книгу;
2) or by the Future Imperfective form of the verb:
-- он будет выигрывать (he will be winning), я буду выигрывать ( I will be winning);
-- он будет писать письмо; я буду писать письмо;
-- он будет читать книгу; я буду читать книгу.
"Он собирается + infinitive" is not the future, but the present tense-form. it means that this person (он) RIGHT NOW is plans, looks forward to, desires, intends, dreams, or going to win. However, the victory is yet to be won IN THE FUTURE. So you basically have someone's attitude at this very moment ( собирается ) to a yet future event (выиграть).
In this particular meaning, "to be going to + infinitive" ( intending, planning to do smth), the Russian verb "собираться" is used either in the present (imperfective form), or in the past (imperfective or perfective).
However, I can't think of too many examples of using this verb in the future in this particular meaning of intending/planning to do smth, except for:
- Когда ты соберешься приехать к нам в гости? = Когда ты приедешь к нам в гости?
( when are you going to come and visit with us? = When will you come for a visit? )
However, this verb "собираться/собраться" is polysemantic, i.e. it has several different meanings ( to gather, to assemble; to prepare, to set out etc.), and is quite often used in the Future Tense in these other meanings.
Even more important is that English "going to" has various uses.
I mean the following sentences look absolutely different to me, and only 1st could be translated with "собираться", whereas 2nd is "pure future" in Russian.
I am going to visit Russia next year. В следующем году я собираюсь съездить в Россию.
I am going to store in a hour. Я пойду в магазин через час.
Since 3min15sec:
Вулкан - Смотреть Южный Парк - Южный Парк онлайн
"Невозможно передать смысл иностранной фразы, не разрушив при этом её первоначальную структуру."
There was a long discussion of "собираться": http://masterrussian.net/f15/в-следующем-месяце-мы-собираемся-навестить-своих-друзей-19537/. To sum up what was discussed there, Russian "собираться что-либо делать" and English "to be going to do something" are not fully equivalent.
1. English "to be going" usually implies immediate future: "I am going to swim" is understood as "right now", "I am nearly in the pool".
Russian "собираться" does not specify when it will happen. "Я собираюсь искупаться" is more like "I'm thinking of having a swim", but if there is no sufficient context, it is not clear when the speaker will swim: in 5 minutes, tomorrow or next year.
2. Russian "собираться" does not even garantee the event will actually happen. The one who "собирается" can change his mind in some future. Unlike "to be going", the Russian "собираться" is thought as a process of "getting ready" or "making up one's mind", and it can be successful or not:
- Ты знаешь английский язык?
- Нет. Я собирался его выучить. Но так и не собрался.
- Do you know English?
- No. I was intended to learn it. But I failed to make up my mind.
3. Russian "собираться" can only be applicable to "conscious" actions. Normally, only people or animals (sometimes) can "собираться". In Russian, it is not possible to say
"Камень собирается упасть с горы" - it sounds funny as if the stone were a "thinking" object.
But in English, it is quite possible to say "The stone is going to fall from the mountain". Native speakers, please correct me if I am wrong.
There are a few exceptions of this principle. We do say "Дождь собирается" (It is going to rain) when we see some obvious signs in the sky.
Correct (except for the omission of "the"), but contrast it with this sentence:
I am going to go to the store in an hour.
Я собираюсь пойти в магазин через час.
Here, "going to" is not the present-progressive tense of to go (as in "I'm going to the store"). It's an auxiliary verb marking the future, and thus "I'm going to go" is roughly the same as "I will go".
P.S.But in English, it is quite possible to say "The stone is going to fall from the mountain".
Absolutely correct, Bob. Here, going to simply expresses the "near-futureness" of the action, even though a stone cannot feel an intention to fall.
P.P.S.Russian "собираться" does not even guarantee the event will actually happen. The one who "собирается" can change his mind in some future.
In such cases, "to be thinking about doing something" would be a better translation than "going to do something":
Ты знаешь английский язык?
- Нет. Я собирался его выучить. Но так и не собрался.
Do you know English?
No, I was thinking about studying English, but I never got around to it.
Wooden coins like this one, printed with the nonsense word "TUIT," are sometimes given as humorous gifts.
I finally got around to it. = Наконец я успел сделать это. / Наконец я начал заниматься этим.
I finally got a round "TUIT" = Наконец я получил круглую штуку "TUIT".
Last edited by Throbert McGee; June 14th, 2013 at 01:46 AM. Reason: Added PPS on "thinking about doing something"
Great! A magnificent thingI'd like to get some tuits for my collection.
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