Thread: Abt То..., то...

Originally Posted by radomir

More widely it would be said (I think): "The weather there is very variable, sometimes it rains, sometimes it snows".
What do you think about it? Thanks.

Yes, you'd better not pay attention to statement concerning 'first, and then', you just don't know what comes first in sentences like "Весной там то жарко, то холодно". То,... то means something happens one after another, but you never know what comes first.

I can give you some more examples for better understanding.

Мне то хорошо, то плохо. (I feel sometimes well, sometimes bad)
Самолёт то появлялся, то снова исчезал. (The airplane sometimes appeared in the sky, sometimes disappeared)

Thank you; i was going to delete this post since I have found that the "deeper" meaning of То,... то... is a change of states, not being the matter which is the first or the second one, as you say. Thanks

Originally Posted by alexsms

I can give you some more examples for better understanding.

Мне то хорошо, то плохо. (I feel sometimes well, sometimes bad)
Самолёт то появлялся, то снова исчезал. (The airplane sometimes appeared in the sky, sometimes disappeared)

Alexsms, in these examples, is то stressed or unstressed? I'm trying to figure out the intonation/rhythm of these sentences.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

Alexsms, in these examples, is то stressed or unstressed? I'm trying to figure out the intonation/rhythm of these sentences.

Normally it is not stressed but it depends on a speaker. Have in mind that "то" is not a preposition and "то появлялся" is not pronounced as one word with one stress.