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Thread: 2 Question of Grammar

  1. #1
    Почтенный гражданин Mordan's Avatar
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    2 Question of Grammar

    там живёт двенадцать тысяч человек

    Why живёт and not живут ?

    Мне жалько, а его не будет

    Why is it его and not он

    Those are from my course

    thx

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    Some people say живёт, some живут. I don't see any difference, maybe живут is more correct from the grammatical point of view. But both are good. "живёт 20 тысяч человек" most likely is understood as a single mass of people, and when they say "живут 20 тысяч" they mean every man individually, but together, therefore "живут".

    Мне жалко, а его не будет -- I can't comprehend the sense of this sentence. Maybe "мне жалко, что его не будет (he won't attend some place)"? Then "его" of course, (g.c.). If the sentence means "мне жалко, а он не будет (жалеть) (he won't do something, maybe feel regret as the narrator does?)" then "он" is ok.
    -- Да? Коту Ваське, бл##?
    -- Нет, Я кот Васька :-/

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    Yeah, the same thing with "человек". Grammatically, it should be "людей" but this is how it is spoken.
    «И всё, что сейчас происходит внутре — тоже является частью вселенной».

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    By the way, it's an interesting phenomenon, why singular "человек" is used to refer to multitude ? "человек" has no plural form at all.
    -- Да? Коту Ваське, бл##?
    -- Нет, Я кот Васька :-/

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    Re: 2 Question of Grammar

    Quote Originally Posted by Mordan
    там живёт двенадцать тысяч человек

    Why живёт and not живут ?

    Мне жалко, а его не будет

    Why is it его and not он

    Those are from my course

    thx
    Ивана нет - Ivan is not here (Ivan doesn't exist)
    Ивана не было - Ivan was not there/here (Ivan didn't exist)
    Ивана не будет - Ivan won't be here/there (Ivan won't exist)

    It's Нет + gen.

    Мне жалко, а его не будет
    He is not the subject. The subject is not included but implied.
    It's the future of: Мне жалко, а его нет.

    Нет is a contraction of Не есть
    Pres. - Нет + gen.
    Past. - Не было + gen.
    Fut. - Не будет + gen.
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    В этом городе живёт пять тысяч человек.
    В этом городе живёт [такое-то количество] человек.

    количество - ед.ч., поэтому "живёт".
    In Russian, all nationalities and their corresponding languages start with a lower-case letter.

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    Почтенный гражданин Mordan's Avatar
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    Thx a lot

    Those answers made the topic clear!!

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    Re: 2 Question of Grammar

    Quote Originally Posted by TATY
    Quote Originally Posted by Mordan
    там живёт двенадцать тысяч человек

    Why живёт and not живут ?

    Мне жалко, а его не будет

    Why is it его and not он

    Those are from my course

    thx
    Ивана нет - Ivan is not here (Ivan doesn't exist)
    Ивана не было - Ivan was not there/here (Ivan didn't exist)
    Ивана не будет - Ivan won't be here/there (Ivan won't exist)

    It's Нет + gen.

    Мне жалко, а его не будет
    He is not the subject. The subject is not included but implied.
    It's the future of: Мне жалко, а его нет.

    Нет is a contraction of Не есть
    Pres. - Нет + gen.
    Past. - Не было + gen.
    Fut. - Не будет + gen.
    Hmm, I found this helpful too. I was just wondering though..could "Иван нет" be a sentence? If that's so, is "Иван не здесь" any different?

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    Re: 2 Question of Grammar

    Quote Originally Posted by Orpheus
    Hmm, I found this helpful too. I was just wondering though..could "Иван нет" be a sentence? If that's so, is "Иван не здесь" any different?
    Typically you use genitive case with any negation, so I don't think so. Also, I don't think you can say Иван не здесь at all. Ивана нету is what I think the average Russian would say if you asked them that? Then again, I speak crummy Russian, so who knows?
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  10. #10
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    Иван не здесь sounds too much like a word for word English translation for me.
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    Иван не здесь - can be answer to question like
    Иван здесь? - Нет. Иван не здесь.

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    Иван здесь? - Нет. Иван не здесь.
    I'd say "Иван здесь? -- не, нету" или "не, его нет".

    I pretty rarely hear "Иван здесь? -- нет, Иван не здесь", it sounds mockingly a bit.
    -- Да? Коту Ваське, бл##?
    -- Нет, Я кот Васька :-/

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    That's a pretty cool new way of saying something. I've never seen it before...it's amazing! Thanks.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Vincent Tailors
    "Иван здесь? -- нет, Иван не здесь", it sounds mockingly a bit.
    Yes, of course. Or speaker has not enough power in his brain to change words in the question and just insert HE. (Speaker is sleepy or drunk much yesterday )

    Or the sentence is not completed
    Иван здесь? -- Нет. Иван не здесь, а там!

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    I agree with Wowik. It will sound quite appropriate in the case if the speaker adds more information about where Ivan really is.

    - Иван здесь?
    - Нет, он не здесь, он сегодня работает в другом месте.

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    "Мне жалко, а его не будет" doesn't make sense (at least without context).
    Please correct my mistakes if you can, especially article usage.
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