Thread: Case Question

Originally Posted by impulse

So is it like this?

Я хочу красней машины - I want a car with a specific color.
Я хочу машину - I want a car. More general

No, я хочу красной машины is not possible. That's not about its color, it's about the fact that you imply only one car so you can't really say that you want a part of a car. That'd sound ridiculous, wouldn't it? So Я хочу красную машину is the only correct usage.

However if you go with a plural you may use genitive because as I said many cars can be considered just as a part of something bigger. Like you want two cars out of those 5 cars. See the logic?

Я хочу красные машины and Я хочу красных машин are both possible

Cheers

Originally Posted by iCake

No, я хочу красной машины is not possible. That's not about its color, it's about the fact that you imply only one car so you can't really say that you want a part of a car. That'd sound ridiculous, wouldn't it? So Я хочу красную машину is the only correct usage.

However if you go with a plural you may use genitive because as I said many cars can be considered just as a part of something bigger. Like you want two cars out of those 5 cars. See the logic?

Я хочу красные машины and Я хочу красных машин are both possible

Cheers

If you're a monster who eats cars, you might say:

я хочу машины

"I could really go for some car right about now."

Originally Posted by John_Douglas

If you're a monster who eats cars, you might say:

я хочу машины

"I could really go for some car right about now."

Well, I don't see how it is connected with eating here

Originally Posted by John_Douglas

If you're a monster who eats cars, you might say:

я хочу машины

"I could really go for some car right about now."

Not really. Such monster can say Я хочу металла, Я хочу пластмассы, Я хочу колес. You can use only something uncountable in singular from here (and the word машина doesn't fit). We don't say Я хочу бутерброда, Я хочу булочки (not plural nominative!). If something is countable it cannot be used in such way.
In plural - almost anything you want, though Я хочу машин and Я хочу столов do not sound very natural to me. I would not say like that.

Another thing is "мне хочется".
I'd say Мне хочется булочки sounds better than Я хочу булочки, but I'm not sure it is correct.

Originally Posted by bublinka

...Another thing is "мне хочется".
I'd say Мне хочется булочки sounds better than Я хочу булочки, but I'm not sure it is correct.

Я бы ожидала какой-нибудь глагол после хочется: Мне хочется поесть, поспать, пойти погулять.