Thread: Compliments and Clever Lines in Russian

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

Antonio, here's a famous short poem by Pushkin that maybe you know already -- it's from the point of view of a man who is too shy to tell a young woman how much he likes her, and illustrates the emotional difference between вы and ты. (The italics are in the original.)

Ты и Вы
Пустое вы сердечным ты
Она, обмолвясь, заменила
И все счастливые мечты
В душе влюблённой возбудила.
Пред ней задумчиво стою,
Свести очей с неё нет силы;
И говорю ей: как вы милы!
И мыслю: как тебя люблю!

I might add, as a challenge for intermediate/advanced students of Russian: Can you gender-switch the poem to make it from the point of view of a young woman who's not sure whether a young man is interested in her? Which pronouns and word-endings (for nouns, adjectives, past-tense verbs) should be changed, and which pronouns/endings would remain unchanged from the original? This is a pretty good test for how well you understand "agreement" in case, number, and gender!


Пуст__ вы сердечн__ ты
___, обмолв___, замени__
И все счастливые мечты
В душ__ влюбленн___ возбуди___.
Пред не__ задумчиво стою,
Свести очей с н___ нет силы;
И говор__ е__: как вы мил__!
И мыслю: как тебя люб___!

Note: The blank space marked in red is, possibly, rather tricky -- yet there's only one correct answer!