Thread: First of all, second of all...

(from here http://ufskating.iatp.org.ua/plush.htm)
Е.П.: Во-первых я приехал потому, что хочу проверить и показать себя, и свою короткую программу.
Во-вторых, потому что я всегда хотел приехать в Киев, посмотреть на город. Ну а в-третьих, потому что меня пригласил Виктор, за что ему большое спасибо. Мне всегда приятно выступать с Виктором, потому что он всегда был и будет моим кумиром.

Why is it в-третьих and not Во-третьих?
How would you say 4th of all? etc.

>> Why is it в-третьих and not Во-третьих?

По правилу употребления предлов "в", "с"и т.п.

В-третьих - Ok. Целесообразнее спросить почему "во-первых" - это "во-первых", а не "в-первых". Ведь в остальных сочетаниях мы говорим по-другому, например:

В первую очередь
Во вторую очередь
В третью очередь

С другой стороны есть тоже сочетания "во главе (Политбюро)" и "в главе (книги)"

Russian is hard.

But thanks for teaching me a new word ( Целесообразнее )

Originally Posted by Biancca

Russian is hard.

But thanks for teaching me a new word ( Целесообразнее )

I'm sure most Russians will agree that English is hard.

Originally Posted by Biancca

Why is it в-третьих and not Во-третьих?

I think you will just have to remember this...

How would you say 4th of all? etc.

В-четвёртых, в-пятых, в-шестых, в-седьмых, и т.д. и т.п.

Originally Posted by BlackMage

I'm sure most Russians will agree that English is hard.

Personally, I won't... It has its difficulties, but basically it is a very simple language, which at least partially explains why it became the language of international communication...

I think English is the easiest language in the world

Only one "the" no der die das
no Sie/du stuff
just add "s" to make most plurals
adjectives don't decline

The only difficulty I could see is spelling
Idioms don't count against it since all languages have them

If I were learning English, and I knew the same vacabulary as I have learned in Russian I am sure I would be able to communicate MUCH better in English.

Originally Posted by Biancca

I think English is the easiest language in the world

...

Let me guess... you're an English native speaker.

I think your overlooking the subtleties (sp?) of the english language. For example, when talking to native russians who are learning english, placement of 'a' or 'the' seems pretty difficult, and i can understand that. And imagine if you grew up with a declined language how difficult it must be to get the word order correct in a language where it is very important.

Ask an american, and english is the easiest. Ask a russian, and russian is the easiest

tdk

Originally Posted by tdk2fe

Ask an american, and english is the easiest. Ask a russian, and russian is the easiest

That would be the main idea.

Thats why I put the smiley face, of course I think English is easy.

From the languages I have studied ranked from easiest to hardest:

English well ok this doesn't count
ASL (American sign language)
French
German
Russian

Originally Posted by Biancca

I think English is the easiest language in the world

Only one "the" no der die das
no Sie/du stuff
just add "s" to make most plurals
adjectives don't decline

The only difficulty I could see is spelling
Idioms don't count against it since all languages have them

If I were learning English, and I knew the same vacabulary as I have learned in Russian I am sure I would be able to communicate MUCH better in English.

Silly, naive girl.

How about that English DOES has "the".
What if you're native language is a language like Russian that doesn't have "the" or "a"? When do you use "the" and when do you use "a"?

And you are just talking about being able to say stuff something in English. Cases and such make translating from Russian to English much easier as the ending act as markers for the various parts of speech.

And what about english tenses?

I play
I have played
I played
I had played
I would have played
I will have played

And what about English's over use of the word "Do".

Do you like doing homework?
I do like doing homework.
You do?
I do.

And what about this sort of stuff (which really confuse my Spanish friend):

Put on, put out, put in,
Get up, get on, get out, get down
Play up, play down, play on, play out.


I am tired of people moaning about cases and declining stuff. It's not hard! If you stopped complaining and actually spent your time learning some grammar instead of lists of useless words you are never going to use then maybe you might get somewhere.

And Russian is only hardest to you because it is the most distant from English.

I would venture to say that it is a lot easier for someone to become able to communicate on a very low level, at least, in English than Russian. Having to know what endings to put on every word in Russian is extremely important if you want to be understood. In English one can just mangle the grammar and still be understood.

Originally Posted by TATY

How about that English DOES has "the".
What if you're native language is a language like Russian that doesn't have "the" or "a"? When do you use "the" and when do you use "a"?

And you are just talking about being able to say stuff something in English. Cases and such make translating from Russian to English much easier as the ending act as markers for the various parts of speech.

And what about english tenses?

I play
I have played
I played
I had played
I would have played
I will have played

And what about English's over use of the word "Do".

Do you like doing homework?
I do like doing homework.
You do?
I do.

And what about this sort of stuff (which really confuse my Spanish friend):

Put on, put out, put in,
Get up, get on, get out, get down
Play up, play down, play on, play out.


I am tired of people moaning about cases and declining stuff. It's not hard! If you stopped complaining and actually spent your time learning some grammar instead of lists of useless words you are never going to use then maybe you might get somewhere.

I was joking anyway since English is my language. But thank you for that. I feel so miserable when people talk about how easy my language is for some reason, like it is just simple or something but it isnt.

Originally Posted by Biancca

Thats why I put the smiley face, of course I think English is easy.

From the languages I have studied ranked from easiest to hardest:

English well ok this doesn't count
ASL (American sign language)
French
German
Russian

I would say German is easier than French. You might switch later the order in which you wrote both of them once you quickly read through all the French grammar rules.

Nope. German is harder. (and Russian is the hardest) I stand by it.

First of all German has der die and das when French just has le and la and it is easier to tell in French which one it should be.

I think more words in French are like English words because I have read several books in both languages and the French is just easier for me even though I have studied German MUCH longer.

I admit French verb tenses are complicated (miserable subjunctive)

But the declensions in German are hard and the plurals too.

Anyway its just my opinion I wasn't trying to state it as a fact.

Originally Posted by Biancca

...
Anyway its just my opinion I wasn't trying to state it as a fact.

And I respect your opinion. Je ne faisais que plaisanter sur l'ordre que tu leur as donn

[quote=Spiderkat]

Originally Posted by Biancca

...
Anyway its just my opinion I wasn't trying to state it as a fact.

And I respect your opinion. Je ne faisais que plaisanter sur l'ordre que tu leur as donn