Thread: Gone and Back

What would be the best way to say, "I missed you" as in I missed you when I was away, and it sure is good to see you again...

I think you use the word ховатил -- (am I close?), but I am unsure if I should use a simple structure of я . тевя - or if there is some more fancy way of doing it with a present imperfect rather than simple past tense construction.

Originally Posted by blueclue7

What would be the best way to say, "I missed you" as in I missed you when I was away, and it sure is good to see you again...

I think you use the word ховатил -- (am I close?), but I am unsure if I should use a simple structure of я . тевя - or if there is some more fancy way of doing it with a present imperfect rather than simple past tense construction.

The literal translation is "я скучал по тебе" - in past simple, as "I missed you". You can also say "я соскучился по тебе" - in present perfectiv (it's close to English present perfect tense). Meanings are pretty close.

Or "МНЕ ТЕБЯ НЕ ХВАТАЛО"
(In case you really want to use the word ХВАТИЛ)

That is the word I was thinking about - хватил

What is the difference in meaning and emphasis between хватать and скучать?

And, can anyone provide a transliteration or vocalization of хватил? That XB start to the word is a bit of a tongue twister for me.

Ok, I'll try to do my best..
Я скучал по тебе - is more like "I was feeling blue without you"
Мне тебя не хватало - something like "The place you have in my soul was empty" - like something was missing.. which is actually closer in meaning to "I missed you"
But the first one is more likely to be used in Russian, I think. Well, may be it's personal

hvatil, ne hvatalo.. yeah, I guess it would be hard to pronounce if you're not used to it.
h in the beginning is more like a wind, not a really heavy sound. As in "help"