Thread: How to say "correct" (as in, you are correct, that is correct)

Is it правильно? My dictionary has done nothing but confuse me on this!

Thanks,
Lindsay

That's correct - Это правильно. You are correct. Does it mean "you are right"? You are right - Ты прав (Вы правы).

If it's used as response as in 'It's correct' (i.e. Your statement is correct), this should be "правильно" (adverbial use). So this is a simple positive statement to express agreement: Правильно. (That's correct). 

But it can be an adjective as well,
as in 'the correct premise' -translates "правильное допущение", or 'correct answer' = правильный ответ.

Thanks to you both

Also "to correct" is поправлять meaning "to make it right", literally
That's incorrect - это неправильно this adverb is joined with "не" because it ends on "о" and it's not used as negation

My dictionaries do nothing but confuse me too! For every 1 English word it shows me like 20 Russian words. To make it worse, what it usually shows is not what a native Russian would say. I am finding a lot of useful information on this forum so far. Thanks everyone.

Originally Posted by Dmemme

My dictionaries do nothing but confuse me too! For every 1 English word it shows me like 20 Russian words. To make it worse, what it usually shows is not what a native Russian would say. I am finding a lot of useful information on this forum so far. Thanks everyone.

The same can be said about any language, because meaning of words do not coincide. We have to understand their meaning in the way native speakers understand it.

Originally Posted by Marcus

The same can be said about any language, because meaning of words do not coincide. We have to understand their meaning in the way native speakers understand it.

Very true. Understanding how a native speaker understands a word is better than any dictionary. What I mean is usually if you take a group of Russian words and translate them into English it comes to the same 1 English word. And usually the English word that the dictionary gives is what a native English speaker would speak. It's not the case when translating English into Russian with a dictionary though. It's just my observation.

I don't know what dictionary you use, but when you take a Russian word and look it up in a big dictionary,they give many words.

Originally Posted by Marcus

I don't know what dictionary you use, but when you take a Russian word and look it up in a big dictionary,they give many words.

I am talking about the more larger and accurate dictionaries and not some pocket dictionary or small computer program. For example, I use Google translate a lot. I was talking to my Russian friend and I wanted to know how to say "Lets do pull ups on the bar". He said the word for "bar" and I compared to what the google dictionary gave on their translate page. If you type the word "bar" it gives you about 30 Russian words just for the noun aspect! All these translate into 1 English word. The Russian vocabulary is much larger. Well, to get on with this story, the word my friend said was not the one stated in the long list of words. So there is not only the larger vocabulary but also the dictionaries do not seem to give a real life word that a Russian would say. This is where it gets frustrating. This is just one example I can think of. I have seen this many times with Russian.

Russian vocabulary is several times smaller than that of English, but one cannot feel it. Read Russian texts, you will see that Russian is the same as English.

Originally Posted by Marcus

Russian vocabulary is several times smaller than that of English, but one cannot feel it. Read Russian texts, you will see that Russian is the same as English.

I disagree with this. Considering your reply, I am assuming that you are a native Russian speaker. A perfect example is the "bar" word that I used before. In English there can be a metal bar, bar exam, barred from admission, etc... 1 English word but many Russian words. Consider the phrase "Come on". This can translate a few ways in Russian depending on context. It is all said the same in English. Consider the question "why?" in English. There is 1 English word but there are different ways to say this in Russian. Or the word "run". A person can run in a race, the faucet can be running water, the car can be running, etc... The list goes on and on. And this is just counting root words. I am not even talking about grammar. English does not consider masculine or feminine words or things like this. In English, words will be the same no matter who is being talked to. I think you know what I mean. So the Russian vocabulary is not several times smaller but is actually bigger. This can be confirmed by known fact or simply talking with a Russian.

Originally Posted by Dmemme

If you type the word "bar" it gives you about 30 Russian words just for the noun aspect! All these translate into 1 English word.

Did you even try to translate those Russian words back? I guess it would come up with several hundred English words.

And anyway, that particular "dictionary" is useless for a language learner.

Originally Posted by E-learner

Did you even try to translate those Russian words back? I guess it would come up with several hundred English words.

And anyway, that particular "dictionary" is useless for a language learner.

Yes, of course I did. I always do. That is the whole point I am trying to make. In fact, go try and report back what you notice. There will be a longer Russian list of words and a shorter English list of words. And this is just root words. Not different forms of the same root word as is the case with the Russian language. Like I said before, I use multiple dictionaries and not just "that particular dictionary". If you know of the best dictionary then please share.

Ok, then you know that a single Russian word can be translated into many English words. It just that your statement about "All these translate into 1 English word" was confusing.

If you know of the best dictionary then please share.

There is no such thing.

Место can be translated place, space, room, seat, job into English.

Originally Posted by Marcus

Место can be translated place, space, room, seat, job into English.

It's a good thing you didn't use "that particular dictionary" because you would have to deal with this:
place
space
position
seat
site
spot
case
room
point
passage
job
station
situation
stand
berth
region
stead
appointment
bench
lieu
quarter
billet
joint
package

Originally Posted by E-learner

It's a good thing you didn't use "that particular dictionary" because you would have to deal with this:
place
space
position
seat
site
spot
case
room
point
passage
job
station
situation
stand
berth
region
stead
appointment
bench
lieu
quarter
billet
joint
package

Yes, there will be examples of some Russian words that are used like this. Any 2 languages will translate like this sometimes. My point is that on average or the majority of the time there are more words and phrases like this for English than there are for Russian. This is because Russian is a more complex language. What we have here is 2 Russians using the same exact word, "Mecto", to try and disprove what I am saying. I alone gave a few examples in one of my last posts just off the top of my head. I realize you guys learned English as a second language. Congratulations. I just hope you don't try and downgrade what I am saying just because I am trying to learn your language and you have already learned mine. You don't see Russian as harder because it is your language. The facts that Russian contains a larger vocabulary and more complex grammar are not debatable. It is fact.

Originally Posted by Marcus

Russian vocabulary is several times smaller than that of English, but one cannot feel it. Read Russian texts, you will see that Russian is the same as English.

Russian vocabulary is several times smaller than English vocabulary? I don't think so.