Thread: How to say 'at the same time'?

For example: я не могу смотреть фильм и читать субтитры 'at the same time'?

Google Translate is giving me: в то же время and a number of alternatives. E.g. одновременно

Could someone break this one down for me: в то же время is it в + acc ... то (that) же (also) time? So. literally, 'to that also time'? And, which is the best one for this context?

Thanks!

же is one of the strangest things in all of Russian.

Among its other meanings, it can convey a sense of sameness.

It works in structures like this:

[answer word] + же = the same [answer]

"Answer word" is a term for all those words that come from similar roots and begin with т, and answer a corresponding question word, beginning in к

как -- так
когда -- тогда
куда -- туда
где -- там (Note that г and к are voiced and unvoiced brethren, and it is followed by a voiced д, which affects the sound before it)
(что) кто -- то(т)
какой -- такой

From here we get phrases like:

как - in what way? -------так же - literally: in the same way (used as: "also" or "as well")
что/кто - what/who ------ тот же - the same _____ (or the "same thing" when in the neuter)
какой - what kind? ------ такой же - the same kind


The usage of то же is as follows:

У меня та же книга.
Я увидел тот же фильм.

The word то is used as a modifier of книга, and фильм so it matches them in case

If there is no noun, then you are talking in the abstract about the "same thing":

"Ты думаешь о том же, о чём и я?" - Are you thinking about the same thing, about which I am? (In these cases, тот is put into the neuter singular, and again, still changes for case)

"Same time, same place" - На том же месте, в тот же час
The phrase "там же, тогда же" seems to be said as well.

Your next thought might be that "тогда же" would mean what you want, however:
1. This just means "the same time", not "at the same time"... If that makes sense.
2. I haven't ever seen тогда же, it is, at best, uncommon.

When talking about time (except for weeks), в + acc is always used. Often in English we just say the word for a time and it floats around our sentence but Russian much more commonly threads the time-word through a preposition, like when we say: "on sunday", "at one o'clock", or "in 1999"

в то же время quite literally translates to "at the same time"

Here's some magnificent syntax for ya:

Её чувство было настолько же случайно в выборе предмета, насколько в своем источнике отвечало властной потребности инстинкта, который не знает самолюбия и только и умеет, что страдать и жечь себя во славу фетиша, пока он чувствует впервые. Б. Пастернак, Детство Люверс.

justinwyllie,

Utilize 'одновременно'!

But be aware there are two variants of pronunciation:

https://ru.forvo.com/word/%D0%BE%D0%...0%BD%D0%BE/#ru

Thanks Maxmixiv

That does it. Wiktionary shows the pronounciation variants you mention: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%B...BD%D0%BD%D0%BE

That's very clear and helpful. Perhaps the Пастернак is something to work towards.