Thread: -ing???

Здравствуйте, everybody!

This may or may not be a dumb question, but I need help with a little problem- in Russian, how do you refer to the act of doing something? I'm thinking of something like a noun/verb type of word- not a gerund or participle. For instance- "i often practice skating". "My reading is improving" "I need help with speaking Russian.". Is that just a simple infinitive, or is it something else? I've been trying to find out, but I think I'm missing something.

Any help would be much appreciated! Спасибо!

-хоккеист

The phrasing would be just different in Russian.
For example,
I need help with speaking Russian = Мне нужна помощь с устным русским (I need help with my spoken Russian), Or Мне нужно, чтобы кто-нибудь помогал мне больше говорить на русском (I need someone to help me to speak more in Russian). Or something else.

Originally Posted by хоккеист

This may or may not be a dumb question, but I need help with a little problem- in Russian, how do you refer to the act of doing something? I'm thinking of something like a noun/verb type of word- not a gerund or participle. For instance- "i often practice skating". "My reading is improving" "I need help with speaking Russian.".

Actually all three of your examples are gerunds. There is no general mechanism in Russian to make nouns of verbs, i.e. create gerunds. Either there is a specific word for the act of doing something, or you'll have to use a verb phrase.

Robin

Originally Posted by In another topic to another forum member TATY

Well your first problem is that you expect that because English uses a gerund in a certain context, Russia will use it too. That's not how language works.

Russian does have nouns for acts of doing something, but it doesn't mean that those nouns will sound good in the cases where in English -ing forms are used. Gerunds are translated in different ways:

Перевод герундия на русский язык:
Поскольку формы герундия на русском языке нет, его значение может передаваться существительным, инфинитивом, глаголом:

Reading English books every day will improve your knowledge of the language = Ежедневное чтение английских книг улучшит ваше знание языка.
Does your son like skating? = Ваш сын любит кататься на коньках?
He left the room without saying goodbye or looking at us = Он вышел из комнаты, не простившись и не взглянув на нас.
I remember hearing this song in my childhood = Я помню что слышал эту песню в детстве.
The patient's quick recovery depends on his following the doctor's advice = Быстрое выздоровление больного зависит от того, будет ли он следовать советам врача.

http://www.abc-english-grammar.com/o...runds_Gram.txt

You can also read this topic:
http://masterrussian.net/mforum/view...206384#p206384

Originally Posted by TATY

Well your first problem is that you expect that because English uses a gerund in a certain context, Russia will use it too. That's not how language works.

Well, not quite. Rather, I'm asking how, in Russian, one portrays the same idea.

Wow, it seems I need to revisit my grammatical terms! Anyway, I'm (almost) beginning to understand how this works, though it seems to be a failry complicated area. Right now I don't trust too much the information my book is giving me on this subject (apparently it doesn't even define a gerund properly), so I am forced to look elsewhere.

Thanks for the examples, Zaya. Most of them I understand, however these words I'm quite unsure of.

чтение
простившись
взглянув

Can you tell me what kind of words they are?

Please excuse me! As you can tell, I'm woefully ignorant on this subject. Anyway, thanks very much for all your help, everybody! It is much appreciated.

Rather, I'm asking how, in Russian, one portrays the same idea.

Yes, I see. But it's like with articles. Russians don't have them, sometimes "the same idea" is represented with the words "этот" etc., sometimes they use word order or logical stress... I'm no linguist, I can't explain better. ))

Чтение is a noun.
Простившись and взглянув are called деепричастия прошедшего времени in Russian.

Ax.... this is so complicated- I feel like my brain is about to leak out through my nose....

деепричастия прошедшего времени

So- this is a ... past perfective verbal adverb? guessing...

To see if I have some understanding of this--- are these the same part of speech as the ones I asked about?
понадеяться----> понадеявшись
коснуться------> коснувшись
победить------> победив
поступить-------> поступив

And they are used the same way as adverbs? For instance поступив is always поступив the same way as хорошо never changes, right?
Hope I'm making sense here...