Thread: Intervene and Interfere

How its expressed the meaning of these words in Russian.
Examples:
1. USA interferes in the Middle East politics.
2. The US minister intervened in order to resolve the crisis.

USA interferes in the Middle East politics.
США вмешиваются в ближневосточную политику.

The US minister intervened in order to resolve the crisis.
Министр США вмешался, чтобы преодолеть кризис.

He interferes in my life - Он вмешивается в моей жизни (предложный падеж)
He interferes in our relationship - Он вмешивается в наших отношениях
Правильно?

... в мою жизнь
... в наши отношения
(винительный падеж)

Originally Posted by it-ogo

USA interferes in the Middle East politics.
США вмешиваются в ближневосточную политику.

The US minister intervened in order to resolve the crisis.
Министр США вмешался, чтобы преодолеть кризис.

You used the same verb to translate both, but "interfere" in this context has a very strong negative connotation, while "intervene" is neutral /positive. I think вмешиваются is also negative. For intervene I would say a more appropriate verb would be вступился. What do you think?

Originally Posted by John_Douglas

You used the same verb to translate both, but "interfere" in this context has a very strong negative connotation, while "intervene" is neutral /positive. I think вмешиваются is also negative. For intervene I would say a more appropriate verb would be вступился. What do you think?

"вмешаться/вмешиваться" can be negative but not necessarily. Вступиться можно только за кого-либо/что-либо. Вступиться can be used only along with за+object in Accusative (or at least this construction should be implied). It means "intervene to protect someone/something specified against someone/something else." So here it is not applicable.

"Путин успел расстрелять 18 московских гомосексуалистов, пока за них не вступился госсекретарь США."

Originally Posted by it-ogo

"вмешаться/вмешиваться" can be negative but not necessarily. Вступиться можно только за кого-либо/что-либо. Вступиться can be used only along with за+object in Accusative (or at least this construction should be implied). It means "intervene to protect someone/something specified against someone/something else." So here it is not applicable.

"Путин успел расстрелять 18 московских гомосексуалистов, пока за них не вступился госсекретарь США."

I thought you could say вступился meaning to step in and break up a fight - but maybe I'm confused.

Anyway, I think it's wrong to translate "intervene" and "interfere" with the same word.

For example the two sentences "The USA often interferes in Middle Eastern Politics" and "The USA often intervenes in Middle Eastern Politics" are not equivalent at all. Or "The USA interfered to resolve the crisis" that just doesn't make any sense - you can't interfere to make something better.

Maybe you could use суется for "interfere".

Intervene - в некоторых ситуациях можно перевести как решить/предложить свои услуги быть посредником, посредничать или ещё вклиниться в спор.

Originally Posted by John_Douglas

I thought you could say вступился meaning to step in and break up a fight - but maybe I'm confused.

It is possible in a specific context only, when intervening person takes one specified side against the other.

Multilex says:
intervene ["Intq'vi:n] v
...
2. вмешиваться, вступаться, посредничать
to intervene to settle a quarrel — вмешаться, чтобы положить конец ссоре
to intervene in a dispute — вмешаться в спор
...

Anyway, I think it's wrong to translate "intervene" and "interfere" with the same word.

I believe in Russian my translations are OK. It is not always possible to translate nuances like positive or negative color of each word.

Посредничать (to mediate) is a good equivalent of the "intervene" as you mean it but it has not a perfective couple so you have to make complicated constructions (as Lampada pointed out) like "Министр США сыграл роль посредника в разрешении кризиса" or "Министр США предложил свои услуги посредника в разрешении кризиса".

Note that in Russian it is grammatically impossible to inter(vene) the fight without being accepted by each of the sides and still be good and fair.

Maybe you could use суется for "interfere".

In my opinion it is an equivalent of "вмешивается" but strongly colloquial and with even more negative bias.

How about:
"Министр США подключился к разрешению кризиса"

That's the reason that professional translators exist - you can't just look in a dictionary and come up with the right word every time. A good translator will find the words to convey the meaning. You just need to take the right approach.