Thread: Lesson 13 questions

Originally Posted by zorro

Hello all,
I'm working through Ben T. Clark's Russian on my own and have some questions.
In this sentence Садись в автобус, is автобус here in the accusative case? It seems it should be in the prepositonal case, автобусе, unless the sense is "go into the bus and sit down". Am I missing something here?

Originally Posted by Doomer

This is exactly the meaning

It does not even imply that one will take a seat. "Садитесь в автобус" just means "Take the bus" or "Go into the bus". There can be even no free seats available, and one might have to stand in the bus. "Садиться в автобус/трамвай/поезд/самолёт" (imperfective) or "сесть в автобус/трамвай/поезд/самолёт" (perfective) is just the expression for boarding a vehicle.

Note. If it is a ship, then the preposition "на" is used: "садитесь на корабль".

BTW, we also can use "на" for other vehicles, like "садитесь на автобус/трамвай/поезд/самолёт".

I think there is a simple explanation for this.
In earlier times, there were no mechanical vehicles, and the only way of transportation were horses. The verb "ездить/ехать" originally assumed riding a horse. The same is for the English verb "to ride". The same way, "садиться/сесть" was applied to climbing a horse. And then, after first vehicles were invented, it started being used for them metaphorically.

Originally Posted by Doomer

я очень хочу посмотреть Красную Площадь
nothing awkward

I'm just curious: what exactly do you find awkward here, Zorro?

Originally Posted by Doomer

"I like Yalta much more than Sochi" - Я люблю Ялту намного больше чем Сочи (Me too, BTW)

+ 1

Other options:
Я люблю Ялту гораздо больше чем Сочи.
Мне Ялта нравится намного больше чем Сочи.
Мне Ялта нравится гораздо больше чем Сочи.

Originally Posted by zorro

"Did you go there by plane?"--is this Ты там летал?

Ты туда летал? - It is direction, not static location.

Originally Posted by Doomer

"Ты прилетел туда на самолёте? (perfective is required, because the action has been completed)

Why? It depends on the context.

Ты туда летал? - is perfectly OK.
Ты прилетел туда на самолёте? - is more like "Did you arrive there by plane?"