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Thread: No articles

  1. #1
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    No articles

    Can someone in the know please tell me why russian dont use articles before nouns as we do in english? a/an the etc an help appreciated as im doing it in my tefl coursework.

    Martin
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    Re: No articles

    Quote Originally Posted by Scotland to Russia
    Can someone in the know please tell me why russian dont use articles before nouns as we do in english? a/an the etc an help appreciated as im doing it in my tefl coursework.
    Martin
    Because communists banned articles. Seriously though, there can be no answer to your "why" question other than "because". That's how languages work. Different languages use different devices.

    PS Why do you put your articles before nouns and not after as in Scandinavian languages and some older rural dialects of Russian?
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    Then how are the indefinite article "a" and the definite article "the" conveyed in Russian? I dont see a difference between the two in Russian
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    Re: No articles

    Quote Originally Posted by VendingMachine
    PS Why do you put your articles before nouns and not after as in Scandinavian languages and some older rural dialects of Russian?
    What do you mean?
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    Re: No articles

    Quote Originally Posted by Ramil
    Quote Originally Posted by VendingMachine
    PS Why do you put your articles before nouns and not after as in Scandinavian languages and some older rural dialects of Russian?
    What do you mean?
    He means probably the particle "то" e.g. "слона-то я и не приметил", "возьми ведро-то да принеси воды-то".
    Could you please occasionally correct my stupid errors!
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scotland to Russia
    Then how are the indefinite article "a" and the definite article "the" conveyed in Russian? I dont see a difference between the two in Russian
    Why do we need to convey them in English?

    Can you give us an example of a sentence where the inclusion of articles is necessary?

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    its like saying, why doesn't english have gender distinctions like in spanish - just because. if there was an answer it would be: because the languages are of a different group and evolved in different ways.
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    For example: [i]a black cow and [i]the black cow. is there a Russian translation for both of these or just one translation which is the same?
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    Russians figure "articles" (although there is no need for the concept) by context. You can determine whether it is a specific object or not simply by context. There is no need for articles!

    If you say:
    возьми бутылку из холодильника
    It can be translated as:
    Get a bottle from the fridge / OR / Get the bottle from the fridge.
    Depending enitrely on context!
    Think, in English, when would you say "get the bottle from the fridge"? Right, when the you have a bottle in mind and it is in context.
    (now techincally it could also be "a" fridge, but that's less likely, unless there are many fridges around. Again, CONTEXT)

    Саша, у меня есть одна бутылка пива и три бочки вина в холодильнике. возьми бутылку.
    Sasha, I have one bottle of beer and three barrels of wine in the fridge. Take the bottle. (Here the Russian knows it is THE bottle, he just doesn't need an article to say it!)

    So to answer your question. A black cow/ The black cow will simply be - Черная корова! It's so simple, it's easy!
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    thats the kind of explanation I was looking for, cheers vinster
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    I would say that Russians are more specific in saying things. "Go buy a broad!" may look like "Иди, купи какой-нибудь хлеб!". "Bring me please the bottle" is translated "Принеси, пожалуйста, бутылку, которую мы не допили вчера и оставили под столом". So, no need for articles. Not saying that in some rare sentences we do have indefinite articles (sort of it).

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tu-160
    "Bring me please the bottle" is translated "Принеси, пожалуйста, бутылку, которую мы не допили вчера и оставили под столом".
    Better to say: "Принеси вчерашнюю бутылку" or "Принеси ту бутылку."
    Could you please occasionally correct my stupid errors!
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    Quote Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie
    Russians figure "articles" (although there is no need for the concept) by context. You can determine whether it is a specific object or not simply by context. There is no need for articles!

    [cut]

    So to answer your question. A black cow/ The black cow will simply be - Черная корова! It's so simple, it's easy!
    And I can't even figure out why it was necessary to use articles in English. If I said "black cow" - you too could figure out "a cow" or "the cow" from the context.

    Does articles are SO important for understanding in English that no one could do without them?
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    JJ
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tu-160
    "Go buy a broad!" may look like "Иди, купи какой-нибудь хлеб!".
    Just say "Купи хлеба!", that's ok

    BTW, the articles is also needed in English just to show that it is a noun, not a verb or an adjective. In russian you can simply determine parts of speech by its endings.
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    Quote Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie
    и три бочки вина в холодильнике.
    Ого, какой большой холодильник!
    In Russian, all nationalities and their corresponding languages start with a lower-case letter.

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    Quote Originally Posted by JJ
    Quote Originally Posted by Tu-160
    "Go buy a bread!" may look like "Иди, купи какой-нибудь хлеб!".
    Just say "Купи хлеба!", that's ok
    I think "купи хлеба (g.c.)" means "buy a bread", and "купи хлеб (a.c.)" means "buy the bread".
    In Russian, all nationalities and their corresponding languages start with a lower-case letter.

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    [quote=Оля]
    Quote Originally Posted by JJ
    Quote Originally Posted by "Tu-160":1qxsu8lu
    "Go buy a bread!" may look like "Иди, купи какой-нибудь хлеб!".
    Just say "Купи хлеба!", that's ok
    I think "купи хлеба (g.c.)" means "buy a bread", and "купи хлеб (a.c.)" means "buy the bread".[/quote:1qxsu8lu]
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    [quote=Оля]
    Quote Originally Posted by JJ
    Quote Originally Posted by "Tu-160":jsih3ogf
    "Go buy a broad!" may look like "Иди, купи какой-нибудь хлеб!".
    Just say "Купи хлеба!", that's ok
    I think "купи хлеба (g.c.)" means "buy a broad", and "купи хлеб (a.c.)" means "buy the broad".[/quote:jsih3ogf]
    "buy a broad" means something else

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    Я с немецким перепутала
    In Russian, all nationalities and their corresponding languages start with a lower-case letter.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Оля
    Я с немецким перепутала
    По-немецки хлеб - das Brot.
    Видимо, ты с каким-то другим языком перепутала
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