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I have two questions. I have an old soviet grammar book that says people should be greated as Гражданин и Гражданка. Is this still used?
Also there is a section with these sentences. Are they correct?
Я не читаю письма. I am not reading the letter.
Она не кушает мяся. She doesn't eat meat.
Uno
I think they might be right, because you can use genetive for the direct object of negative sentences sometimes. Maybe it was more common in soviet times.
Both are normal modern Russian.Quote:
Originally Posted by saibot
As for the addresses. I believe Господин is used for "Mr."
I think you want the accusative in those sentences (and even if you want the genitive, it would be мяса).
Ah yes, you are right on the spelling. But I still think genetive is better. Also google agrees.Quote:
Originally Posted by challenger
I don't think, гражданин and гражданка are very common nowadays. The most common words are "девушка, женщина" and "молодой человек, мужчина".Quote:
Originally Posted by uno
And a note about the second sentence. Firstly, it should be "мяса" :). Secondly, you shouldn't use the verb "кушать" here. This verb is used only with reference to children. If you speak about teenagers or adults, you should use есть.
В данный момент я не читаю это письмо, я занят чем-то другим.
Вообще-то она не ест мясо, потому что она вегетарианка.
Я никогда не пробовал такого мяса.
Может быть, предложение обращается к ребёнку.
Maybe... But the verb "есть" is safe, i.e. may be used in a sentence about children too. So if you don't specify who you are talking about, it's better for you to use "есть".Quote:
Originally Posted by basurero
I didn't know that! Is кушать sort of like "num-nums"?Quote:
Originally Posted by pranki
Actually, many of Russians don't know that. But it's true. Using of "кушать" with reference to adults proves oneself as a bit uneducated or provincial person (I'm strongly unsure about this sentence :( ).Quote:
Originally Posted by challenger
P.S. I don't know what "num-nums" means :)
Is it genitive singular or accusative plural in the first sentence (i.e. письмА or пИсьма)?Quote:
Originally Posted by uno
If gen. sing., it sounds very old-fashioned (nowadays accusative is used by far more often).
If acc. plural, this sentence is OK (I don't read letters).
And for the second sentence, accusative is also more natural. So I would say:
Я не читаю письмо.
Она не ест мясо.
Using "кушать" with reference to adults proves oneself to be a bit of an uneducated or provincial person (I'm strongly unsure about this sentence)
That's what I'd say, though undoubtedly there are many other ways.[/b]
The book I am refering to you can find here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006463 ... oding=UTF8
I did originally make a spelling mistake but those two sentences were in the genitive (word should be myasa). I thought it quite unusual but I am getting mixed reactions from everyone. So now I will ask native Russian speakers what would be the difference between the two in meaning in english (thanks lampada also).
Oh and kyshats came directly out of the book. I would probably use ect as well. This book is fascinating because you can see a few changes in the grammar over a period of 50 years or so.
There is no difference in meaning. Both genitive and accusative are acceptable in this case but the modern variant is accusative (and it is more logical since мясо or письмо is really a direct object here).Quote:
Originally Posted by uno
Hey, that was my first book! It steered me wrong on the interrogative adverb of degree! But it's good nonetheless-a fun read.
The old lady I stayed with in Tatarstan said кушать ALL the time. At least 10 times a day to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by pranki
She's probably uneducated, and you're probably a kid. :lol:
Nonsense. "Kушать" is less formal than "есть" but it's absolutly normal. I know a lot of educated people, some of them with two or more University degrees, who use this word all the time adressing to their friends (not only kids).Quote:
Originally Posted by pranki
I have heardn so many different theories about kushat'.
One teacher told me it was old fashioned.
LOL Taty. What exactly do you mean by 'Tatarstan?' :P
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TatarstanQuote:
Originally Posted by uno
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...rstanCOA25.gif
The autonomous Republic of Tatarstan, on the Volga river in eastern European Russia.
Capital city Казань (1,000,000+ residents), or Qazan, Казан in Tatar,
http://www.rubin-kazan.ru/english/im...le/detail1.gif
Check your Russian geography please.
Wow Wow Boy! Easy Bessy!
:o
Thanks though for the info!
I distinctly remember my preparation for the gold medal essay at school, when my teacher told me the thing about the word "кушать" I have written above. OK, I am aware that the language demanded by gold medal essays contains additional and severe restrictions which don't matter in real life. But anyway the word "есть" is far more literary than "кушать", so it's far more preferable to use "есть" instead of "кушать".Quote:
Originally Posted by gRomoZeka
(As usual, I ask to correct my mistakes :))
Option 1: so it's far more preferable to use "есть" than of "кушать".Quote:
Originally Posted by pranki
Option 2: so it's preferable to use "есть" instead of "кушать".
(As usual, I ask people to correct my mistakes :))
And "s go outside of ,s and .s, inside ;s and ?s. Many people, however, disregard this (sort of like есть and кушать, I suppose :wink: )
EDIT: And apostrophes go outside of commas and periods, inside of semi-colons and question marks :)
It took me 5 min to figure out what you were trying to say :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by challenger