1. We are drinking American wine and singing French songs.
Мы пьём американские вина и поём французские песни.
2. The English women are reading a Russian magazine.
Это англичанки женщины читают русский журнал.
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1. We are drinking American wine and singing French songs.
Мы пьём американские вина и поём французские песни.
2. The English women are reading a Russian magazine.
Это англичанки женщины читают русский журнал.
Эти англичанки читают русский журнал.
Слово «женщины» не нужно, так как «англичанка» означает «женщина из Англии».
Thanks SAn. I was not certain whether or not to add женщины. As for это vs эти; would это be ok too?Quote:
Originally Posted by SAn
этот = thisQuote:
Originally Posted by tohca
эти = these
те = those
это =(is roughly equivalent to)= it's
So, "это" is not going to work here, as you can't say: "It's English women are reading a Russian magazine.
Also, I'm a bit concerned about the straightforward translation of "the" into "эти" and "те". As an informal oversimplified rule, I'd suggest never translating "the" [and also an "a"] into Russian. Just skip it. You would usually have much more "Russian" text as a result:
The English women are reading a Russian magazine.
=>Англичанки читают русский журнал.
Thanks for the useful suggestion.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crocodile
BTW, please correct me, I thought that это could also mean these (women here) or those (women there) without referring to a specific set of women out of a group of women. As opposed to "these particular group of women" - эти женщины. :?
Would you be able to post an example in English and its translation to Russian which demonstrate your approach?Quote:
Originally Posted by tohca
Let me try.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crocodile
Those books on the table (not referring to any particular book). - Это книги на столе.
Those books (referring to some books out of a stack of books) on the table. - Эти книги на столе.
Aha! So, that is a classic source of headache for Russians learning English. :pardon:Quote:
Originally Posted by tohca
Russians would just do away with: "Книги на столе." in both cases most of the time.
Having said that, it is also possible to say: "[Вот] эти книги на столе." in the latter case to over-stress the fact the person is POINTING to the books he's being referring to.
1. Возьми [вот] эти книги и немедленно сдай их в библиотеку.
2. - Возьми книги и сдай их в библиотеку.
- Какие книги?
- [Вот] эти книги.
And the sentence: "Это книги на столе." has a rather restrictive usage in Russian. First of all, it literally means: "It's the books on the table." Second, it's probably an answer to a question: "Что тебя так смутило?" (What made you so suspicious? -> It's the books on the table.) It doesn't sound smooth in both Russian and English, and, as you can guess, it's rather unusual in a day-to-day speech.
Спасибо, Crocodile. Это ясно.
You're most welcome. Also, what you just said: "Это ясно." is a direct translation of "It's clear." So, the usage of "это" is not bad at all now. :hlop:Quote:
Originally Posted by tohca
As a side note, to get a better compatibility between the two languages try to think in complete sentences. Since "it's clear" is actually a shortcut of "it's clear (=understood) to me", you'll get a much better looking Russian sentence: "Мне это понятно."
That stands out a bit because Russians use another shortcut of the same sentence: "Мне понятно." :roll:
Хорошо! Мне понятно. :thumbs: