Thread: Old Soviet Grammar Book

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.

Originally Posted by saibot

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.

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).

Originally Posted by challenger

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.

Originally Posted by uno

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 don't think, гражданин and гражданка are very common nowadays. The most common words are "девушка, женщина" and "молодой человек, мужчина".

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.

Originally Posted by basurero

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".

Originally Posted by pranki

Originally Posted by uno

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 don't think, гражданин and гражданка are very common nowadays. The most common words are "девушка, женщина" and "молодой человек, мужчина".

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.

I didn't know that! Is кушать sort of like "num-nums"?

Originally Posted by challenger

I didn't know that! Is кушать sort of like "num-nums"?

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 ).

P.S. I don't know what "num-nums" means

Originally Posted by uno

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

Is it genitive singular or accusative plural in the first sentence (i.e. письмА or пИсьма)?
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.

Originally Posted by uno

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).

Hey, that was my first book! It steered me wrong on the interrogative adverb of degree! But it's good nonetheless-a fun read.

Originally Posted by pranki

Originally Posted by challenger

I didn't know that! Is кушать sort of like "num-nums"?

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 ).

P.S. I don't know what "num-nums" means

The old lady I stayed with in Tatarstan said кушать ALL the time. At least 10 times a day to me.

She's probably uneducated, and you're probably a kid.

Originally Posted by pranki

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.

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).

I have heardn so many different theories about kushat'.

One teacher told me it was old fashioned.