Thread: Usage of "да" in unexpected places...

I have come across two sentences where "да" is used where I didn't expect it. I think it must have some additional meaning?

"Да пребудет с тобой сила...." (May the Force be with you... )

"Всяк глядит, да не всяк видит" (A Russian proverb, translated to "Everything has beauty but not everyone sees it." Is it common and how is it used? [don't think this exists in English] )

Can anyone explain?

да + глагол = Let there VERB

да здравствует X = Long live X http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q ... afe=images

or even a noun да будет свет! http://www.film.ru/afisha/movie.asp?code=ROLST

If you look up да in a dictionary you will see these uses, and да does not mean "yes".
http://multitran.ru/c/m.exe?a=3&&s=%E4% ... &l1=2&l2=1

Yes, these two another meanings of "да" ("and" & "let there..") are old-stylish but still used rather often, especially in proverbs, tales, etc.

In addition to two options already mentioned ("and" and "let there") there is the third one which means "but". Now days it is mostly used in proverbs
"мал да удал" = "Small one but with great abilities"

Originally Posted by Johanna

"Всяк глядит, да не всяк видит" (A Russian proverb, translated to "Everything has beauty but not everyone sees it." Is it common and how is it used?)

This one is not very common. The translation is "Everyone can look but not everyone will see" (Somebody can look at something but overlook some important point) there is nothing related to beauty in this proverb.

Originally Posted by CoffeeCup

In addition to two options already mentioned ("and" and "let there") there is the third one which means "but".

Yes, that of course. I forgot about that one.

Great! Thanks for the explanations, I understand it now!



PS - Impressed to have an explanation from Chaika since he is not a native speaker! Just give me another year or two and I'll catch up

Originally Posted by Johanna

PS - Impressed to have an explanation from Chaika since he is not a native speaker!

By the way, many native speakers would answer such questions simply like 'it's just the way it is'. When you use the language since your childhood for communicating with others you never think of such things (well, perhaps only at a grammar lesson at school and forget everything immediately after it ends). Those who learn it as a foreign language can somtimes provide better help.

There is one more meaning of the "ДА" existing, btw. And.
Ex:
Ты да я
кошка да собака.

Avoid using these tricky meanings of the word. They are for memorizing only for non-native Russians.

Да нет is very common. It means no.

Can I help you? - No, thanks, I'm just looking round. — Могу я вам чем-нибудь помочь? - Да нет, я так, смотрю.

Originally Posted by sperk

Да нет is very common. It means no.

Да что ты говоришь!

Кстати, как правильно: «Та ну его!» или «Да ну его!» ?

Originally Posted by SAn

Originally Posted by sperk

Да нет is very common. It means no.

Да что ты говоришь!

Кстати, как правильно: «Та ну его!» или «Да ну его!» ?

"Та ну його!"

Originally Posted by it-ogo

Кстати, как правильно: «Та ну его!» или «Да ну его!» ?

"Та ну його!"

Only on MasterUkrainian forum!

Originally Posted by it-ogo

Originally Posted by SAn

Кстати, как правильно: «Та ну его!» или «Да ну его!» ?

Та, что махнёт - "Да ну его!"
Являет женщин большинство.

Originally Posted by sperk

Да нет is very common. It means no.

Can I help you? - No, thanks, I'm just looking round. — Могу я вам чем-нибудь помочь? - Да нет, я так, смотрю.

My favorite is "Да нет, наверно".

"Da-njet" was one of the first things I heard about the Russian language -- when I was a kid.... people thought it was funny that Russians used that. Typically "Russian" somehow... (Are you sure it only means "no"? Can it not sometimes also mean "yes"?

There were a few other words like that; which seemed funny or were memorable for some reason.. It's been fun to improve my skills in Russian and realise that these words are actually "real"... Russian IS a cool language, believe me

PS - I want some cool smileys!!

«Да» means «yes» only if it is the only word in the sentence/subsentence. In all other cases it means something else.
Да. — «Yes.»
Да, но... — «Yes, but...»
Он сказал «да». — «He sayed ‹yes›».

-------------------

«Да нет» is always «no», but it is not so strong as pure «нет». «Да» when it is at the beginning of the sentence is just some preposition with the meaning of «I think...»/«IMHO,...»/«I don't like it, but...»/«I'm afraid that...», and «Да»+verb means «I will»/«I want to be». Look at these phrases:

• «Да нет.» — depending on the intonation it can be «I think no.» or, if the intonation is upset, «I'm afraid no.»/«No, and I don't like that.»[/*:m:3ift07n3]
• «Да нет, наверное...» — it's a funny phrase which can be translated as «I think no... maybe...»[/*:m:3ift07n3]
• «Да не может быть!» — «It cannot be true from my point of view [but you just convinced me that it is true]». Compare to «Не может быть!» («It cannot be true!»).[/*:m:3ift07n3]
• «Да что ты говоришь!» (short form is «Да ты что!») — «What are you talking about?! It is a nonsense!». Compare to «Что ты говоришь?» («I do not hear what you say.») and «О чём ты говоришь?» («What are you talking about?»).[/*:m:3ift07n3]
• «Да что тут происходит?» — «I don't exactly know what is happening here (and I want to know!), but I don't like what is going on.». Example: mother heard that something heavy fallen at the children room but she decided to not go there. In the next moment she heard sound of broken glass. She losing patience, entering the room and saying this phrase.[/*:m:3ift07n3]

It should be mentioned that speaker always describe his/her point of view. That is why «Да» which means «IMHO» can be omited without losing much sence. But «Да»+some_objective_fact mean upset (not «IMHO»). That is why «Да»+some_objective_fact should be translated as «I'm afraid, some_objective_fact».

«Да»+verb (do not confuse with objective fact if the verb is in past tense!):

• «Да будет так.» — «Amen.», «Let it be.»[/*:m:3ift07n3]
• «Да пошло всё к чертям!» — «I want everything to go to the dogs / to rack and ruin / to hell.»[/*:m:3ift07n3]
• «Да гори оно огнём!» — «I don't care if everything goes to ruin!». Compare to «Да сгорело оно всё.» («I am very upset because everything is burnt.»)[/*:m:3ift07n3]

-------------------

So, now you know that «Да нет» is not «Yes no». And it is not funny.

Originally Posted by SAn

«Да» means «yes» only if it is the only word in the sentence/subsentence. In all other cases it means something else.
Да. — «Yes.»
Да, но... — «Yes, but...»
Он сказал «да». — «He [s:i0z8ynej]sayed[/s:i0z8ynej] said ‹yes›».

<snip>

Thanks, that was a very helpful post! Да can seem very idiosyncratic sometimes and I feel like I understand it better now.

Originally Posted by SAn

«Да» means «yes» only if it is the only word in the sentence/subsentence. In all other cases it means something else.
Да. — «Yes.»
Да, но... — «Yes, but...»
Он сказал «да». — «He sayed ‹yes›».

-------------------

«Да нет» is always «no», but it is not so strong as pure «нет». «Да» when it is at the beginning of the sentence is just some preposition with the meaning of «I think...»/«IMHO,...»/«I don't like it, but...»/«I'm afraid that...», and «Да»+verb means «I will»/«I want to be». Look at these phrases:

• «Да нет.» — depending on the intonation it can be «I think no.» or, if the intonation is upset, «I'm afraid no.»/«No, and I don't like that.»[/*:m:37kh1zrd]
• «Да нет, наверное...» — it's a funny phrase which can be translated as «I think no... maybe...»[/*:m:37kh1zrd]
• «Да не может быть!» — «It cannot be true from my point of view [but you just convinced me that it is true]». Compare to «Не может быть!» («It cannot be true!»).[/*:m:37kh1zrd]
• «Да что ты говоришь!» (short form is «Да ты что!») — «What are you talking about?! It is a nonsense!». Compare to «Что ты говоришь?» («I do not hear what you say.») and «О чём ты говоришь?» («What are you talking about?»).[/*:m:37kh1zrd]
• «Да что тут происходит?» — «I don't exactly know what is happening here (and I want to know!), but I don't like what is going on.». Example: mother heard that something heavy fallen at the children room but she decided to not go there. In the next moment she heard sound of broken glass. She losing patience, entering the room and saying this phrase.[/*:m:37kh1zrd]

It should be mentioned that speaker always describe his/her point of view. That is why «Да» which means «IMHO» can be omited without losing much sence. But «Да»+some_objective_fact mean upset (not «IMHO»). That is why «Да»+some_objective_fact should be translated as «I'm afraid, some_objective_fact».

«Да»+verb (do not confuse with objective fact if the verb is in past tense!):

• «Да будет так.» — «Amen.», «Let it be.»[/*:m:37kh1zrd]
• «Да пошло всё к чертям!» — «I want everything to go to the dogs / to rack and ruin / to hell.»[/*:m:37kh1zrd]
• «Да гори оно огнём!» — «I don't care if everything goes to ruin!». Compare to «Да сгорело оно всё.» («I am very upset because everything is burnt.»)[/*:m:37kh1zrd]

-------------------

So, now you know that «Да нет» is not «Yes no». And it is not funny.

It's an excellent thing!! Just.. thank you)) I've met only some translation of some particular phrases.. But here..! I'm delighted))))