Thread: Word order when naming things/people

I'm going to ask my professor this question tomorrow in class, but I'll ask here anyway.

In English, you generally put the pronoun me or I at the end of the list of people/things you were enumerating. Such as: My brother and I went to the movies. I and my brother just sounds really off, and Me and my brother just doesn't work either (often said in conversations though, but still sounds bad).

So, does Russian have a similar word order? I know it's fluid because of the case system, but is there some rule that the first person should come first or last?

No, no such rule exists in Russian, you can even put я in the middle of the list (папа, я и брат).

Something you may be interested to know: If there are only 2 persons, including the speaker, we don't usually say "брат и я". Well, sometimes we do, and it is not incorrect, but more often, a different construction is used instead: "мы с ___"

Examples: "Мы с братом ходили в кино" ("My brother and I went to movies"); "Этот дом построили мы с отцом" ("It was my father and I who built tis house"), etc.

Originally Posted by translations.nm.ru

Something you may be interested to know: If there are only 2 persons, including the speaker, we don't usually say "брат и я". Well, sometimes we do, and it is not incorrect, but more often, a different construction is used instead: "мы с ___"

Examples: "Мы с братом ходили в кино" ("My brother and I went to movies"); "Этот дом построили мы с отцом" ("It was my father and I who built tis house"), etc.

Absolutely agreed. MilesAway, this is definitely what you have to bear in mind.

И не забывайте, что

Буква "Я" всегда была
Всем и каждому мила.
Но советуем, друзья,
Помнить место буквы "Я"!

Originally Posted by MilesAway

I'm going to ask my professor this question tomorrow in class, but I'll ask here anyway.

In English, you generally put the pronoun me or I at the end of the list of people/things you were enumerating. Such as: My brother and I went to the movies. I and my brother just sounds really off, and Me and my brother just doesn't work either (often said in conversations though, but still sounds bad).

So, does Russian have a similar word order? I know it's fluid because of the case system, but is there some rule that the first person should come first or last?

"My brother and I" is correct grammatically, but I disagree that "Me and my brother" doesn't work or sounds bad; I'd even say it has been accepted as being grammatically correct now.

>>>I sometimes heard : my mother and "me" went to the mall. Do natives use me instead of I in this case ? It seems to be a grammatical mistake. <<<

It is a grammatical error that many native speakers (US) make. It should be, "My mother and *I* went to the mall. My cousin, Brenda, went with my mother and *me*." (c)

Originally Posted by vox05

>>>I sometimes heard : my mother and "me" went to the mall. Do natives use me instead of I in this case ? It seems to be a grammatical mistake. <<<

It is a grammatical error that many native speakers (US) make. It should be, "My mother and *I* went to the mall. My cousin, Brenda, went with my mother and *me*." (c)

"Me and my mother" and (less commonly) "My mother and me" are technically grammatical errors, but a LOT of people do say such things, in fact, I myself say "Me and my friend went to the cinema", I know it really should be "My friend and I..." but it sounds formal and, to be honest, a bit weird in normal, everyday conversation.

Originally Posted by TATY

"Me and my mother" and (less commonly) "My mother and me" are technically grammatical errors, but a LOT of people do say such things, in fact, I myself say "Me and my friend went to the cinema", I know it really should be "My friend and I..." but it sounds formal and, to be honest, a bit weird in normal, everyday conversation.

OMG!
You're going to have to turn in your Grammar Nazi badge. There will be a formal ceremony later where your buttons and insignia are torn off by your peers in turns.

It only sounds formal if you're using that hoity-toity British accent. It sounds perfectly normal to use good grammar in an American accent. :P

If only good grammar sounded "normal" in any accent. ::sigh::

Don't worry. Good grammar is gradually becoming obsolete in Russian too.