Thread: Ya, mne, menya

Ok, I'm starting to get the Russian grammer, but I still don't know the difference between "ya", "mne", and "menya". Could someone help me understand this better?

"Я" is in nominative case. It is the subject of the sentence.

я люблю играть на гитаре. - I love to play the guitar.

Меня is the pronoun "Я" is genetive, and accusative case.

они меня любит - They love me.

без меня - скучно. - Without me it's boring.

мне is the pronoun "я" in prepositional, and dative case.

они говорили обо мне. - They were talking about me.

он мне дал деньги. - He gave me money.

So basically, the word will change depending on its use.

Я - I (as in "I am clueless.")
Мне - [to] me (as in "They gave me a clue.")
Меня - me (as in "The did not understand me.")

OH... ok thanks!

(Almost) all words change depending on their case.

я съел еду. - I ate the food.
Еда съел меня. - The food ate me.
Я сказал о еде. - I talked about food.
Еда сказал обо мне. The food talked about me.
Собака съела со мной. - The dog ate with me.
Я съела с собакой. - I ate with the dog.

The 3 words you mentioned are just the way the word "Я" changes

Originally Posted by Darobat

я съел еду. - I ate the food.
Еда съел меня. - The food ate me.
Я сказал о еде. - I talked about food.
Еда сказал обо мне. The food talked about me.
Собака съела со мной. - The dog ate with me.
Я съела с собакой. - I ate with the dog.

Еда съел меня. - The food ate me.

Еда меня съела.

Я сказал о еде. - I talked about food.

Я говорил об еде.

Еда сказал обо мне. The food talked about me.

Еда говорила обо мне.

Собака съела со мной. - The dog ate with me.

Собака ела со мной

Я съела с собакой. - I ate with the dog.

Я ела с собакой.

For the last two, you should use imperfective, because you are focusing on the process of the dog eating with you, and you eating with the dog.

You should say this

Мы с собакой ели

I second the lovely Евгения on this.

Well there are two different ways of saying it in English, so shouldn't there be two ways in Russian?

I ate with the dog. - я ел с собакой

vs

The dog and I ate. - мы с собакой ели.

Is there a difference between the two?

PS. Евгения - Love the signature!

But in Russia they usually say "We with dog ate, we with wife, we with husband, we with you (мы с вами) etc.

Originally Posted by saibot

Еда съел меня. - The food ate me.

Еда меня съела.

[quote:2ek4vst8]Я сказал о еде. - I talked about food.

Я говорил об еде.

Еда сказал обо мне. The food talked about me.

Еда говорила обо мне.

Собака съела со мной. - The dog ate with me.

Собака ела со мной

Я съела с собакой. - I ate with the dog.

Я ела с собакой.

For the last two, you should use imperfective, because you are focusing on the process of the dog eating with you, and you eating with the dog.[/quote:2ek4vst8]
1) As in the thread Я тебя люблю vs. я люблю тебя, its been shown that it doesn't really matter that much... Or does it and that entire thread is full of lies.
2) Thanks
3/4) I don't think so. I'm focusing on the fact that we ate pie together. Plus, wouldn't yours be translated then as "I was eating with the dog?"

3/4) I don't think so. I'm focusing on the fact that we ate pie together. Plus, wouldn't yours be translated then as "I was eating with the dog?"

я ел с собакой can be translated as "I ate with the dog." or "I was eating with the dog." I just depends on your needs.

But in Russia they usually say "We with dog ate, we with wife, we with husband, we with you (мы с вами) etc.

K. I gotcha.

Originally Posted by saibot

3/4) I don't think so. I'm focusing on the fact that we ate pie together. Plus, wouldn't yours be translated then as "I was eating with the dog?"

я ел с собакой can be translated as "I ate with the dog." or "I was eating with the dog." I just depends on your needs.

In what situation would "Мы с собакой съели" suit your needs?

Originally Posted by Darobat

In what situation would "Мы с собакой съели" suit your needs?

"Съели" usually requires the object that you ate. For example:
Мы с собакой съели суп. - I have eaten the soup with the dog.

Alright. Is there some sort of generalization you can make about perfect/imperfect verbs in past tense? What about future tense? Maybe I should stick this in another thread...

Originally Posted by Darobat

Originally Posted by saibot

Еда съел меня. - The food ate me.

Еда меня съела.

1) As in the thread Я тебя люблю vs. я люблю тебя, its been shown that it doesn't really matter that much... Or does it and that entire thread is full of lies.

I think that "Еда меня съела." and "Еда съела меня." have basically the same meaning. However, it should be "съела" rather than "съел" because "Еда" is feminine.

OK, nobody's suggested this, but this thread is so silly ... , that I say - what the heck. Here goes. This is a song that every Russian kid learns.

У попа была собака,
Он её любил.
Она съела кусок мяса,
Он её убил.
Хор:
И в землю закопал,
И надпись написал,
что,
У попа была собака,
Он её любил....
et cetera, ad infinitum.

This one teaches you the difference between "She, она" and "her, её". Your book will also show you I/me, he/him, they/them. These are relics of our language's past, but they seem to have no inclination to leave us anytime soon.