Thread: В следующем месяце мы собираемся навестить своих друзей!

Originally Posted by Marcus

Не "Ты собирается (собираешься) любить", а "Она тебе очень понравится". Ни "собираться", ни "любить" здесь никак не подходят.

A good point! Yes, we should add that "собираться" always necessarily assumes some conscious, deliberate intention to perform an action.
It is imposible to use "собираться" with the verbs describig actions out of our control: one cannot "собираться любить" (to love), "собираться заболеть" (to fall ill), "собираться захотеть" (to want), "собираться поскользнуться" (to slip) etc.

And that's also impossible to apply this verb for inanimate subjects: you cannot say "Фильм собирается начаться" (The movie is going to start), you rather say "Фильм сейчас начнётся" (The movie will start right now).

There are very few exceptions to this: "собираться" can be used for some weather conditions, mostly for rain: "Дождь собирается" (It's going to rain), but I think the meaning here is slightly different.

Originally Posted by Боб Уайтман

It is impossible to use "собираться" with the verbs describing actions out of our control: one cannot "собираться любить" (to love), "собираться заболеть" (to fall ill), "собираться захотеть" (to want), "собираться поскользнуться" (to slip) etc.

And that's also impossible to apply this verb for inanimate subjects: you cannot say "Фильм собирается начаться" (The movie is going to start), you rather say "Фильм сейчас начнётся" (The movie will start right now).

Thanks for that explanation, Боб! In English, "going to" is possible in every example you gave, but in such cases it expresses a предсказание (prediction) about something that will happen in the future, rather than a conscious plan/intention:

"In about 5 billion years, the Sun is going to expand and completely swallow the Earth."
"Run for your lives -- the dam is gonna break!"
"Oh, Jesus, amannah puke -- I shouldn't have followed beer with vodka..."

I would assume that in Russian, a construction with собираться is impossible in all these cases -- in the first two sentences, because there's no conscious agent as the subject; in the third one because vomiting is usually not a matter of free will.

ЗЫ Although in the case of bulemic supermodels who throw up on purpose, I would guess it's possible to say "Я собираюсь вызвать рвоту" (lit., "I'm preparing to induce vomiting") or something like that? However, in the context of a person who's seasick or drunk, AFAIK you would normally use an impersonal verb in the 3rd-person-singular with the "logical subject" in the accusative: Господи, меня/её/нас сейчас вырвет -- принести ведро, скорее! ("Ohmygod, I'm/she's/we're about to throw up -- quick, bring a bucket!")

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

I would assume that in Russian, a construction with собираться is impossible in all these cases -- in the first two sentences, because there's no conscious agent as the subject; in the third one because vomiting is usually not a matter of free will.

That's right. But I like to elaborate on that. It is not exactly impossible in all these cases, but unusual and adds new senses. The good formulation was cited by Боб Уайтман : собираться= "to mobilize one's inner resources prior to doing something". "Я собираюсь заболеть" is quite common though colloquial phrase nowadays. It means actually that I consciously plan a period of sickness in my life. "Дамба собирается рухнуть" is also possible but has a metaphorical sense, like if the dam is something animate and conscious.

If there is no infinitive after "собираться", it has other but related meanings: a) to get together b)to get one's things together.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

"Oh, Jesus, amannah puke -- I shouldn't have followed beer with vodka..."

Hmmm... I just wanted to write that there were no "going to" in this example.
It took me a while until I recognised what "amannah" actually means (thanks to your previous explanation)
If not knowing that, I would suppose it's a sort of some Biblic expression like Halliluyah etc. That's what makes the native speech hard to understand for foreigners sometimes!

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

ЗЫ Although in the case of bulemic supermodels who throw up on purpose, I would guess it's possible to say "Я собираюсь вызвать рвоту" (lit., "I'm preparing to induce vomiting") or something like that? However, in the context of a person who's seasick or drunk, AFAIK you would normally use an impersonal verb in the 3rd-person-singular with the "logical subject" in the accusative: Господи, меня/её/нас сейчас вырвет -- принести ведро, скорее! ("Ohmygod, I'm/she's/we're about to throw up -- quick, bring a bucket!")

I agree!