Thread: Любим библиотекарями?

Будучи в отставке, весьма надоедал садовнику, прислуге и внуку. 73-х лет от роду проникся мыслью написать историю своего полка. Пишет. Обложен тремя пудами материалов. Любим библиотекарями. Здоровается с ними с отменной вежливостью.

why is Любим used?

Originally Posted by sperk

Будучи в отставке, весьма надоедал садовнику, прислуге и внуку. 73-х лет от роду проникся мыслью написать историю своего полка. Пишет. Обложен тремя пудами материалов. Любим библиотекарями. Здоровается с ними с отменной вежливостью.

why is Любим used?

it's the passive voice, it means he is loved by librarians, in Russian people sometimes wish each other to love and be loved, which in Russian is
любить и быть любимым (любимой)

Could it mean he was favorite among the librarians?

Originally Posted by Leof

Could it mean he was favorite among the librarians?

you definetly could put it this way, but the question was about the word любим, which is basically the passive form of любить. Your translation is fine and probably is even better as a more literary variant (cause, you know if you say he was loved by the librarians it can be misconstured in all sorts of ways), but as most good literary translations do, it obscures the grammatical form of the original and thus does little in the way of explaining why the word "любим" is used there.

Keep it real

Yes, right.

I don't think that my variant is the best, but I'd say The librarians liked him.

Любим = is being loved

Originally Posted by Zaya

I don't think that my variant is the best, but I'd say The librarians liked him.

with translations, more often than not there is no such thing as the best variant, you just try and come up with something that sounds more or less natural and at the same time has a meaning that is as close as possible to the original, the way you understood it. This last bit can't be eliminated, there's always interpretation involved here.

Originally Posted by Lampada

Любим = is being loved

imho it's wrong in this context, basically what it says in that piece of text is the guy's writing a history of his regiment so he's spending a lot of time at the library and he's always most courtious with the librarians and so they're fond of him. Plus in general progressive tenses in English are used for actions. Love, like, be fond of are all feelings, while if you're doing something it means an activity so if you say if he's being loved by the librarians the first thing that comes to mind is that they're making love to him. imagine this nice old 73 year old chap walks into the library to gather info about his regiment and these sex crazed librarians corner him in between some book shelves that go all the way up to the ceiling and then put him through the whole Kama Sutra routine until his old heart bursts in his chest and then bury him under piles of books in the deep dark recesses of their horror library. yish.

Originally Posted by igorfa100

...they're fond of him.

I thought about it in the first time. It turned on my tongue, but I didn't manage how to write it correct. So far you did it, I believe it is the most fair translation of the phrase in terms of its sense. While in your first post you answered precisely the question in the context of grammar.


Please help me somebody to correct my phrases!

Thank you Zaya.

Originally Posted by Leof

Originally Posted by igorfa100

...they're fond of him.

I thought about it in the first time. It turned on my tongue, but I didn't manage how to write it correct. So far you did it, I believe it is the most fair translation of the phrase in terms of its sense. While in your first post you answered precisely the question in the context of grammar.


Please help me somebody to correct my phrases!

Originally Posted by igorfa100

Originally Posted by Lampada

Любим = is being loved

imho it's wrong in this context, basically what it says in that piece of text is the guy's writing a history of his regiment so he's spending a lot of time at the library and he's always most courtious with the librarians and so they're fond of him. Plus in general progressive tenses in English are used for actions. Love, like, be fond of are all feelings, while if you're doing something it means an activity so if you say if he's being loved by the librarians the first thing that comes to mind is that they're making love to him. imagine this nice old 73 year old chap walks into the library to gather info about his regiment and these sex crazed librarians corner him in between some book shelves that go all the way up to the ceiling and then put him through the whole Kama Sutra routine until his old heart bursts in his chest and then bury him under piles of books in the deep dark recesses of their horror library. yish.

Sex-crazed librarians? I suddenly feel the urge to visit my local library.

Originally Posted by Grogs

Sex-crazed librarians? I suddenly feel the urge to visit my local library.

yeah, why not, since we're all gonna be just dirt in the ground anyways, getting shagged to death in a library can actually seem like a cool way to go.

любимый, любимая, любимое, любимые = (being) loved (long form) [also 'favourite']
любим, любима, любимо, любимы = short form
Here любим is the short form present passive participle NOT the the present tense verb form "мы любим".

Любим кем? = Loved by whom (instrumental)
Любим библиотекарями = Loved by librarians.

belov

[quote=chaika]belov

Originally Posted by TATY

любимый, любимая, любимое, любимые = (being) loved (long form) [also 'favourite']
любим, любима, любимо, любимы = short form
Here любим is the short form present passive participle NOT the the present tense verb form "мы любим".

Любим кем? = Loved by whom (instrumental)
Любим библиотекарями = Loved by librarians.

Right! To avoid a confusion, I think we just have to clarify that the stress is different as well:
present tense Мы любим.
participle form любим, (любима, любимо, любимы).