Thread: Мне нужны ещё примеры... ;-) (??)

Hi "Russian" and everyone else...!

Just some more easy example sentences like the previous ones, please!


как только
до сих пор
в любом случае
только что


Thanks for the great examples so far...

Originally Posted by Hanna

Hi "Russian" and everyone else...!

Just some more easy example sentences like the previous ones, please!


как только
до сих пор
в любом случае
только что


Thanks for the great examples so far...

Как только я выучу русский, я поеду в Россию = As soon as I learn Russian, I'll go to Russia.
Я удивлён! И как (только) ему удаётся говорить на 5 языках?! - I'm amazed! How does he manage to speak 5 languages?

До сих пор мы не знали об этом = We haven't known about it until now.
До сих пор мы читали только по-английски = We've been reading only in English so far. (up till now).
Ты до сих пор [всё еще] дома? Ты уже должен быть в школе! = Are you still at home? You're supposed to be at school already!

В любом случае, я выучу русский и поеду в Россию = I'll learn Russian and will go to Russia anyway.

Я только что выучила пару новых выражений на русском. = I've just learned a couple of new expressions in Russian.

Great sentences! You have really helped me today, during my "study day"!
Thanks so much!

I have to ask about one of the sentences;

Как только я выучу русский, я поеду в Россию = As soon as I have learnt Russian, I'll go to Russia.

But shouldn't it be: выучил / выучила ? Or?

That is because in English you would use past tense of the verb in this sentence.
I added minor grammatical changes that makes the sentence seem more logical in English.

In English if you wanted to say this, you would use the completed tense of the verb for learn.

"I have learnt Russian" (I.e. I have finished learning Russian or I have learnt enough Russian to be able to speak with people.)

Maybe this is just how Russian works though?
For example in this sentence:
I have played the piano for a long time. (for example, since childhood)

"На рояле я играю уже давно."
To me it feels as if it ought to be:
"На рояле я играЛА уже давно."

But that's not how the example is.....

Originally Posted by Hanna

Great sentences! You have really helped me today, during my "study day"!
Thanks so much!

I have to ask about one of the sentences;

Как только я выучу русский, я поеду в Россию = As soon as I have learnt Russian, I'll go to Russia.

But shouldn't it be: выучил / выучила ? Or?

Maybe because it's all in the future, Russian uses the future though expressing what a "have + past participle" expresses in English. You haven't learned Russian yet but you will and then you'll go to Russia, all of which will happen in the future.
I think if you used выучил the whole sentence would be in the past:
Как только я выучил русский, я поехал в Россию.

Hanna,

Well, both examples are correct, using both tenses (I've consulted with a native speaker ).
Have a look at this one, for instance (concerning an action in the future)
- "As soon as I get there I'll call you". = Как только доберусь туда, то позвоню тебе.
Will it have the same meaning if you say: "As soon as I have got there, I'll call you"?
If it will, then you can use the same thing with "have learnt". I just thought that if I use Present Perfect Tense in the subordinate clause, I would have to use Past Simple in the main clause. So it would sound like this: "As soon as I have learned Russian, I went to Russia".= "Как только я выучил(-а) русский, то поехал(-а) в Россию." And seems like Past Perfect would be more appropriate there (had learned). In English it may also sound like: "Once I learned Russian, I went to Russia."
But I think that: "As soon as I have learned Russian, I'll go to Russia" AND "As soon as I learn Russian, I'll go to Russia" - have the SAME translation in Russian: "Как только выучу русский, то поеду в Россию" because the main clause has the Future Tense. However I prefer the 1st one. Also: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 911AAC6xku


Concerning "the piano example":
I've played the piano for a long time (since childhood). = На фортепиано я играю (уже) давно (с детства). - correct

For the 2nd example, I guess, you need some context, so that the sentence sounded like you put it, e.g.:
I had been playing the piano for a long time (for 3 hours) when he came" - "Я играла на фортепиано уже давно (3 часа), когда он пришёл". And Past Perfect Progressive Tense for my particular example.

Or, if there's no context, Past Simple is fine to me: I played the piano for a long time = Я играла на фортепиано уже давно.

You might also just put the phrases into Google. For example, как только gives you http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q ... afe=images

Originally Posted by Hanna

Как только я выучу русский, я поеду в Россию = As soon as I have learnt Russian, I'll go to Russia.

But shouldn't it be: выучил / выучила ? Or?

That is because in English you would use past tense of the verb in this sentence.
I added minor grammatical changes that makes the sentence seem more logical in English.

In English if you wanted to say this, you would use the completed tense of the verb for learn.

I think it's not actual for Russian nor for English.
In Russian if you want to convey completeness, there is used the perfective aspect not the past forms of verbs as it could be in English in the future.
Eg:
Я сделаю это завтра.(perfective) I will get it done tomorrow.
Я буду делать это завтра.(imperfective) I will do it tomorrow.
The word "выучу" is in the Perfective future form and conveys completeness.
The word "learn" itself can convey some result.
One can study something for years but learns a little. We must study to learn.
So there is no need to use the perfect for "learn".
Also google gives 16 hits for "As soon as I have learnt" and quite plenty for "As soon as I learn".
I think it will be good to say: "As soon as I learn enough Russian... "

Originally Posted by Hanna

That is because in English you would use past tense of the verb in this sentence.

"I have learnt / learned" is not past tense, it is present perfect, which does not exist in Russian. Here it expresses that an activity with a duration and a goal, which is either going on now or will fully take place in the future, will reach its end at some point in the future.

Originally Posted by Hanna

"На рояле я играю уже давно."[/b]
To me it feels as if it ought to be:
"На рояле я играЛА уже давно."

But that's not how the example is.....

На рояле я играю уже давно. = I've been playing piano for a long time.
На рояле я играЛА уже давно. = It's been long time since I played piano.