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Thread: the sign -

  1. #1
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    the sign -

    When do you have to use "-"? Is there a difference in meaning between "я девушка" and "я - девушка", for example? Or do you say it differently? And are there situations when you should always use "-"?

  2. #2
    Новичок
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    Can you translate/understand this ?

    Actually, from the point of view of native Russian, there is only non-essential grammatical difference between "я девушка" and "я - девушка". The second way is a little bit more gramatically correct and you should use it

    ("-" is needed here because "девушка" is a predicate expressed by a subject "я").
    Last edited by MasterAdmin; October 19th, 2015 at 12:35 PM.
    "Every facet, every department of your mind is to be programmed by you, and unless you assume the rightful responsibility and begin to program your own mind, the world will program it for you."

  3. #3
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    Re: the sign -

    The most important rule is to put a dash between the subject and the predicate if they are both nouns.
    Find your inner Bart!

  4. #4
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    Re: the sign -

    Quote Originally Posted by синичка
    When do you have to use "-"? Is there a difference in meaning between "я девушка" and "я - девушка", for example? Or do you say it differently? And are there situations when you should always use "-"?
    The version "я - девушка" is incorrect since you do not use "-" after a pronoun as opposed to after a noun (see and compare examples from § 164 and § 170 of the link above).
    I've got a TV, and I'm not afraid to use it

  5. #5
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    Re: the sign -

    Quote Originally Posted by adoc
    Quote Originally Posted by синичка
    When do you have to use "-"? Is there a difference in meaning between "я девушка" and "я - девушка", for example? Or do you say it differently? And are there situations when you should always use "-"?
    Second version is incorrect since you do not use "-" after a pronoun as opposed to after a noun (see and compare examples from § 164 and § 170 of the link above).
    this example does not show us an impossibility of using "-" after a pronoun.
    But I aint a philologist
    "Every facet, every department of your mind is to be programmed by you, and unless you assume the rightful responsibility and begin to program your own mind, the world will program it for you."

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    Well, it's the rule, I can't help it.
    I've got a TV, and I'm not afraid to use it

  7. #7
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    As a fact, dash is found at the place where one can insert the auxiliary verb "есть", now being fallen in disuse. It is simpler to compare that with Englsih, since it employs "to be".
    «И всё, что сейчас происходит внутре — тоже является частью вселенной».

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Funbit
    Can you translate/understand this ?
    http://www.primavista.ru/pravila/dash.htm
    That's a lot of rules! I think I should be able to understand most of it (with the use of a dictionary). But if I will have questions about it, I'll post them here.

    Thanks.

  9. #9
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    From the link mentioned above:
    Тире ставится между подлежащим и сказуемым, выраженным существительным в именительном падеже (без связки).
    Is this translation right?
    "A dash is placed between the subject and the predicate, which is expressed by a noun in the nominative case (without a copula)."
    Does выраженным refer only to сказуемым or to подлежащим и сказуемым? In other words, does only the predicate need to be a noun or both the subject and the predicate?

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by синичка
    From the link mentioned above:
    Тире ставится между подлежащим и сказуемым, выраженным существительным в именительном падеже (без связки).
    Is this translation right?
    "A dash is placed between the subject and the predicate, which is expressed by a noun in the nominative case (without a copula)."
    Does выраженным refer only to сказуемым or to подлежащим и сказуемым? In other words, does only the predicate need to be a noun or both the subject and the predicate?
    Yes, here выраженным refers only to сказуемое, however, like adoc said, when the subject is a personal pronoun there should be no dash (it may only be used as a part of an author's style). You may read this here for example: http://www.sochin.ru/shpargalki/russkij/index27.htm
    A quote from there (they list the cases where the dash shouldn't be used): "если подлежащее выражено личным местоимением (тире в данном случае рассматривается как авторское) (Она балерина.)"
    "Happy new year, happy new year
    May we all have a vision now and then
    Of a world where every neighbour is a friend"

  11. #11
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    Okay. Thank you!

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