Thread: Просто так meanings

Hello

I need help in understanding the different shades of meaning of "просто так".

Просто так (without anything else)

она просто так зануда

What else? Просто так !

Mordan

There was a very popular cartoon in Soviet Russia. Some cute animal gave a gift to the other cute animal and they had this dialogue:

- Это тебе подарок!
- А за что?
- А просто так!

(- Here the gift for you!
- Why?
- No reason!)

So, this is the main meaning of "просто так" - "<for> no reason".

But the frase you wrote is, probably goes like this: "Она просто такая зануда" - "She is such annoying person".

You can say also "просто так устроено (получилось)" - "it's just the way it works (turnes out)".

Originally Posted by Gerty

But the frase you wrote is, probably goes like this: "Она просто такая зануда" - "She is such annoying person".

True

Originally Posted by Gerty

You can say also "просто так устроено (получилось)" - "it's just the way it works (turnes out)".

The main difference here is that "просто так" in this sentence isn't an idiom with the meaning "<for> no reason". These are two separate words, where "так" belongs to "устроено", and "просто" goes alone with its meaning "just".

There will be also a slight difference in pronunciation that helps to distinguish the meaning.
Idiomatic "просто так" sounds without any accent on words. You can say it "простотак" like one word. That will mean "for no reason"
The second usage will have an accent on "так": "просто ТАК получилось".