простой : easy and / or irrelevant
The word "simple" has at least two meanings in various languages. I would like to know if in Russian it is like this. The article in which is the phrase that I quote deals with relations between different wifes of a man in a polygamic/polygamous (?) family. The phrase is:
Сотрудничество между жёнaми - не простая формальность.
According with the translation: "Cooperation among wifes is not a simple formality (it is more that a formality)" or "... is not a formality simple (it is a difficult one)" the sense differs widely. Both translations are possible in Russian? According with what follows the meaning is the first ("it is more than a formality"), but in dictionaries a see for простой just the meaning of "easy, not difficult". Thank you
Re: простой : easy and / or irrelevant
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vladi
The word "simple" has at least two meanings in various languages. I would like to know if in Russian it is like this. The article in which is the phrase that I quote deals with relations between different wifes of a man in a polygamic/polygamous (?) family. The phrase is:
Сотрудничество между жёнaми - не простая формальность.
According with the translation: "Cooperation among wifes is not a simple formality (it is more that a formality)" or "... is not a formality simple (it is a difficult one)" the sense differs widely. Both translations are possible in Russian? According with what follows the meaning is the first ("it is more than a formality"), but in dictionaries a see for простой just the meaning of "easy, not difficult". Thank you
"простая формальность" = "просто (just, only, simply) формальность".
Re: простой : easy and / or irrelevant
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vladi
The word "simple" has at least two meanings in various languages. I would like to know if in Russian it is like this. The article in which is the phrase that I quote deals with relations between different wifes of a man in a polygamic/polygamous (?) family. The phrase is:
Сотрудничество между жёнaми - не простая формальность.
According with the translation: "Cooperation among wifes is not a simple formality (it is more that a formality)" or "... is not a formality simple (it is a difficult one)" the sense differs widely. Both translations are possible in Russian? According with what follows the meaning is the first ("it is more than a formality"), but in dictionaries a see for простой just the meaning of "easy, not difficult". Thank you
Wives, not wifes.