Thread: что, как

Greetings
I was talking to someone, and I was asking how to say "How do you say (some english word) in russian?". He told me it would be "Как будет (word) на русском", but I thought it should be "Что будет (word) на русском"

Как будет (word) на русском litterly translates to "How will be word in russian?", which is why I'd think it would be "Что будет (word) на русском"

Any clarification on when to use что and как? Thanks

It is как будет. Remember, there are no one-to-one translations sometimes; just because something is this way in your native language doesn't mean it will be the same in others. The best thing to do in this scenario is just to learn it as you go. Is the person who told you this a native speaker?

yes. He tried to explain it too me but I'm teaching him english too. He speaks it good enough though that we can converse in english.

Are there any speciffic rules as to when to use что and как?

It's hard to explain this one; I'd say just learn it as a set rule, but here's my take on it:

Что будет implies that it(the word) will actually become something else. In this case(как будет) we're asking how the word, or phrase, will turn out in the other language. The meaning we had in mind stays the same, but the way you say it(that is, how you say it) changes.

About rules for что/как I can't think of them right now. If you would provide another example I could try to explain it for you.

"...I was asking how to say "How do you say..."

how = как

Surely you answered your own question.... twice?

The problem came when I did a literal translation. "How will be word in russian?". What makes more sense in english.

As I said earlier, if you try to make a literal translation of everything you hear in Russian, you are going to be very confused.

I know that, but I need to know when in creating phrases of my own, if i should use что or как.

Originally Posted by Darobat

..."Как будет (word) на русском"...

I would say:

Как будет (word) по-русски?
Оr (more formal way):
Как будет (word) на русском языке?

Because что means what, and как means how. Really, how hard is it for you to know when to use "what" and "why" in english. They are two diffrent words. Why are you so hung up on them?

If you're having problems with this so early, you're going to have major problems later on with a lot of other russian words.

Our teacher told us that there is another way of asking this question:

Как называется СЛОВО по-русски?

w0w. That seems really formal (or dorky). I've never even heard that.

Kids my age usually just say "как (это) по английский"

Как чучка по английский
как метелица по английский and so on.

Originally Posted by Dogboy182

w0w. That seems really formal (or dorky). I've never even heard that.

Kids my age usually just say "как (это) по английский"

Как чучка по английский
как метелица по английский and so on.

I think it IS really formal....I know I'll have problems understanding people in Moscow when I fly there....

a Russian friend of mine told me that they say "тя" instead of "тебя"..etc...
I'M REALLY looking forward to ENCRYPTING the MOSCOW_RUSSIAN !!

Dogboy, you're in for an awful shock once you've grown up and left school and you discover that, out in the real world, everything you ever knew about 'dorky' is flipped 180°.

It's really hard to look down on a dork when you're filling his car with gas or serving him a happy meal.

If you're having problems with this so early, you're going to have major problems later on with a lot of other russian words.

I think he'll be fine!...all that is needed is exposure, don't leave yourself with any other choice than to learn!

Originally Posted by krobatshov

a Russian friend of mine told me that they say "тя" instead of "тебя"..etc...
I'M REALLY looking forward to ENCRYPTING the MOSCOW_RUSSIAN !!

Yea, they shorten alot of things, just like in any langauge.

тебе - те
мне - ме (or sometime sounds like не ?) it's hard to tell sometimes they are like 'даймежвачку'
тебя - тя etc.

Also they mix some crazy things like... (past) пошли + imparative те = пошлите
'эй давай you guys пошлите!' Hear this one a lot.

also i instead of смотри some people say like 'смори'.

I think you'll learn fast. I learned all of this just by hearing people talk, I've never asked anyone.

Originally Posted by Dogboy182

Originally Posted by krobatshov

a Russian friend of mine told me that they say "тя" instead of "тебя"..etc...
I'M REALLY looking forward to ENCRYPTING the MOSCOW_RUSSIAN !!

Yea, they shorten alot of things, just like in any langauge.

тебе - те
мне - ме (or sometime sounds like не ?) it's hard to tell sometimes they are like 'даймежвачку'
тебя - тя etc.

Also they mix some crazy things like... (past) пошли + imparative те = пошлите
'эй давай you guys пошлите!' Hear this one a lot.

also i instead of смотри some people say like 'смори'.

I think you'll learn fast. I learned all of this just by hearing people talk, I've never asked anyone.

oh boy, ...once our russian teacher asked a girl how to build the imperative of to SET OFF / go away...

and she said ПОШЛИТЕ.....I started laughing...it sounds crazy...
and now I hear that this form really "exists" in some people's vocabulary ...

and now I hear that this form really "exists" in some people's vocabulary ...

Yeah, it really does... It's quite common between kids and teens mostly because they do not care about the way they speak.
I guess this is a mix of ПОШЛИ (spoken of пойдем) and пойдемТЕ (correct plural). When one wants to address a group the appropriate word might sound like "пойдемте" but sometimes there's a conversation which is totally informal (a bunch of teens chattering on the street) and spoken "пошли" when addressing a few persons switches into plural just like common "пойдем -- пойдемте" does. So this is how that amusing word puts the roots. The problem is that while "пошли" is somehow acceptable in spoken Russian (it's rather informal, though), plural "пошлите" sounds quite incorrect...

Yes, "пошлите" is a kid's word. When I was a child we used a lot of such incorrect words.

Well i don't know... The 'kids' i heard it around are between 16 and 21. I even know of some older russians (25 - 35) Who have admitted that they use it too.

Sure it's not grammitcally correct but people always forget that languages change all the time and maybe they should learn to accept new ways of speaking instead of calling everything 'illiterate' this and 'incorrect' that.

I mean N, katerinka, I bet you are guilty of saying 'Сколько время' which is not correct, but, does that mean you don't care about how you speak?