Thread: Confusion over pronounciation

в кавычках
кавычка (sing), кавычки (pl) - quote mark(s)
кабачок (sing), кабачки (pl) - a kind of zucchini

gRomoZeka: Actually, um, well, er... of course I knew that, but в кабачках is exactly what I meant to say -- I thought everyone knew that in American speech, we use zucchinis to show irony!

For example, "President Obama's health care plan has been, zucchini, completely successful, un-zucchini."

[/ZUCCHINI]

Ok, I'm sleep-deprived, maybe that's why I can't decide if you are serious or not.

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Уважаемые граждане, вы не можете исправить мои ошибки на русском языке?

I'm not sure if you've done it on purpose, so if you have, you can safely ignore what I'm going to say.

If all you want is to ask people to correct your Russian, you should say something like:

Уважаемые граждане, не могли бы вы исправить мои ошибки в русском языке? (as close to the original as possible) OR

Буду благодарен за исправление моих ошибок в русском языке. (preferable)

Because the phrase "Уважаемые граждане, вы не можете исправить мои ошибки на русском языке?" means:

Ladies and gentlemen, you can't correct my mistakes using Russian language? (=> You can't, eh? So, you don't know Russian well enough to express your corrections in Russian, ladies and gentlemen? Even though I make mistakes (e.g. in the Rocket Science) you can't correct them in Russian? Oh dear! What kind of ladies and gentlemen are you?! )

Originally Posted by Crocodile

I'm not sure if you've done it on purpose, so if you have, you can safely ignore what I'm going to say.

If all you want is to ask people to correct your Russian, you should say something like:

Уважаемые граждане, не могли бы вы исправить мои ошибки в русском языке? (as close to the original as possible) OR

Буду благодарен за исправление моих ошибок в русском языке. (preferable)

Because the phrase "Уважаемые граждане, вы не можете исправить мои ошибки на русском языке?" means:

Ladies and gentlemen, you can't correct my mistakes using Russian language? (=> You can't, eh? So, you don't know Russian well enough to express your corrections in Russian, ladies and gentlemen? Even though I make mistakes (e.g. in the Rocket Science) you can't correct them in Russian? Oh dear! What kind of ladies and gentlemen are you?! )

I think it depends on what word emphasis is put on. If it's the last word, then it's like you said. But if it's the word "можете", then it would be ok, and the meaning would be pretty close to "could you please correct...?", and everyone would get it.

Originally Posted by Eric C.

I think it depends on what word emphasis is put on. If it's the last word, then it's like you said. But if it's the word "можете", then it would be ok, and the meaning would be pretty close to "could you please correct...?", and everyone would get it.

You're right in a sense that intonation means a lot in Russian and could be used to convey very different meanings. However, there's often a better way of saying the same thing. Another better alternative would be "Вам не сложно [...]?"

Stupid cat -- no cream for you tonight, just water!

P.S. I was trying to imitate a hyper-polite "bureaucrat-ese", but I guess I failed.

But if I understand correctly, the problem was mainly with the choice of предлог -- I used на when I should've used в.

And this satire of bureaucracy was what I had in mind, particularly:

И не успел Николай Иванович опомниться, как голая Гелла уже сидела за машинкой, а кот диктовал ей:

Сим удостоверяю, что предъявитель сего Николай Иванович провел упомянутую ночь на балу у сатаны, будучи привлечен туда в качестве перевозочного средства... поставь, Гелла, скобку! В скобке пиши "боров". Подпись -- Бегемот.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

And this satire of bureaucracy was what I had in mind [...]

Ah, ok. In that case I'd suggest something like that:

Уважаемые граждане! Убедительная просьба исправлять мои ошибки в русском языке строго в порядке их поступления. За дополнительными справками обращаться к грамматическому справочнику и прочим сопроводительным документам.

Настоящим предписывается обязательное и незамедлительное исправление всеми гражданами ошибок в русскоязычных фрагментах вышеприведенного текста (поста).

Originally Posted by Steven_Seagal

- How is "щ" pronounced and how is it different from "Ш"? I have heard it was "shsh" but then I heard it was "shch". Which one is correct and how does it actually sound?

More on this:

Move your mouth as if you're going to say 'ch' (like 'cheek'), but don't say the word. Pause with your tongue in that position (on the roof of your mouth). Now instead of saying the 'ch' try saying 'sh', but with your tongue in that 'ch' position.

This should help you get on track to saying щ.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

And spelling Mr. Harry Potter's name as Харри could also be phonetically suggestive of a "penis joke" in Russian,

I'd venture that this one is too far-fetched.
In a Russian film by "Three men in a boat" (I didn't like the film, by the way) a character was named Харрис and at no point it didn't suggest to me nothing.
But I admit that I am far away from being a schoolboy.

(sorry for triple negative; couldn't resist, schoolboy or not )