Thread: Could You Please Check My Translations?

Привет друзья,

Сегодня утром, я решил переводить два стиха. Некоторые часты стихов были трудно переводить. Вы можете помогать мне?


По тебе скучаю очень, - I miss you very much,
Утром, вечером и ночью, - In the mornig, in the evening and at night,
По тебе скучаю днем, - I miss you in the day,
В сердце ты живешь моем, - You live in my heart,

Возвращайся, без тебя, - Be returning , without you,
Существую, не любя, - I exist as noone??????
Не хочу в кино ходить, - I do not want to go the cinema,
И с друзьями пиво пить, - And drink beer with friends,

Ничего я не хочу, - I do not want nothing,
Может мне пора к врачу? – Should I go to the doctor?,
По тебе скучаю я, - I miss you,
Ты - любовь, мечта моя, - You are love, my dream,

Возвращайся, будем вместе, -Be returning, we will togather
Сотню лет, а может двести! – One hundered years, and maybe two

Любя: what this means

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

С тобой я встречи ожидаю - With you I expect to meet
Скучаю... Словно свечка таю –I am bored…Like a candle I melt.
Сердечко без тебя тоскует – Warm hearted is missed without you?????
В нем ураган любви бушует – In our storm there will be love

С тобою я хочу быть рядом – With you I want to be forward (what the heck?)
И прикоснуться нежно взглядом – Glances to touch lightly gently
Хочу услышать голос твой – I want to hear your sound
Надежду дарит и покой – It gives hope and peace

Я вспоминаю наши встречи, - I remember our meetings
Украдкой подобрался вечер... Secretly gathered at night
Сижу, грущу и по тебе скучаю - Sitting , feeling sad and missing you
Я медленно, как свечка таю. – I slowly melt like a candle


С тобой/ С тобою what is the exact difference between these two statements?
Тосковать : The dictionary says that this Word means “to miss”. But what kind of miss is that?

Originally Posted by impulse

Привет друзья,

Сегодня утром, я решил переводить два стиха. Некоторые часты стихов были трудно переводить. Вы можете помогать мне?

Сегодня утром (no comma needed) я решил перевести (perfective - one-time action intended to be completed: "решил переводить" is in general, e.g. every day; "решил перевести" - this specific occasion) два стихотворения ("два стиха" is used, but it is too colloquial, considered to be not quite correct, and not so good for this style of writing) (although if you intended to sound so informal, you may keep to "два стиха").

Некоторые части (часть - части, soft stem) стихов было трудно переводить. (Here, "было трудно" is not related to "некоторые части", therefore it does not agree with it. It is more like "It was difficult to translate some parts fo the verses". So, the subject is absent here (in English there is a dummy subject "it", the predicate is "было трудно" (neuter, because of the dummy subject), and "некоторые части стихов" is a direct object but not a subject).

If you wanted to say "Some parts of the verses were difficult to translate (for translation)", it is: "Некоторые части стихов были трудны для перевода". Now, "некоторые части стихов" is a subject, "были трудны" agrees with the subject, but you cannot use the infinitive here in Russian, you need a verbal noun instead: "трудны для перевода".

Вы можете помочь мне? (perfective - one-time action intended to be completed: "можете помогать" is in general, e.g. every time I ask; "можете помочь" - this specific occasion).

Возвращайся, без тебя - Come back without you
Существую, не любя, - I only exist (not live, but only exist), without love (not being in love)
Не хочу в кино ходить, - I dont want to go to the movies....

Тосковать - miss sadly, in a melancholoc way, because you can't do anything
Сердечко - heart
В нем ураган любви бушует - there's storm of love in it (in the heart)
С тобою я хочу быть рядом - I want to be near you (рядом = next to)
Украдкой подобрался вечер - Night came secretly, by stealth

Originally Posted by impulse

По тебе скучаю очень, - I miss you very much,
Утром, вечером и ночью, - In the mornig, in the evening and at night,
По тебе скучаю днем, - I miss you in the day,
В сердце ты живешь моем, - You live in my heart,

Возвращайся, без тебя, - Be returning , without you,
Существую, не любя, - I exist without love
Не хочу в кино ходить, - I do not want to go the cinema,
И с друзьями пиво пить, - And drink beer with friends,

Ничего я не хочу, - I do not want nothing (OK, but in English "I do not want anything" is correct),
Может мне пора к врачу? – Should I go to the doctor?,
По тебе скучаю я, - I miss you,
Ты - любовь, мечта моя, - You are love, my dream,

Возвращайся, будем вместе, -Be returning, we will together ( )
Сотню лет, а может двести! – One hundered years, and maybe two

Любя: what this means

"любя" is a verbal adverb form (Russian: деепричастие) of the verb "любить". If you do not know about деепричастие yet, then you would need to learn this subject, it is interesting BTW. Or maybe you knew, but did not recognise this word as a деепричастие?

Originally Posted by impulse

С тобой/ С тобою what is the exact difference between these two statements?

Only stylistic difference. The ending "-ою" is more poetic as compared to the standard "-ой".
In poetry, it is often the rhythm which dictates the choice of forms like "с тобой/с тобою".

Сегодня утром, я решил переводить два стиха. Некоторые часты стихов были трудно переводить. Вы можете помогать мне?

Сегодня утром я решил перевести (perfective) два стиха. Некоторые части стихов было трудно переводить. Вы можете помочь (perfective) мне?

"Любя" is an adverbial participle or a special "Russian gerund". Usually it's translated with the -ing ending.
For example: Он шел по улице, смотря на девушек = He was walking down the street, looking at the girls.
In this context it would be like "I exist, not loving".

Сердечко без тебя тоскует – Warm hearted is missed without you?????
В нем ураган любви бушует – In our storm there will be love

Сердечко без тебя тоскует - [My] little heart misses without you
В нем ураган любви бушует - A love storm rages in it (in the little heart)

С тобою я хочу быть рядом – With you I want to be forward (what the heck?)

С тобою я хочу быть рядом - I want to be next to you. (Again, you confused because of the word order)

Украдкой подобрался вечер... Secretly gathered at night

Украдкой подобрался вечер - The evening secretly approached... (word order, "evening" is a subject)

Originally Posted by Боб Уайтман

If you wanted to say "Some parts of the verses were difficult to translate (for translation)", it is: [/COLOR]"Некоторые части стихов были трудны для перевода"[COLOR=#0000ff]. Now, "некоторые части стихов" is a subject, "были трудны" agrees with the subject, but you cannot use the infinitive here in Russian, you need a verbal noun instead: "трудны для перевода".

I do not know what this is about.

It was difficult to translate some parts fo the verses : Некоторые части стихов было трудно переводить. If I am not mistaken that this one is right?

Some parts of the verses were difficult to translate (for translation) : Некоторые части стихов были трудны для перевода: Here I do not understand how трудны is formed up. Is that somekind of adjective form used to refer to the genitive case?

Originally Posted by Боб Уайтман

"любя" is a verbal adverb form (Russian: деепричастие) of the verb "любить". If you do not know about деепричастие yet, then you would need to learn this subject, it is interesting BTW. Or maybe you knew, but did not recognise this word as a деепричастие?

I will deffinately search about деепричастие. I did not know it. And I think it will increase my understanding of the Russian grammar.

Originally Posted by Paul G.

С тобою я хочу быть рядом - I want to be next to you. (Again, you confused because of the word order)


Украдкой подобрался вечер - The evening secretly approached... (word order, "evening" is a subject)

So is it possible to write these sentences as follows;


я хочу быть рядом c тобою
Bечер подобрался Украдкой

And for the first sentence if I am not mistaken c means "with" or "from". But why it is translated as "to" in English?

Originally Posted by impulse

I do not know what this is about.

What exactly confuses you in my explanation?

Originally Posted by impulse

It was difficult to translate some parts of the verses : Некоторые части стихов было трудно переводить. If I am not mistaken that this one is right?

Yep!

Originally Posted by impulse

Some parts of the verses were difficult to translate (for translation) : Некоторые части стихов были трудны для перевода: Here I do not understand how трудны is formed up. Is that somekind of adjective form used to refer to the genitive case?

Full form - трудный (masc.), трудная (fem.), трудное (neut.), трудные (plural).
Short from - труден (masc.), трудна (fem.), трудно (neut.), трудны (plural) - here you need plural because "некоторые части" are in plural.
We usually use short forms of adjectives in the predicate position (i.e.: they are difficult for translation - они трудны для перевода). And it has nothing to do with genitive, since the short forms do not decline at all. They never precede a noun. Another possible gap in your grammar - full and short adjectival forms.

More examples:
Этот рассказ труден для перевода.
Эта книга трудна для перевода.
Это стихотворение трудно для перевода.
Эти рассказы (книги, стихотворения) трудны для перевода.

Originally Posted by impulse

I will deffinately search about деепричастие. I did not know it. And I think it will increase my understanding of the Russian grammar.

Paul G. already mentioned it, too.
Shortly:
Деепричастие (verbal adverb) is used to express a "background" action where the "main" action is expressed by a normal verb. (What is "background" and what is "main" depends on the speaker's view).
There are two kinds of деепричастие:

1) imperfective (only derived from imperfective verbs). It expresses simultaneous actions:
Разговаривая по телефону, он жуёт жевачку. - He chews a chewing-gum while talking on the phone. "разговаривать" is an imperfective verb, "разговаривая" is a деепричастие.
Читая книгу, я думаю о своих проблемах. - I am thinking about my problems while reading a book. "читать" is an imperfective verb, "читая" is a деепричастие.
Сидя в кресле, он закурил сигарету. - He lit up a cigarette while sitting in the arm-chair. "сидеть" is an imperfective verb, "сидя" is a деепричастие.

2) perfective (only derived from perfective verbs). It expresses consequent actions:
Придя домой, я увидел своего друга. - Having come home, I saw my friend. Action one: Я пришёл домой. Action two: Я увидел своего друга. Action one is completed before action two. "прийти" is a perfective verb, "придя" is a деепричастие.
Сняв шляпу, он поздоровался со мной. - Having taken his hat off, he greeted me. Action one: Он снял шляпу. Action two: Он поздоровался со мной. Action one is completed before action two. "снять" is a perfective verb, "сняв" is a деепричастие.
Купив машину, я начал читать инструкцию. - Having bought the machine, I started reading the manual. Action one: Я купил машину. Action two: Я начал читать инструкцию. Action one is completed before action two. "купить" is a perfective verb, "купив" is a деепричастие.

A good news for you: деепричастие does not change! It has no conjugation forms, no gender, no tenses, no cases. There are just an imperfective version and a perfective version. Nothing else

In your example, "любя" is an imperfective деепричастие of the imperfective verb "любить" (to love). So, it means literally "while loving ...". Or better in English "while being in love ..."
E.g.: Он прожил всю жизнь, любя одну и ту же женщину. - He has lived all his life loving the same woman.

The negative form "не любя" is just "not being in love", "without being in love", "without loving":
Трудно жить, никого не любя. - It is hard to live without loving someone.

Originally Posted by impulse

So is it possible to write these sentences as follows;


я хочу быть рядом c тобою
Bечер подобрался Украдкой

Yes! Only you do not need to capitalize "украдкой" in this case

Originally Posted by impulse

And for the first sentence if I am not mistaken c means "with" or "from". But why it is translated as "to" in English?

Я хочу быть рядом с тобой. - I want to be close to you (near you).

Рядом when being used alone, is an adverb: "(very) close, close by, near": Я здесь, я рядом! (I am here, I am close by!).
When being used as a preposition, the structure is "рядом с + Instrumental": рядом с тобой (close to you, near you), рядом с домом (close to home, near my home, next to the home), рядом с диваном (close to the sofa, near the sofa, next to the sofa).

So, "рядом с A" = "close to A", "next to A", "near A".

BTW. The word "рядом" is etymologically derived from the noun "ряд" (row). So, literally "рядом с A" is more like "in one row with A".

And some advice to you for the future:
Please, never TRANSLATE prepositions. I mean, do not learn their translations (like "в" = in, "на" = on). It just does not work. Prepositions in different languages never correspond 1 to 1. Every English preposition has lots of meanings, and every Russian prepostion has lots of them too.
What you need to learn is how to use prepositions, not their translations. In each specific case prepostitions have their specific use.

BTW, it is not only about Russian vs English. Even in closely related languages (like Russian and Ukrainian, or Italian and Spanish) prepositions do not always match.

Originally Posted by Боб Уайтман

What exactly confuses you in my explanation?



Yep!



Full form - трудный (masc.), трудная (fem.), трудное (neut.), трудные (plural).
Short from - труден (masc.), трудна (fem.), трудно (neut.), трудны (plural) - here you need plural because "некоторые части" are in plural.
We usually use short forms of adjectives in the predicate position (i.e.: they are difficult for translation - они трудны для перевода). And it has nothing to do with genitive, since the short forms do not decline at all. They never precede a noun. Another possible gap in your grammar - full and short adjectival forms.

More examples:
Этот рассказ труден для перевода.
Эта книга трудна для перевода.
Это стихотворение трудно для перевода.
Эти рассказы (книги, стихотворения) трудны для перевода.

What confuses me is why we need to use the short form of the adjective. For example what is the exact difference in meaning between the below sentences;

Эта книга трудна для перевода VS Эту книгу трудно переводить

I think the first one means,

The book is difficult for translations. In that sentences the sort form of the adjective which is refers to the book.

And the second exaplme means,

Difficult to translate that book (I changed the word order to indicate i want to refer to the noun) So here the adjective refers to the verb.

Correct?

Originally Posted by impulse

What confuses me is why we need to use the short form of the adjective. For example what is the exact difference in meaning between the below sentences;

Эта книга трудна для перевода VS Эту книгу трудно переводить

Well, they're virtually identical, they convey the same meaning just in two different ways. A particular sitiation might incline you to choose one phrase over the other though.

For example, you've started translating the book and work your way through that. Here you can use both phrases.

If you haven't started translating the book and you just point out that you think the book is difficult to translate, well, you can still use both phrases, but the second one is not really good for this case.

I better rephrase it like that:

Эту книгу трудно перевести.

Something like that. I hope it's of any help

Originally Posted by impulse

Эта книга трудна для перевода VS Эту книгу трудно переводить

It's all about variations in Russian. In Russian there can be different ways of expressing approximately the same ideas. In short, a speaker of Russian has a choice as to what to say and how to say it (such variations make the language more versatile in terms of language aesthetics and expressive ability of the language; as a natural consequence, the language becomes more complicated in terms of studying and understanding if you are a foreigner having mis/fortune to learn Russian).

So Эта книга трудна для перевода ~ This book is difficult to translate. (in Russian it's emphasized that the book itself is difficult to translate)
Эту книгу трудно переводить ~ It is difficult to translate this book. (in Russian it's emphasized that the process of translating is difficult).... seems the meaning is very close and the difference is very subtle

In English such variation is possible due to change of word order, because this is the nature of English, it's how it is organized.
On the contrary, in Russian, change of word order can be used to emphasize certain words in the whole sentence, PLUS Russian has this ability to use other parts of speech (short forms of adjectives, using verbs if deemed better).

I think in this choice of words in Russian it's all about the speaker's choice and what they want to emphasize, how they want it to sound.

I tried to write some stences using the different form of the adjective. Are they correct?

Трудная кпига
Эта трудная книга
Я хочу перевести эту трудную книгу
Я хочу трудно перевести, итак я перевожу эту трудную книгу
я хочу перевести эту книгу которую трудна для перевода
переводия эту книгу трудно

Originally Posted by impulse

Трудная книга
Это трудная книга. (If you mean a complete sentence like "This is a difficult book"; although "эта трудная книга" just means "this difficult book" and it is not a sentence at all, it can be used as a part of a sentence: "Эта трудная книга мне понравилась").
Я хочу перевести эту трудную книгу
Я хочу трудно перевести - this part does not make any sence, it's like "I want to translate difficultly", итак я перевожу эту трудную книгу
я хочу перевести эту книгу, которая трудна для перевода
переводить эту книгу трудно

Everything else is correct.

Originally Posted by impulse

Эта книга трудна для перевода VS Эту книгу трудно переводить

I think the first one means,

The book is difficult for translations. In that sentences the sort form of the adjective which is refers to the book.

- right!

Originally Posted by impulse

And the second exaplme means,

It is difficult to translate that book (I changed the word order to indicate i want to refer to the noun) So here the adjective refers to the verb.

- hmm...not exactly. It rather refers to the "dummy" subject which is expressed by "it" in English (It is difficult), and which is just omitted in Russian.

You can simplify the phrase to make it clearer:
Мне трудно. - It is difficult to me.
Это очень трудно. - That (something mentioned before) is very difficult.
It is the same as when you say:
Мне холодно. - It is cold to me.
Сегодня жарко. - It is hot today.
Здесь весело. - It is joyfully here (meaning that people are having lots of fun).
Скучно. - It is boring.

To be precise, they are not even adjectives. Neither they are adverbs. The words in those examples (ending with "-о") look like adverbs (or like neuter short adjectives), but according to the academic grammar they are "words of condition" here. They are used when you describe a condition which just exists, and normally no grammatical subject is needed.

Thanks for the great explanations. Those detailed replys gave me great insight into the parts of the grammar that was really unintelligible for me. Especially "It rather refers to the "dummy" subject which is expressed by "it" in English" definition is useful alot and made it clear why it is said "мне трудно" in Russian.