Thread: my attempt of speaking in English

Originally Posted by E-learner

Originally Posted by bitpicker

I have been told, by the way, that you're posh if you know the actual first person singular present tense form of пылесосить.

I have no idea which form is "correct". I find this verb awkward to start with and I would prefer to avoid using it at all. However, being confronted with the necessity of using it, I would use "пылесошу". Or, if I wanted to make a joke out of it - "пылесосю".

Technically, of course, the form which you use and which the other person in a conversation understands and does not think is awkward, is correct. But if you consult dictionaries, grammars, teachers of Russian, you will find that this verb is held to be one of a list of verbs which do not have a correct first person singular. According to such sources, the first person singular is, I kid you not, 'я убираю / работаю пылесосом'.

But apart from the (native) Russian language teacher who informed me of that I have yet to find a single native speaker of Russian who actually knows that. Each and every person I have asked that question has answered like you have, and I think who, if not the native speakers as a whole, should decide what is correct and what is not?

Robin

Originally Posted by Johanna

Queen's Christmas address in 1957!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBRP-o6Q85s
[video:13jd3xrm]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBRP-o6Q85s[/video:13jd3xrm]

Wow! The Queen is adorable in this clip. If she hadn't been born a royalty, she could have become a movie star - she's got that in her!