# Forum Learning Russian Language Grammar and Vocabulary  Ya, mne, menya

## Pretty Much Clueless

Ok, I'm starting to get the Russian grammer, but I still don't know the difference between "ya", "mne", and "menya". Could someone help me understand this better?

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## saibot

"Я" is in nominative case.  It is the subject of the sentence. 
я люблю играть на гитаре. - I love to play the guitar. 
Меня is the pronoun "Я" is genetive, and accusative case. 
они меня любит - They love me. 
без меня - скучно. - Without me it's boring. 
мне is the pronoun "я" in prepositional, and dative case. 
они говорили обо мне. - They were talking about me. 
он мне дал деньги. - He gave me money. 
So basically, the word will change depending on its use.

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## MasterAdmin

Я - I (as in "I am clueless.")
Мне - [to] me (as in "They gave me a clue.")
Меня - me (as in "The did not understand me.")

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## Pretty Much Clueless

OH... ok thanks!

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## Darobat

(Almost) all words change depending on their case. 
я съел еду. - I ate the food.
Еда съел меня. - The food ate me.
Я сказал о еде. - I talked about food.
Еда сказал обо мне. The food talked about me.
Собака съела со мной. - The dog ate with me.
Я съела с собакой. - I ate with the dog. 
The 3 words you mentioned are just the way the word "Я" changes

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## Pretty Much Clueless

> я съел еду. - I ate the food.
> Еда съел меня. - The food ate me.
> Я сказал о еде. - I talked about food.
> Еда сказал обо мне. The food talked about me.
> Собака съела со мной. - The dog ate with me.
> Я съела с собакой. - I ate with the dog.

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## saibot

> Еда съел меня. - The food ate me.

 Еда меня съела.   

> Я сказал о еде. - I talked about food.

 Я говорил об еде.   

> Еда сказал обо мне. The food talked about me.

 Еда говорила обо мне.   

> Собака съела со мной. - The dog ate with me.

 Собака ела со мной   

> Я съела с собакой. - I ate with the dog.

 Я ела с собакой. 
For the last two, you should use imperfective, because you are focusing on the process of the dog eating with you, and you eating with the dog.

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## Евгения Белякова

You should say this 
Мы с собакой ели

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## DDT

I second the lovely Евгения on this.

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## saibot

Well there are two different ways of saying it in English, so shouldn't there be two ways in Russian? 
I ate with the dog. - я ел с собакой 
vs 
The dog and I ate. - мы с собакой ели. 
Is there a difference between the two? 
PS. Евгения - Love the signature!  ::

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## DDT

But in Russia they usually say "We with dog ate, we with wife, we with husband, we with you (мы с вами) etc.

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## Darobat

> Еда съел меня. - The food ate me. 
> 			
> 		  Еда меня съела. 
> [quote:2ek4vst8]Я сказал о еде. - I talked about food.

 Я говорил об еде.   

> Еда сказал обо мне. The food talked about me.

 Еда говорила обо мне.   

> Собака съела со мной. - The dog ate with me.

 Собака ела со мной   

> Я съела с собакой. - I ate with the dog.

 Я ела с собакой. 
For the last two, you should use imperfective, because you are focusing on the process of the dog eating with you, and you eating with the dog.[/quote:2ek4vst8]
1) As in the thread Я тебя люблю vs. я люблю тебя, its been shown that it doesn't really matter that much...  Or does it and that entire thread is full of lies.
2) Thanks
3/4) I don't think so.  I'm focusing on the fact that we ate pie together.  Plus, wouldn't yours be translated then as "I was eating with the dog?"

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## saibot

> 3/4) I don't think so. I'm focusing on the fact that we ate pie together. Plus, wouldn't yours be translated then as "I was eating with the dog?"

 я ел с собакой can be translated as "I ate with the dog." or "I was eating with the dog." I just depends on your needs.   

> But in Russia they usually say "We with dog ate, we with wife, we with husband, we with you (мы с вами) etc.

 K.  I gotcha.   ::

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## Darobat

> 3/4) I don't think so. I'm focusing on the fact that we ate pie together. Plus, wouldn't yours be translated then as "I was eating with the dog?"
> 			
> 		  я ел с собакой can be translated as "I ate with the dog." or "I was eating with the dog." I just depends on your needs.

 In what situation would "Мы с собакой съели" suit your needs?

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## Friendy

> In what situation would "Мы с собакой съели" suit your needs?

 "Съели" usually requires the object that you ate. For example: 
Мы с собакой съели суп. - I have eaten the soup with the dog.

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## Darobat

Alright.  Is there some sort of generalization you can make about perfect/imperfect verbs in past tense?  What about future tense?  Maybe I should stick this in another thread...

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## kwatts59

> Originally Posted by saibot     
> 			
> 				Еда съел меня. - The food ate me. 
> 			
> 		  Еда меня съела.   1) As in the thread Я тебя люблю vs. я люблю тебя, its been shown that it doesn't really matter that much...  Or does it and that entire thread is full of lies.

 I think that "Еда меня съела." and "Еда съела меня." have basically the same meaning.  However, it should be "съела" rather than "съел" because "Еда" is feminine.

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## chaika

OK, nobody's suggested this, but this thread is so silly ... , that I say - what the heck. Here goes. This is a song that every Russian kid learns. 
У попа была собака,
Он её любил.
Она съела кусок мяса,
Он её убил.
Хор:
И в землю закопал,
И надпись написал,
что,
У попа была собака,
Он её любил....
et cetera, ad infinitum. 
This one teaches you the difference between "She, она" and "her, её". Your book will also show you I/me, he/him, they/them. These are relics of our language's past, but they seem to have no inclination to leave us anytime soon.

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