161 Comments
It worked for me now. I wrote it in English instead of American English.
In Russian it's very common to omit the "is/are" verb. If you want to emphasize it, you can use "Есть"
but nobody says "Мама есть там" or "Я есть студент". I think only in case of having something you can say: "У меня есть это", translated as "I have it". Or if you use "есть" as verb meaning "to eat" - есть, кушать.
You're right. "Есть" meaning "to be" is generally used to establish the existence of something, and it's not really a true verb, because it doesn't have a conjugation (any longer). You can say something like "Там есть велосипед" to establish the fact that there's a bicycle somewhere.
In casual spoken Russian there is simply not a verb "to be" in the present tense. For the past and future tenses, as well as when you need the infinitive, you use быть. (E.g., может быть = maybe (or may be: Это может быть Том. = It may be Tom.))
Есть = "to eat" is not the same verb, but it's a real verb, since you can conjugate it into the different forms ("I eat," "you eat," "he eats," etc.).
A little remark: to be translates as быть am, are, is - as есть (very rare archaic form of "are" is суть) she/he will - она/он будет they will - они будут I will - я буду I(male)/he was - я/он был I(female)/she was - я была They/you were - они/Вы были Thou (this form remane in russian) wast - ты был (male) / ты была (female). These all are forms of the verb "to be" in russian.
This is one the basic differences. When Russian man started to learn English (Spanish, German) he thinks "why are they using "is (are)" ?".
yeah we turkish people kinda have the same reaction when we are learning a foreign language
In Russian it's very common to omit the "is/are" verb. If you want to emphasize it, you can use "Есть"
In Russian it's very common to omit the "is/are" verb. If you want to emphasize it, you can use "Есть" -swag
199
As I'm not a native speaker, so I can be mistaken. But for me "mom is there" means that mom is in some place I'm indicating. While "there is mom" sounds like just a fact that mom exists in general.
Report it, the course is still in beta so not all possible correct translations have been added.
Ouch!Russian hurts.I'm septalingual and Russian is not similar to any one of these: English German Hindi Kannada Tamil Spanish Malayalam
Hi, why can't we say "Mum is here" instead of there ?
- 14
I think that the translation should accept "mother" with an article like: "The mother is there."
I believe it doesn't accept it because "mother" in Russian is мать (if I'm not mistaken). So the accurate translation for мама would be "mom".
338 !!! Streak... In your opinion, would a person at level 25 in Russian be considered fluent?
I don't think it's that simple, because the level only relates to how often a person has studied, not how thoroughly or how far.
One could theoretically get to level 25 just by doing the introductory lesson again and again and again, in which case one would definitely not be functionally fluent.
It also doesn't take into account study outside of Duolingo; someone who has got to level 25 but has never spoken to a Russian person/used their Russian outside Duolingo is unlikely to be able to use the language in a way most would consider fluent.
On the other hand, someone who was already fluent in Russian could probably test out of large sections of the tree and complete it with a relatively low level, which would be a poor indication of their fluency.
I see so the level is more a representation of time spent than ability. Thank you replying.
Yes. If you were speaking in a formal situation you would probably not use мама, but мать. There's some overlap — you might hear a teenager calling out "Мать!" to get someone's attention, but as a rule of thumb, mom = мама, mother = мать.
Is the - Supposed to make a pause when speaking, or is it only there in writing?
There's not necessarily a pause in speaking. The use of the " — " in writing is a bit complicated (like all punctuation rules), but I don't think it's something you should worry about starting out.
- 1435
I am wonderng this for a while... Where is the " — " gone? When I first did this lesson it was there. In another comment I read that it is not a help for learners as someone guessed. It is the way it is written in Russian. Why has someone removed it? How am I supposed to learn it when it is not there? Does it show up later in the course?
The "is" is not in the phrase. Please, click in "Tips 7 notes", it's at the left-top part of the page. I didn't understood it too, but someone said it so I clicked and have some precious tips :) Those tips are also available, sometimes, >before< start the unit, what is very helpful.
What's the difference between "There is mom" and "Mom is there"? Because I wrote the first one and somehow it's wrong.
The same sentence for Mom is here and Mom is there? That is confusing???
When is там used as a question (like: мама, тим там? Mom, is Tim there?) versus a phrase as in this exercise? Repondez, svp.
- 174
To answer everyone. Let's consider a situation: Dad is next to a boy and mom is at the opposite side of the room.
The boy: "Dad is here and mom is (over) there", "Папа здесь, а мама там".
Other phrases:
"Here is mom" - "Вот мама". "Mom is here" - "Мама здесь" or "Мама тут".
"There is Mom" translates differently, depending on context:
"Look, there is mom over there!" - "Смотри, вон там мама!". "There is mom in the room" - "В комнате есть мама".
But:
"Mom is in the room" - "Мама в комнате".
I originally put "is mom there?" and it was wrong, so what is difference between hearing "Мама там" and "Мама там?" Is there an intonation sound I should be listening for when it is a question?
Thank you. Corrected. I have been learning Eanglish for only about one year and I still make mistakes sometimes. I have to be more attentive. "is" instead of "are" is an absolutely stupid mistake...
It took me 4-5 years to learn English, so you must be doing very well. I hope in one year I will be able to hold a simple conversation in Russian.
If you want it then you can do it ). I whish you to learn Russian as soon as posible!
At least you will surely be able to tell someone that your motor is in the subway or that is not your dad! ;)
- 120
Can I keep the lesson switched to Cyrillic and type in the Latin alphabet? So far I've switched to to Latin when I've had the listening exercises and then switched it back to Cyrillic.
I've brought up an onscreen keyboard and have added the Cyrillic alphabet, then I just switch to Latin when I'm translating from Russian. Hope that helps.
What's the reasoning behind it not accepting "There is mom."? "Mom is there" is the correct answer but re-arranging the words slightly causes for a wrong answer?
So tam means "is there", which is fine to use if we are saying an object or person is in a specific place. But would you use tam in a sentence such as "is there a way out of here?"
- 174
What's wrong whith "Mom is there"? Dialogue: Where is Mom (Где мама?) Mom is there (Мама там). I'm a native Russian btw
Why is Mama not accepted? We use that as a variant on mother in English too.
I put mam is there surely that is right eventhough i didnt write mom but why would or should i have to
There is mom should technically be right, but i get it if there's more important stuff to fix
Why was I so careless? I wrote 'there is mother' instead of 'Mom is there'. Now they will know I am not native speaker. грустный!
I would like to begin by first understanding the Russian alphabet. I havn't a clue
Hello to everyone! I'm native russian speaker and I can help you to study russian to study by the programm russian for foreigners. You can write me by the email: happy.olesia@gmail.com
Im just doing this so i can scream in russian down the mic while im playing csgo
I was 5 days in the hospital and I could not practice Russian. I am still not quite well, hoping to recover in the next few days. Please be patient with me.
The fact that they made all the guys in thia stupid lesson Tim and Tom makes it REALLY FREAKING HARD to differentiate the actual words like "tam". Seriously duolingo? Way yo make this language fruatrating from the FIRST LESSON.
I Don't know why but I actually type ,,mum this is there".. Then it corrected me and I was like..,,what the heck did I just type here? "
I heard "mama te amo" for spanish speakers. Meaning Mom I love you. Weird
- 155
While I've now at least managed to 'learn' the Cyrillic alphabet, I'm lost as to how to proceed from here on. Do I learn the 'words' separately in English before tryna 'spell' them out in russian, or do I directly try to wire my brain to 'learn russian'? To Cyrllic or not to Cyrllic? If anyone out there can shed some light, I'll be indebted as currently, I believe I can identify with an alien that's crash-landed on a foreign land and the only way to make sense of anything lies in this app. (For the sake of which, I assume English in the app = native alien language) I don't intend to spam, but I'm gonna keep posting this comment in these threads till some saint fixes my (malfunctioning) translator or at least tells me how on [insert native planet] I can 'learn' Russian without resorting to violence or flat-out rote-learning. (Could never grasp that particular skill either in school) That is all. I'll be waiting in my smoking, broken space craft, possibly stringing together Cyrllic syllables and consonants to form (most definitely) pure nonsense. At least there's no Russian-speaker nearby to offend. Joy.
and so it begins. introducing words that sound the same such as dom and tom in the first lesson.
How else will you learn to distinguish between those sounds if you don't start from the beginning?
So I was wondering about там; some languages distinguish between
"this" - an object by the speaker
"that" - an object by the listener
"that [over there]" - an object by neither the speaker nor the listener
Is там both of the last two cases, or only one of them (and, if so, which one?)
What's the difference between tam and bot? I don't get it ! Is it the same or what?
If I have understood you right, then "tam" (spells as "там") means that something or someone is located in the direction you point to. "Bot" (spells as "вот") in its turn means that something or someone is located in the direct spot you point at.
Там =some(thing/one) is where u point at Вот =some(thing/one) is where u point at ITS THE SAME!! >:V
This doesn't make any sense. Nobody on Earth, Russian or English, is going to say "Mom is there."
