"Мама там."
Translation:Mom is there.
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It worked for me now. I wrote it in English instead of American English.
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Well, Hurray! This means Duolingo took three years to include the English English version.
BRITISH English. Unless, like Henry Higgins, you don't think Americans speak English.....carefeul!
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Hahaha. Yes, I know people say British English. But they also speak English in Wales and Scotland, and I meant what they speak in England.
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.).
In military parlance, "Есть" is used much in the same way one says "Roger" in English.
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.
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I agree with almost everything you say, cslemelin, but it's not just casual, spoken Russian that does not use the verb "to be". It is simply not a feature of normal Russian, from casual to high literature. Pushkin's "У лукоморья (есть??!!) дуб зелёный, златая цепь (есть??!!) на дубе том..." Not a "to be" in sight, and nothing casual about it.
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
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I think I finally understand the Hollywood stereotype of a Russian person speaking English. All because is is omitted lol
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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".
When is там used as a question (like: мама, тим там? Mom, is Tim there?) versus a phrase as in this exercise? Repondez, svp.
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.
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As a speaker of Brazilian Portuguese, I have the impression that he's nasalizing the first A in мама while he speaks. Well, in fact Russian has no nasal vowels, right? That serves as an initial tip for pt-br people who are learning Russian. ;)
Anyone else kept getting told they were saying "tam" wrong, only to have it randomly accept the exact way you've been saying it? Im Southern but i cant imagine l have an accent that is that hard for the program to hear when it doesn't have an issue understanding me for literally any other words.
Anyone else keep getting told you can't pronounce "tam" even though you have no problem with any other words? And then have it randomly accept it the exact way you've been saying it for 8 tries?
Does anyone know why answers dont get accepted? I say it exactly the same like every time. Some lessons it accepts the answer, some it doesn't. I dont freaking get it.
А я живу в России и изучаю русский по приколу) Кто такой же - ответьте мне
For some reason it doesn't accept mama in English. It's perfectly common for people to say mama in English. They don't always say Mom.
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I think that the translation should accept "mother" with an article like: "The mother is there."
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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.
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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?
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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.
At least you will surely be able to tell someone that your motor is in the subway or that is not your dad! ;)
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.
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.
Report it, the course is still in beta so not all possible correct translations have been added.
here meas здесь definitely. Там is "there", "over there". Pointing to (showing) the exact place where she really is.
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?"
There is/are in most cases are translated into Russian as "есть" and imply existence. Is there out of here? = Есть ли выход отсюда?
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What's wrong whith "Mom is there"? Dialogue: Where is Mom (Где мама?) Mom is there (Мама там). I'm a native Russian btw
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If you're talking English, you'd say ' the Russian for "here" is здесь. 'If you're talking Russian, you'd say, ' здесь по английски - here '. The verb "to mean" explains the foreign word/phrase. So, in English, you'd say, ' здесь means "here" ', and in Russian, it would be ' here значит "здесь" '
The same sentence for Mom is here and Mom is there? That is confusing???
"Mom is here" would be "Мама тут", "there" has different translation - "там"
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?
The "alphabet" section should be the letters and what sounds they make not full words.
Yes, but it would be boring. Only letters will be for one of the next lessons I guess.
How do I learn the alphabet in Russian with English as the counterpart?
In Russian we don't use "to be" verb normally (no one say "Мама есть там"), because of context we can get that mom is located there, but you can use it if you wanna say that mom has smth ("У мамы есть " - "Mom has ") or if, for example, animals are in some country but we may not to know about it ("В России есть медведи" - "There are bears in Russia")
English, unlike say Latin, does NOT mean the same. These may express the same idea, but one is more used than another, depending on person, subject. etc. It's as subtle a thing as 'Let's eat, Grandma' and 'let's eat grandma.'
Mama is the of mom all given same meaning plz more important that we understands right and don't give me wrong answers because one latter is wrong in English writing I'm learning Russian not English so is not nice that gives wrong answers because I have written mama not mom is boring like this. The application is amazing only this small thing stopped me
Sorry, English isn't my first language. Could anyone explain me why "There's mom" is wrong? I'm a bit confused...
I wrote "There is mom" and it seems to be wrong. Is it a mistake or is my English too bad?
Your English is great. You just wrote it a different way than the app wanted it to be said.
Saying 'is mom there,' sounds like a question. Saying 'mom is there,' sounds more like a statement, which is what they were trying to express (a statement not a question). Good question, if this doesn't answer your question. just tell me and I will try my best to answer your questions.
Because thats what "тим, том там?" Is like so im wondering if you could do "мама там?"
It could be if there was a question make at the end. But since there's a full stop it's a statement, not a question.
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Can tam not also mean here or is there another word for here in russian? Cause one time it accepts here the next time it doesn't
"Here" is "тут" or "здесь" (they are interchangeable). "Там" is only "there".
Anyone else get hung up on "tam"? I said it the exact way it was said numerous times before it finally randomly accepted it after saying it wrong. I didn't change the way it was said at all when it finally accepted.