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- "Не надо!"
173 Comments
"Не стоит" would be better for this matter. "Не надо!" means that you ask someone not to do something. For example, if you ask someone to put sugar in your tea and he/she ends up putting all the sugar he/she can, you'd use "Не надо!" ("Don't!") since it's too much. But if he/she puts two spoons and asks politely if you want more, you'd use "Не стоит" (~"No need").
My husband and his family (Russians) say "Не надо!" for both actually. When they want to say "Don't" (especially for children :) ) and when theay want to say say "No need"/"You don't need to". i.e. "Should I come help you?" "Не надо!"
Well, yes, you can use both "Не надо" and "Не стоит" interchangeably in some situations, but they still carry a bit different meaning. "Не стоит" is much softer that "Не надо". If your husband's family is nice to their children and they want to be polite with them, they can use "Не стоит" instead of "Не надо". For example, if a child asks her mother that he/she wants to pet a homeless dog in the street, she may answer "Не стоит этого делать" as if it was some sort of advice rather that an order, though the child obviously understands that he/she shouldn't do it. For the second situation, it can mean that they really don't need your help and ask you politely not to come help them. I'd use "Не стоит" here if I perhaps needed someone's help but didn't want to bother him/her.
So, you see, this is very context-dependent and sometimes it's hard to notice the difference, but it exists anyway. We often pronounce these phrases when we feel they should be pronounced rather than thinking them through, but I think I did my best at trying to explain their meanings. :)
This is very helpful indeed. My inlaws wouldn't be able to explain that difference I think and it's nice to be able not to just learn words but to also know why say it like so. Could I also understand from that that my inlaws are rather rude people (quite frankly they mostly are)? :D At least I never catched them say "Не стоит".
Well, also one thing is that we use "Не стоит" when we want to appear polite. :) I think you'd want to appear this way when you don't really know a person and are trying to give a good impression, but if your inlaws know you rather well, they may not care about it and be very matter-of-fact with you using "Не надо". So maybe it's not that much about rudeness, but rather about speaking directly what they want to say. ;)
No, that's not correct. "Не стоит" literally means "not worth (it)" but the actual meaning can range form "not worth (it)" and "no need" to "not advisable", depending on the context.
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Когда человек говорит "Не стоит" чаще всего он подразумевает, что это приведет к последствиям. В остальных случаях ты услышишь "Не надо".
I wouldn't say "не надо" is aggressive. In fact, it's something one could say when they are pleading someone not to do something. "Не стоит" is those circumstances would sound more assertive or even threatening.
"Не надо!" could be aggressive, given the appropriate context and intonation. I would nor describe "не стоит" as aggressive though. It can be an understated threat, but it's hard for me to imagine vocally stressing "не стоит!".
On a separate note. if you want to take the 'edge' from "не надо", just use "не нужно", which is merely a more literary version of the same word, and because of that cannot be used with the same agressive undertones.
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@zirkul, Why don't you mention that in this context of Hello, Goodbye, How are you? etc that Не надо also means "I'm fine" as in "Don't [worry]" or similar ?
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@zirkul
(1) me too ! I've seen what @marti__MG said. And, this lesson is in that context!
(2) Also, @zirkul, you wrote incorrectly "I would nor describe "не стоит" as aggressive (!) though." *not, but @Kundoo wrote assertive (!)
(3) @zirkul again xnaut's (above) suggestion "not necessary" fits perfectly in the range of your "correction" "from "not worth (it)" and "no need" to "not advisable", depending on the context.
The word combination, не на́до, with imperfective infinitive verbs. examples: Не на́до печа́литься. ― There is no need to be sad. Не на́до держа́ть отве́т. ― There is no need to answer. Не на́до бы́ло пуга́ть бе́лок. ― There is no need to scare the squirrels.
...and I use this often when shopping and don't want the store's bag: Пакет не надо. Тhe package is not necessary. ...which is the same as: Пакет не стоит. Тhe package is not necessary.
надо sounds so similar to "nada"... as a native Spanish speaker, it's a bit confusing! But that happens in all languages, I suppose.
Could it have the same usage? I'm going to ask my russian friend next time I talk to him
They're a bit similar, as "no need" is fairly similar to "nada" in terms of needing nothing – but надо means need in general (I think?) , while nada means nothing, so they're completely different words. But that's just what I've gathered... I may not be entirely right.
I'm a native Portuguese speaker and I also speak Spanish. Both Portuguese and Spanish use the word "nada" and it was a bit confusing to me as well.
Isn't "not necessary" also ok? I guess it's not as flexible in English sentences but I thought it's the direct translation.
As an English native speaker, I automatically translated it as "It is not necessary", but it wasn't an accepted answer. I reported it. We'll see what they say.
that's exactly how I replied too. I understand how "don't" could be the answer, but i would have never have guessed that with the meanings/clues/hints they give
if "no need" is not an appropriate translation, why does it come up when you hover the mouse over не надо?
Look up my comment above. As I stated before, "Не стоит" is a more accurate translation for "No need", but it can be translated as "Не надо" in some situations as well.
The problem cmarooney is raising isn't that it is an unacceptable answer, but that when you hover over the words it tells you that it translates to "no need".
still learning, but i believe "спасибо, не надо" would be more accurate for this.
It is more archaic and not universal. Better not to use it. Depending on the situation (let's say someone offers you to add sugar to your tea) more popular answers would be: "нет, спасибо" or "нет, спасибо, не нужно" or "не, не надо" all with correct polite intonations.
It's not archaic - it just has a different meaning; read the discussions above.
So... after at least two years the translation is still wrong?
After reading the discussion, most seem to think "not necessary", "not needed", "not wanted" (?) are the more accurate meanings. The hovertips also still only hint at the "no need" one.
"Don't!" sounds like something you'd shout to someone who's just about to do something dangerous.
"don't need" I believe should be acceptable or "not necessary" - native Russian speakers I know use the phrase to have those meanings in English
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I wrote not necessary and I would have thought that this would translate as this under certain conditions.
It is entirely coincidental. There is a finite number of sounds in the world. надо is an adverb, while nada is a pronoun. They are completely unrelated.
Need and nothing are different words, though – and de nada typically means please, so I don't see the correlation.
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De nada means "you're welcome", not "please".
When someone says "thanks (gracias)", you reply "for nothing (de nada)", as if they have no need to thank you for such a trifle.
But it certainly wouldn't be used in the same way as the Russian phrase.
AH, GEEZ ... That was a slip up on my part!! Spanish's my first language, so mistakes like that are pretty much just me speaking about it a bit too casually. And yeah, de nada does mean for nothing, so there's definitely a sort of correlation -- but even then, don't and nothing are different words.
Haha me too! I often confuse my friends when trying to say something but accidentally saying the opposite of what I mean! (So embarassing when you find that out!). =-O
"Don't mention it" in English is used as an equivalent of "you're welcome" as a response to "thank you". I do not think "не надо" is used that way.
Not as far as I know. Не за что is used as an answer to спасибо and means about the same as "Don't mention it".
Sometimes I use "Don't bother", knowing it won't work, though I just want to report it. But I decided to ask here: is it a valid translation, and what about "Don't mention it"?
I'm having trouble telling when a word ends with an o or an a. They seem to sound very similar
They seem to sound very similar
Unless the last vowel is stressed (e.g. "хорошо"), they should sound exactly the same as standard Russian does not make any distinction between unstressed "а" and "о".
When they are not stressed, they sound exactly the same:
- у́тро /ˈutrə/
- у́тра /ˈutrə/
Russian spelling isn't easy.
DL rejected my answer just because I left off the exclamation point (and "Report" doesn't offer the option for "my answer should be accepted").
I keep thinking this means you're welcome because of some Spanish knowledge
Wouldn't "No thanks" Work in this situation? In past examples it has been shown that you need to think about the two words and what it was trying to say. Sorry if I'm overcomplicating it.
As an answer, it falls in the middle. A plain "njet" would be rudest; a fair "nje stojit" would the most polite.
I can't tell the difference between а and о sometimes. When is о pronounced а?
Whenever it is unstressed, except in foreign words of a certain structure (e.g., радио) and long compounds where you often have a secondary stress.
Prepositions возле and около have a weak stress, so their first O is audible (short prepositions are usually unstressed).
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Frustrated by lack of a Cyrillic keyboard. Hard to spell things "right" when transliterating.
"Don't" without the exclamation point should be a correct answer for a verbal cue with no emphasis in the tone of voice! ;)
I was told that this can also mean 'no thank you'? Is this true? If not what is the saying for 'no thank you'?
Well, "no, thank you" would be "не надо, спасибо" (but "нет, спасибо" works just fine too). "Не надо" on it's own is not polite enough to leave out the "thank you"; on the other hand it probably is a bit more polite than plain "no".
Yes, "please" is used much more frequently in American English than in Russian. I work as a translator and I omit most "please"s when I translate from English into Russian (of course if it doesn't affect the meaning).
So just to make it clear, if for example a hostile mob of Russians are beating up a kid on the street can or can I not scream "не надо" to get them to stop?
A very good example! You can. But in this situation you should probably scream "Police!" ("Полиция!"). You shouldn't plead with a mob (and "Не надо!" sounds like a plea).
It might work in some contexts, but it's not the most common meaning of this exclamation.
looking at the other comments...
"that's fine" was not accepted but should probably be. In a similar context where you would say "that's not necessary".
Another crappy translation by DL. Transliteration is "No Need" in some contexts it can mean don't but mostly it is "not needed".
"no need to" would be the translation as this phrase is used more in an informal situation
So my options are: Yes, no, this, don't, soon. Surely the answer is "no need" or some variant?
Transliterate rather than translate. Yandex - не = not, without. надо = it, about, at, over, on, upon Google -не = not. надо = need to, must, it's necessary. Interpretation = not it, not upon, not needed, not necessary. So looking at the culturally accepted interpretation, "Don't do it" is probably the most accurate
If I believe duolingo from English , не надо mean "don't", alone like this "don't" mean nothing...
How do you tell how to pronounce "о", and when? I've heard it sound like "а", "о", and "u" before.
its says the translation is "no need" but then tells me to say "dont" instead? XD
So I got it wrong because I didn't put an exclamation point at the end? The speaker was not exclaiming. Stupid.
I translated it as Don't.
That single period, at the end? Invalidated the translation. Remember, you have to be hollarin' Не надо! from the depth of your lungs, else it doesn't count! ;]
Could надо be used without the negative? As in "I need water" or "я надо вода"?
Надо and нада were both accepted. Is Russian just lax in spelling or is Duolingo allowing spelling errors?
All three different Russian alphabetical vowels e, a, and o in the phrase - He Haдo - come up sounding like an "a" and this is in only two miniscule words making up a smaller word in translation meaning "Don't". (oh boy).
So my question is is the a where the stress sign would go then because the o I hear sounds like an a and that is only possible if the a in Haдo is stressed right, or is my hearing off?
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hello, I have to switch the keyboard between different letters quite often. That nerft. Can you finally only leave English translation / letters. Thank you.
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hello, I have to switch the keyboard between different letters quite often. That nerft. Can you finally only leave English translation / letters. Thank you.
The “o” in Russian is pronounced three different ways, depending on where the letter is in relation to the stressed syllable of the word. A stressed “o” is pronounced “o”. An “o” that is the first letter in the word or is in the syllable right before the stressed syllable is pronounced “ah”, and an “o” anywhere else in the word is a schwa. That is why it is very important to know where a Russian word is stressed and very frustrating that there are some mistakes in the Duolingo lessons.
"Non es mester", or "non calla", I think. (Portuguese speaker here; I've never studied Spanish, thus I am not sure).
Why do we say "Не надо" as "nee nada" but the word "Не" as "nje"? Why is it not "nje nada"? Is this just an exception?
не is unstressed in most environments.
The notable exception is combining не with past forms of "to be" except the feminine: не был, не было, не были. In all three it is the не that it stressed, not the verb.
Certain pro-words also form and exception. They have the stressed не, which remains stressed even when a preposition causes it to detach: некого, некому, нечего → не у кого, не к кому, не с чего. These to do not have an exact English counterpart and the grammar they fit into is fairly counter-intuituve for English speakers:
- Ему некого спросить ~ He has no one to ask.
We introduce them much later in the course.
the lazy American equivalent of the "o" sound is closer to "a", not good for russian pronunciation or any language in topic.
Dont means if you are making tea for your mom and you add a lot of sugar in front of her so to stop you from adding the sugar she says dont meaning do not add sugar
