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- Topic: Russian >
- "Он мальчик."
34 Comments
It can mean either, depending on punctuation/intonation. Он мальчик. He is a boy. Он мальчик? Is he a boy?
and is the intonation of the sample above really rather Он мальчик. than Он мальчик? ?
You'd have to ask a native speaker. To me, it's unclear and I'd be reluctant to make any definitive statement.
Remember that Russian intonation is different from English (and most likely other languages too), so the inflection you hear one way, a Russian native speaker might perceive differently. Just because it doesn't sound like a question to you doesn't necessarily mean it isn't one and vice versa. Which is not to say this audio is perfectly right or wrong, I'd just warn against assuming that because you perceive it as a question it must be wrong!
I'm very out of practice and I never had a perfect handle on intonation anyway. What you need is a native speaker. Sorry!
okay, thank you very much anyway! i had been learning russian for more than 6 years but that happened some decades ago :)
The intonation here (and not only here, it's the problem of the whole cousre) is wrong and unclear. There are three sullables here and for me their tone changes like
" _ _ - "
But for a clear question it should be
" _ - _ "
And for the statement
" - - _ "
Also, there is a type of question when you not really asking but doubting the received information (like "He is a boy! Are you kidding?") In this case the intonation of "он мальчик" is
" _ - / "
It does not sound like anything in particular. Maybe a bit similar to a doubtful question "Is he... a boy?", but, really, it sounds neither like a typical statement nor like a typical question.
1656
The intonation of the sample above is rather interrogative than affirmative. You are quite right.
They make no sounds of their own. You might need a video on Palatalized Consonants (or two videos )
Ъ is used to separate a consonant-ending prefix from a iotated vowel that starts the root. Mainly in native words (съесть, подъехать, объём) but also in some loanwords (объект).
hi shady_arc, on another question that was asked elsewhere in this question thread, i am wondering why a correct solution can't be "he is the boy"? thanks.
You'll find another useful/helpful thread on this discussion at "Я здесь."
The thread primarily discusses the мягкий знак (the "soft sign" or "ь"), but I found a web page (TOPIC: The hard sign" (ъ)) that provides some interesting information on both:
soft sign -- мягкий знак (ь)
hard sign -- твердый знак (ъ).
I went to Forvo to see if I could hear the difference between two words that were similar, but one with the "ъ" and one without. I chose въезд (entry) and везде (everywhere). I don't know how good these audio recordings are (although one of them is by someone named Shady_arc!), but I have to be honest. I really didn't hear much of a difference between them. If you'd like to hear them for yourself, the links to these audio recordings are below:
Whether you hear a difference or not, I do recommend the video links Shady_arc provided -- "Palatalized Consonant" and the other (click on "two videos"). They are both really quite good. The second one (whose YouTube title is "More on Soft and Hard Signs in Russian") actually enhances your understanding by providing wave forms of pronunciations with the "ь" or "ъ" and without. Very helpful.
Hope you find that interesting and/or useful.
OK, thanks. But why, all of a sudden, there no dot to replace de verb "is" ??? (See precedent discussions...)
Look up how toread russian in fifteen minutes. Its a good beginning to learning russian. Searchfor it on google imagis.
I think it sounds like манчйк. Do you pronounce л as an н in this word?
Yes, Он means he. You can find out the meaning of a word by hovering over it to expose the hints. I hope this helps.
Why is missing an article error? It's just because my native language and Russian don't use them so it's difficult for me to get them right every time.
What does this letter sounds like " ч "?.. and this " ъ " too?? And when they come successively " ъч " , how sre they pronounced ?
The course does support the Russian alphabet :) You just have to click the switch on the top left while in a lesson. It looks like [Aa].
