158 Comments
You can translate it as "No need, mom" or "Don't", meaning "Don't bother" or "That won't be necessary."
If it helps, you can imagine that your mom has offered to do something for you, but you decide you can handle it on your own, so you say ""Не надо, мама." This is just my interpretation; I am not a Russian speaker.
I speak portuguese and "надо" is a cognate of the word "nada" which means "nothing". The literal translation would be "it's nothing, mom". However I tried the literal translation and it corrected to "Don't mom". I feel a lot was lost with that answer. So, there you go.
Yuri, you are very incorrect. Russian for need and Portuguese for Nothing are completely unrelated.
Loosen up. Let's be polite and call it an accidental coincidence.
Besides, anything that helps one remember things is a gift!
Some Mothers Very Thoughtfully Made Jelly Sandwiches Under No Protest.
@jackson: Not so simple. My on-line dictionary lsts the following
it is necessary (for); (one) must; (one) ought; need
More important are the usage examples.
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мне надо идти — I must (ought to) go
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мне надо вина — I need some wine
P.S. İf Duolingo's incessant repetition has you screaming мне скучно, the key icon is your friend.
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false friends, it seems: apparent cognates with very different meanings or interpretations. Like actual which is Spanish for "currrent" in English, not for "actual" (in English).
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I speak portuguese and "надо" is a cognate of the word "nada"
Простите, но... выше моих сил не вспомнить :)
Mas que nada. Машке надо. Mashka (Maria) needs/wants/desires something. :) Old russian joke.
Não falo português. (wink) But "de nada" comes up often enough in Southern Alta California. "Don't mention it" is on my top ten list in any new language.
Portugues tem muita coisa similar ao russo e isso ajuda muito, porque se for pra depender do ingles... tu fica loco
Yeah, you are right at all I am russian, and I think that it's the best explanation)
"Don't, mom" is the same as "No need, mom" in English. Don't (do) it, mom is what it means and do is ommitted because it is implied in English.
However, saying "Don't" to anyone has a rude connotation. I think DL should reconsider, as conotaions are important.
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But it's said quite often in English. Even though i would prefer to say "Mom, don't. " unfortunately they marked it wrong for some reason. Anyway, there may be a situation where mom is doing something that requires not to do a particular thing. We don't really know that.
No meaning? au contraire, it has too many interpretations, depending on the intonation and (drumroll) CONTEXT: everything from polite "Don't mention it" to pleading "Get off my back." Is the speaker a teenager? Or a child? IADOTC
it's more something like when you say to a baby to not do something bad so you say:"don't"
Надо же!
See my "teenager or child?" comment above.
"Please don't" also works with ornery seniors although this senior dropped the "please" on the phone last night when my mother criticized my Spanish pronunciation. I bit my tongue when she pronounced Хрущёв wrong.
In addition to the other examples, I've also seen it being translated in a game to "please", as in "please stop". Scenario: someone's dad is angry at you, that someone says to his dad: "папа, не надо", which was translated as "dad, please".
It's fundamentally the same meaning, but slightly different intention.
Надо sounds like brazilian "nada" which means "nothing" in portuguese. By the way, a russian speaking fast and a portuguese speaking fast sounds similar. This is pretty cool actually.
Pensei que eu era o único brasileiro estudando russo aqui. Tem muitas palavras parecidas.
Não só brasileiros... Somos outros que também falamos português...
Ou pelo menos, um poquinho.
Agreed. I speak Russian and could have sworn that two Brazilian Portuguese speakers i overheard were speaking Russian.
The same with me, seeing three people talking in Portuguese in Italy. When I greet them, I saw that they were Russians.
The other day I was watching a movie in Korean (with subtitles). One of the characters is a Russian expat. I couldn't figure where he stopped talking Russian and started talking Korean or vice versa.
And also, "Где" sounds like "Cadê" which is portuguese for "Where is it", so it's pretty neat
I used to watch Brazilian soap operas in my childhood, my favourite word was obrigado which sounded like бригада to me, which means a brigade, a team of workers, though obviously it means "thank you" in Portuguese.
All my life I've heard Brazilian people, and I've thought it sounds like Spanish, buuuut, two years ago I met people from portugal, in the caribbean, and I thought before to know it, they may be from some Slavic country ... Portugues frome Portugal is not Similar to Spanish, it sounds like, to me, Russian or somthing as Bulgarian. I'm spanish native speaker
The language itself is closer to Spanish than the Brazilian version, I think. Particularly in vocabulary. But the pronunciation... Ugh, don't get me started.
Except Portuguese doesn't sound as nice as Russian, or at all in my opinion. Sounds weird. Some ways the words are sounds like Russian but minus the nice flow of Russian.
I thought the same on several occasions, but was not sure whether other people perceive it like that. Nice to know I am not alone. :)
I found the "Don't, mom" offered as the answer (it was a word-picking exercise for me) to be rather confusing regarding the meaning in English, as it is a phrase I have seldom seen in use, me being a non-native. An easier to understand alternative would have been maybe "no thanks" or "don't worry". Well, at least I guess I'm learning English AND Russian!
On some of the other не надо questions, comments say it can be used as an imperative: "don't do that." It might be a little rude to say that to one's mother, but duolingo doesn't seem too concerned with politeness except for formal/informal pronouns (вы/ты) :P
In english, "Don't mom" can just mean "don't do whatever action you're doing, mom". Assume itrs the same in russian
Try the new Mandarin course. Full of translationese almost as bad as Giggle Translate.
Speaking of Chinese and teenagers. One gem that I learned was 不行 (bùxíng) lit. "No go," (like "no va" models) but in the context, the content provider translated it as "No way!"
The individual words don't mean anything, this is a phrase, and maybe should be explained as such.
Out of context this seems like it could be interpreted several ways. If it were used a reply for example, perhaps if your mom was telling you to take a coat as you go out of the door, you could use it to say "I don't need it, mom."
This sentence is closer to "I don't need you to do that, mom" For example: "Тебе помочь, сынок?" - "Не надо (помогать), мама."
would you say "не надо" to someone who was bothering you, or if you want to command someone to stop doing something?
When my dad was learning Russian, he said that if the o was not in the stressed syllable, it would sound like an a. It works every time. Try it.
I do not think "Don't mom" makes sense in English (at least grammatically). Maybe, "no need, mom" would be better?
Sayin "Don't Mom" is wrong if we really mean "no need." It took me a while to figure it out because all the answers were wrong.
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Can you hear a difference an unstressed о and а at the end of a word, or do you just have to memorize spellings?
Memorize, honestly. Just like English has a bunch of homophones and you have to memorize those spellings too. Sometimes there's no shortcuts.
I believe you just need to memorize it. I also kind of remember from a Russian pronunciation class that consonants at the end of words are devoiced, meaning a 'd' sounds like a 't'; 'b' becomes 'p'; etc
No, you can't. They both "reduce" to a sound called schwa, similar to the filler sound "uh" in English (or the u in cut, but, butt, mutt/a is what).
Unfortunately, you'll have to memorize them.
Depends on your mother language, I guess. As a Spaniard I struggle, but someone with a schwa sound in their language should be able to pick it up.
I think of it like this: In English, I pronounce the word "potato" like "pə-tA-tO". The only way you know from reading how to say it is if you're familiar with the word. If you go around saying "pO-tah-tO", people will look at you funny.
I think with the mostly regular grammar/spelling rules and patterns, spelling will come easier later even if they do sound the same.
The expression is correct in russian which mean there is no need, mama. However the english options are not correct, they should have included bother or no need...
Same thing I thought of reading this. I'm native speaker. This phrase is rather rude/emotional, reflecting some conflict but it could depend on intonation of course. But I think if there is no conflict it would usually be paraphrased.
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The problem isn't the Russian, it is that the english translations that are offered are poor english.
Не надо means no i don't need it or don't need it. And I grow with Russian parents
Who uses "don't, mom" ? I translated it as "No thanks, mom" because it makes actually sense.
In this one as well, "don't" has no place in the translation. If it means "no need, mom" or "(that's) not necessary, mom" or whatever else similar, then that's what the translation should be.
"don't" = "do not (do something)" is a command/order, not a relaxed or polite request.
can the word надо appear on its own? i couldn't get the translation. I would guess it means "need" or "necessary" and then the phrase would be "no need" or "it's not necessary"
Yep. It means need and is used with a dative noun/pronoun frequently.
E.g., mne nado rabotat' sevodnja vecher (i need to work tonight)
They are different. Roughly, "нет" = "no", while "не" = "not", but it's not 100% like that.
Do not need to do it mom Or Its not necessary to do it mom Or Dont do it mom
These are all right and its a usefull sentenc.
Why is it pronounced "nada" it ends in an o? Is this a rule in Russian? A lot of words ending in or containing the letter "o" makes an "a" sound. Send help please
Russian pronunciations come in two main variants: аканье and оканье. аканье is the standard one, and distinguishes itself by merging the sounds of the vowels "а" and "о" when they're unstressed. So, stressed "о" and "а" sounds as you would expect. Unstressed "о" and "а" sound the same, like a schwa (ie. not exactly an "a", but close).
The stress of "надо" falls in the "а", meaning that the "о" is reduced and sounds like if you were saying "nada".
If you're thinking: "damn! this won't help me at all when learning", you're not alone ;-)
So when it's unstressed they both sound like "a"? How can I tell that? Also thank you for replying.
There's no way (that I know) to tell just by listening to it. The only way is know the word in advance, I'm afraid.
Ooooh ok, I kind of understand it now after repeating the words a few times. I guess repetition is key. Thanks bro
unfortunately, as in English where the word Dove can mean a bird or past tense of dive and is pronounced with different stress on the O depending on usage, we only know that because we were taught the different pronunciations based on context. A new English speaker has to learn that. Same with Live - I Live in..... the show is Live - different context, different pronunciation - confusing for new students. so many examples, copper - o sounds like ah, cope o sounds like oh. so this is not new stuff - but we're on the other end now having to learn when its stressed. There are books that discuss this - beginner's books and children school books use a mark above the stressed vowel but more advanced texts don't use the marks as it's assumed you have learned it. "Russian course, a complete course for beginners" helped me understand it. (хорошо is my favorite russian example where the first two o's are pronounces ah and the last one is oh) also, there is a website called forvo.com where you can type in or copy and paste in, a russian word and it will bring up audio clips of native speakers saying the word - not EVERY word is on there but I've usually found what I'm looking for.
Why is "No thanks, Mom" incorrect? I realize it's not literal, but don't they have the same function?
There are too many people here thinking that nada from Spanish and надо from Russian are related. They are not. Nada is from Latin, надо from Proto slavic. "Not needed" and "nothing" aren't even similar in meaning.
Would this be considered polite or rude? Would I say this if the president were offering me something I didnt want?
No nada, madre (spanish), it is very used in spanish everyday conversations even in the phone. I'm a native Spanish speaker also. No Nada - не надо
I don't know what kind of broken Spanish you speak during your everyday conversations, but that doesn't make sense at all, unless you:
- are talking about people that can't swim; or
- meant "no, nada, madre"
Of which only the second has a little to do "не надо", and only if we make an effort
No, it means - please don't start, please don't do that, and so on, it's used to ask someone to stop doing something.
I keep writing the ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ 'don't, mom', but Duo doesn't accept it even if it was the one who suggested such a horrible translation. Now I'm stuck.
I kind of interpret this as "Ain't nothing, Mom." as a negation of something offered or suggested. Is that at all correct? And, how formal is the construction in Russian?
It marked it correct when I answered no need Mom. Now it says it's wrong; that it means don't mom.
Telling me "Don't do it, mom." is wrong. I get that Не надо means "Don't," but how would one say "do (it!)" on its own in russian? Cause im pretty sure its not just надо
I think it would be better to translate "Не надо" as "Don't do it" or "I/we/they needn't it". In this context: "Не надо, мама" we can say "Don't do it Mom". But we should know more about the situation. For example, a kid is going to walk with his friends. The mother is saying: "Take a scarf!" ('Возьми шарф!' in Russian) And the kid is saying: "I needn't it Mom" - "Не надо, мама!". In the same situation if the mother is going to tie a scarf to the kid, he can say "Don't do it, Mom!" - "Не надо, мама!"
It means no need mom, Не = No and Надо = need. I speak Russian as a second language
The hidden pop-up hints fir the pallud yellow blobs say "no need," and sound just like Spanish Nada, so where dies the "Don't" come from? IADOTC, I guess.
Come on Duolingo, you accept my answer when I type it without spaces or when I put the spaces where ever I want but you don't accept it when I don't put an ' between "n" and "t" while typing "Don't".
from what I've looked up on the internet, this means "Don't bother". It is called a double negative.
A double negative is a grammatical construction occurring when two forms of negation are used in the same sentence.
pizza guy "here is your change"
you "Не надо"
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In what language does mam mean the same thing as mom/mum? Is it really English?
It has a poor translation to it. "Don't do, Mom" and "No need, Mom" is also true. It is case dependent. This must be changed or removed.
Надо is used when you want to say you need something, therefore не надо is when you don't need something. The exercise is wrong in this sense.
Im spanish native. This REALLY sounds like "de nada" which is spanish for "you are welcome" Please reply to me does this mean you are welcome as aresponse to thanks?
This really is using the wrong word. Don't implies danger. No need implies courtesy. Thats how i understand this conversation
