"Он всегда готовит ужин сам."
Translation:He always makes dinner by himself.
42 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
1955
Maybe, but more correct would be to use the word "один" for alone. Hence, "Он всегда готовит ужин один".
54
Сам apparently means "by himself" whereas "for himself" would be для себя. MattRobins1 explained the difference in the earlier comments.
54
Сам apparently means "by himself" and "for himself" would be для себя. MattRobins1 explained the English difference in the earlier comments.
2004
"He cooks alone" implies that he is on his own, perhaps lonely, definitely around no one else. However, this is more of a "by himself" kind of meaning - more of, "without anyone else's assistance."
Also "for himself" is not a correct translation for this sentence.
"He always cooks dinner for himself" is "Он всегда готовит ужин для себя". This means that he just cooks for himself. While "cooks by himself" means that he cooks for somebody, perhaps for himself, or for his family, or for his masters or employers etc.
"For himself" means "для себя" while "himself" is "сам". The meaning is different. If he makes dinner for himself it means that he is the one who does the cooking and he is the one who eats it. If he makes dinner himself it means that he is the one who does the cooking but it doesn't say anything about who eats it (perhaps his whole family).