"These are our lions!"
Translation:Это наши львы!
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how would you pronounce "львы", considering the e was dropped from between л and в?
It sounds something like "liv-wee." Can some provide a preferable pronunciation?
That looks right. I pronounce it in a very specific way, the best I can describe the first part of ы, "w" is somewhere between "uh" and "ooh", and then "ee". ¯_(ツ)_/¯
The idea is so you learn vocabulary while you learn structure. You're not supposed to memorize these sentences, but use them as a guide so you can make your own ones.
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If you ever happen to work for the Russian version of Fort Boyard, this should work. ;)
I am unsure as to whether the lions are there or not, though, since the show exhibits quite some variations from one country to another…
Not quite.
In this case, "это львы" is translated as "These are lions." The key here is that это is used to define something, regardless of the gender or count.
эта, это, этот, эти are used in a slightly different manner. Instead of saying "these are lions," эти львы would mean "these lions," and you would have to add more to the sentence to specify what the lions are doing, for example, "эти львы едят." (These lions are drinking.)
Notice that while saying это львы (These are lions) forms a complete sentence, эти львы (these lions) does not.
So essentially, if the English version has the verb "to be" then use это.
Now that's a strange plural if I've ever seen one. Anyone know the etymology of that?
Reduction. Words are like stones on the seashore: parts get worn off with ages. Here, 'e' is gone from the middle while 'л' remained soft, so 'ь' is used to show it.
From what I got so far, THIS IS / THESE ARE is always ЭТО, regardless of gender and singular / plural. Эти could be used if you want to say only THESE, like on These lions are drinking - Эти львы пьют
Damn it!! I just can't get the hang of when to use и or ы for plurals and which words use which one, or when they are used as a grammatical ending, e.g. "у мамы есть карандаш". I have been cycling around the Animals-1 practice session for 20 minutes now, and I can't get them right!!
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Try this free course for russian school students (the 5th form): https://academiait.ru/course/russkij-yazyk-5-klass/ :)
Didn't accept my answer with all the correct words because it was missing the "!" Hahaha
You wouldn't say a sentence like that without expressing deep pride within yourself!
ь is the soft sign. It tells you the letter before it is pronounced softer than it usually is. It has no sound. ы has a pronunciation though. It kinda starts like the part between 'wee!!' and finishes with the 'ee' sound.
Be careful of confusing З with Э, I got marked wrong for using the wrong letter.
Can't you say "Эти львы наши" as well? I thought the emphasis was on "our"
Мой, моя, моё, мои (my) - masc, fem, neuter, plural
Наш, наша, наше, НАШИ (our) - masc, fem, neuter, plural
"вот наши львы" wasn't accepted. does вот have a different connotation that makes it inappropriate here? or does it sound weird?
Ah yes of course if i ever meet russian people i will first of all tell them that i own some lions and... Oh totally forgot to feed them... Damn it
Isn't the correct translation "Эти наши львы!"? The word "это" means "this", the word "эти" means "these". Can someone please fix this?
Это: "These ARE". Это can serve both singular and plural
Эти: "These"
Эти наши львы = These lions are ours
I looked it up and it offered two versions for the plural form of лев :/
https://www.dict.com/russian-english/%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B2 (click on the little blue triangle pointing down beside the russian word to display it's forms in different cases)
Can anyone explain why this is? Are the two interchangeable or are there any special cases one or the other is used in?
i notice "зто" doesn't agree with "львы". and to think about all the bull about the predicate nominative agreeing.......!
It agrees. Это is a strange word that changes function according to context:
Это яйцо - This egg. In this case Это applies since яйцо is neuter
Это велосипед - This is a bicycle. Since велосипед is masculine, the sentence cannot be "This bicycle" since that would require этот to match the gender. Whenever you are expressing "this is" you use это.
Это яйца - These are eggs. This is the plural form of "this is". The hint here is that это is used rather than эти. If you want to say "These eggs" then you'd have to use эти to match the plural.
Это велосипеды - These are bicycles. Another use matching "these are" to emphasize that the gender of the noun does not matter.