73 Comments
I'm starting to feel these are specificly targeted towards people with allergens
(First read through still translates as 'Dima is an egg'. One of these days, есть!)
Yes, this would be a correct way of saying "Dima eats everything".
"Есть" is the infinitive "to eat". "Ест" is the third person singular form - he/she/it eats.
Thanks Homie, impressive Duolingo record you have there. Oh my god is that a 186 day streak!!!!??
Well, thanks :-) Yes, that is a 186 day streak - but then I draw your attention to the 264 day streak immediately below, and the 624 day streak below that...
Edit after stumbling on this a while later: The streak died at the ripe old age of 207 days when I was without internet for a week.
Doesn't есть mean have? Or "Exist by" as is universally used to show ownership in conversations? Such as "у нас есть яблоки"?
You're right, this is one of the most confusing words around. Есть is the infinitive "to eat", it's also the present tense form of быть "to be", as in your sentence.
Same in German. They have a saying: "Man ist was man isst." Which means, "you are what you eat."
So many of these questions have the intonation of a declaration. Is that accidental, or do Russians intone questions differently than anglophones?
Why is "Is dima eating an egg?" wrong? Isn't ест in this case equivalent to both is eating and eats?
«Ест» is, indeed, both ‘is eating’ and ‘eats.’
However, «я́йца» is ‘eggs’, and «яйцо́» is ‘[an] egg’.
English allows using ‘egg’ (uncountable, without an article) to refer to any amount of eggs. Russian doesn’t do this, so «Дима ест яйца» can be translated ‘Dima eats egg’, that is, indefinite amount of egg(s). But ‘Dima eats an egg’ can’t be translated with «я́йца», only with «яйцо́».
Why is it is not "Дима едят яйца?"? Since Dima eats multiple eggs, shouldn't the verb be in plural form?
Do we use the infinitive verb form to specify something over using the verb form that is correct in number to its noun?
Russian belongs to the nominative-accusative languages. It means that verbs always agree with the person or thing doing the action (linguistically speaking, with the agent) and not with the thing that is affected by the action (not the patient).
I.e. it doesn't matter how many eggs Dima eats. What matters is how many people eat eggs.
Is it joy? -
"Correct solution:
• Dima eats the eggs?"
On which language is this question?
Umar-z, Вы так пишете, как будто еще кому-то интересно. Дело, конечно не в окончании, а мне думается, что в знаке вопроса "?". Если бы это было предложение по-русски, пусть даже и латинскими буквами, то все в порядке, но ведь это же предложение написано по-английски и это вопрос. А вопросы по-английски пишут с другим порядком слов в предложении. Does Dima eat eggs? Надо так понимать, что за прошедшие с 15-02-2016 три недели уже внесены изменения в ответы на это задание. Спасибо. А что касается Эсперанто, то есть и газеты и журналы и радио и проводятся мероприятия. Его просто и легко освоить, особенно, если знаете какой-либо из европейских языков, и через неделю обучения можно уже общаться.
Would anyone else find it acceptable to say "Does Dima eat egg?" In Australia anyway it seems to be perfectly common to refer to non-specific foodstuffs in the singular, much like how you would say "Do you eat cake?"
I'd say no. I can't speak for the Aussies, but to my ear, while it's often appropriate to treat foods as mass nouns in that way, it doesn't work with eggs for some reason.
I think it does, for instance, if you're checking specifically for allergies or preference. If you're talking to Dima and asking him if he eats egg, I suppose this would imply you think he's a baby, so possibly not the best place for this construction, but if you're asking his friend or mom and he's not near, then I think this'd work.
Fair enough. I have seen it used in this manner and would not find it strange or unusual to spot in a sentence. I'd give it a pass, definitely.
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[ яйцо́ ‧ Singular ] ‧ [ я́йца ‧ Plural ] ‧ Яйцо ‧ Noun Declension ‧ cooljugator.com/run/яйцо ‧ ‧ en.wiktionary.org/wiki/яйцо ‧
Countable eggs either gestationally mature, perish and reconstitute or are transformed from being an egg in some supply chain processing. Food, vaccines, paint, photographic emulsions, fertilizer, soil, waste and other products contain mass noun egg. A tempura batch starting with countable eggs results in mass noun egg as a listed base ingredient on the tempura paint tube. Countable embryo hosting egg shell transitions into mass noun eggshell.
‧ www.imaginationstationtoledo.org/educator/activities/how-to-make-a-naked-egg/the-anatomy-of-a-chicken-egg
‧ allerg.qc.ca/Information_allergique/3_3d_oeuf_en.html
‧ www.naturalpigments.com/artist-materials/tempera-emulsion-recipe/
‧ www.cavemanchemistry.com/cavebook/chphoto3.html
‧ www.azumaya.eu › Accueil › Produits identifiés “oeuf”
‧ ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/news/product-pharmaceutical-ingredient-cracking-eggshell-waste
‧ hamiltonhealthsciences.ca/documents/Patient Education/EggFreeDiet-trh.pdf
‧ www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/files/16294035/Developments_in_understanding_and_assessment_of_egg_and_egg_product_quality_over_the_last_century.pdf
Яйцо́.
Is this natural or is it better to use singular in this type of question in Russian?
It depends on what you're asking. If you want to know if Dima eats eggs in general (i.e. maybe he's observing the Nativity fast?), or if you want to know if he's eating more than one egg now, than you'd use plural. If you want to know if he eats one egg now, than you'd use singular.
Yes, it's audible because it's distinguished by stress: яйцо́ 'egg', but я́йца 'eggs'.
Listen to the beginning of the word. In яйцо я is not stressed so it sounds like [ji] (together with й), in яйца it is stressed, so you hear [ja]. In the end of яйцо you hear a stressed [o] and in the end of яйца an unstressed a, but those are harder to hear.
In "Type what you hear" I do not hear a question, but a statement.
The problem I have with some of these, this one included, is that I cannot tell either from the text-to-speech intonation or from the syntax whether it is a statement or a question.
Instead of what? There are several possible problems someone might have with this sentence. The question mark tell's it's a question and in speech there's also intonation. The singular of яйца is яйцо. The stress is on different syllables, so the pronounsiation is quite different: in the singular you hear a clear [o] in the end. ест is eat and not a form of "to be" which is есть. Context usually helps with this too, "Dima is eggs" doesn't really sound that good. Hope that helps :)
What is the difference between an egg or eggs linguistically in russian? I thought this word was for a single egg.
- Ди́ма есть яйцо́? — Does Dima eat [a/the] egg?
- Ди́ма есть я́йца? — Does Dima eat eggs?
Яйцо́ is a neuter noun. Most neuter nouns form plurals with -а or -я: окно́ 'window' — о́кна 'windows', полоте́нце 'towel' — полоте́нца 'towels', мо́ре 'sea' — моря́ 'seas', мне́ние 'opinion' — мне́ния 'opinions' (but there are exceptions: я́блоко 'apple' — я́блоки 'apples', чу́до 'miracle' — чудеса́ 'miracles'...).
Note that in English, 'egg' can be used a mass noun, to refer to an indefinite number of eggs (e.g. after they were cut for salad so you don't see their original number). In Russian, this is not the case. 'Egg' always refers to a single egg.
Well, «У Ди́мы есть яйца?» is a normal way to ask if Dima has some eggs. Maybe you want to cook a pie but you don't have eggs, so you need to know if Dima can lend you some.
Alternatively, since «яйца» is a slang term for testicles, «У Ди́мы есть я́йца?» 'Does Dima have balls?' can be a very slangy (and impolite) way to ask whether Dima is male. But since Dima is a male name anyway, the question is likely to be metaphorical: 'Is Dima a man?' = 'Does Dima behave like a man?'.
In Wiktionary it says that the nominative plural of Яйцо is Яйцы. As far as I know an о ending should result in an а plural-ending like here, but the internet says else... can someone clarify it for me?
Make sure you’re looking at the Russian entry in Wiktionary ;)
How would one say "Does Dima eat eggs?"
Also it would be tremendously helpful if someone could post an explanation of the different cases and how nouns change with each. I'm very new to this, thanks for any help you can offer.
Please use a 'Report a problem' button: it's easier to reach the course authors this way. The comment might be missed, as there're lots of comments, and not all are reports.
