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- "Что вы обсуждаете?"
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Is the verb "обсуждать" like saying "to talk about" in English? Because to ask "What are you discussing?" or in general to use the verb "to discuss" is more formal and not often used.
Keep in mind that "What are you talking about?" also has the idiomatic meaning of "You are talking nonsense." But the literal meaning would be valid.
Sometimes, but that implication is not always there, and often depends on the tone of voice.
This is a good point, as this question might be considered nosy; but if "talking about" is the intended meaning it would be asking for clarification.
I just had this exercise again, and "What are you talking about" was rejected. In English this would mean the same thing.
Personally, as a speaker of British English, I would say that discussing something is far more earnest and formal than talking about. Does this difference also pertain to Russian?
well then someone should let moderators know that as of 22/03/20 the answer "What are you talking about?" was not accepted.
8/10/20, (m/d/y) not accepted. Yes, "what are you talking about" has some implications in certain situations, however, if you were in a situation like this, where you were approaching someone having a conversation and saying "what are you talking about" it does not have that connotation of craziness, it is simply a genuine inquiry as to the topic of discussion.
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I have to disagree. I certainly say and hear "to discuss" more than "to talk about". This may be a dialectal difference? (British-English speaker).
I agree...here in the U.S. "What are you discussing?" would be more formal (if not nosy) and less frequently used. Actually a person just entering a conversation would even change the pronoun to ask, "What are we talking about?"
Same question here. There are contexts for "discussing" in a question like this (asking someone who is about to give a talk or host a seminar what the subject will be, perhaps) but I would also like to know if "talking about" is acceptable here.
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об-суж-да́ть ‧ discuss consider ‧ Из об- и суд ‧ [ суд ‧ trial tribunal court ] ‧ ‧ ‧ ru.wiktionary.org/wiki/обсуждать ‧ ‧ en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/sǫdъ
So we have что (nominative form) and not чего (genetive form), would it be right if I say ((чего вы не обсуждаете)) due to negation?
And if I'm wrong can somebody clear it up.
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Usually negation doesn't require the genitive case unless you're using нет, although there are some exceptions.
'What are you talking about?' is not accepted but is slightly more natural imo
Is TV distinction in Russian such that бы is solely for formal? Is there a separate pronoun for "you all/you guys". I said "what are you all discussing?" and it was marked wrong. Thanks
The collective you and singular formal you are the same - вы (careful, not бы - it seems these are easy to confuse for English speakers).
