"Я Вера, а тебя как зовут?"
Translation:I'm Vera, and what's your name?
23 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Just a thought, but wouldn't it make more sense to say "я Вера, а как тебя зовут?" Instead of "я Вера, а тебя как зовут?". I just don't understand why it is on that order, because I always learned "what is your name?" As "Как тебя зовут". If someone could enlighten me that would be wonderful.
I think it could be ok, but remember, you always learned it that way in your native language :) What makes sense in yours wont make sense in a foreign language.
No, i always learned it that way on Duolingo.
"What is your name?" Was always "Как вас|тебя зовут."
319
Hello, John. I'll try to answer your question. Actually, the opposite (without the а) can seem condescending in Russian. I'm from Uzbekistan and in uzbek too, it's like a necessity to use it to mean that "I told you my name, now it's your turn to tell yours". For example, -Ты был в Париже? (Have you been to Paris?) -Нет, а ты? (No, and you?) To tell the truth, I find it a little difficult to explain. I'd love native speakers to help out.
Since Duo doesn't register punctuation, this would be read as an incomplete statement "I am Vera and your name is"
In English "AND what is your name" can seem a little condescending. Is there no such implication in Russian?
Whether it's condescending or not depends on the context and tone of voice. I often hear it used in a way it conveys the eagerness of the person to learn about your experience, a positive interest and care. In Polish the construction is exactly the same with "а ты?" which equals "what about you?".
why "а тебя как зовут?" and not "а как тебя зовут?" as fas a I know we say "как тебя зовут?" if we want to ask somebody's name. I don't understand the sentence order, can somone perhaps enlighten me? And also I'm a little bit confused with Russian sentence order in general. Thank you
The first should be 100% accepted, it's just English lacking some ways of saying things. The second sentence you put is very informal and you would maybe hear it at a playground.
It's dumb that the "and" is mandatory in English as it's not very natural.
So I misheard and got тебя and как the other way round. So? It makes little difference in Russian in this case. The position of these words affects the emphasis the questioner wants to put on the particular part of the question. The three words could come in any order.
Is the "and" very necessary in the sentence "I'm Vera, and what's your name?"
