29 Comments
Does "Это значит" also mean "it is known" or is there some other way to say that?
известно means "it is known" and is quite commonly used.
Note that "it" in "it is known" is pretty much meaningless - it's like "it is cold" - and has no corresponding word in Russian, but the "it" in "it means" actually refers to something concrete hence 'Это'.
(Also: значить - "to mean, to signify" is not the same verb as "знать" - to know. )
In this case, it means "that" but only in the sense of a word THAT links two ideas. It cannot be the subject of the sentence. However, it also means "what" in questions- WHAT are you doing, WHAT do you see, etc.
I think this is comparable with the german linking word "dass" (that), so in German I would translate "Das bedeutet, dass wir nach Hause gehen."
Shouldn't it just be дом instead of домой? Would it be correct if I were to say "Это значит, что мы идём дом", or would that sound weird?
домой is an adverb, and indicates motion towards home (i.e., homeward, towards home).
дом is in the nominative and merely means "home" - as it would appear in the subject position in a sentence (e.g., дом здесь, "A home is here.")
Дома, like домой, is an adverb and means "at home".
1909
Not so. In English, if you say "It means we're walking home", you emphasize the walking. There is no such meaning conveyed in the Russian sentence. In fact, "идём домой" could mean going home using any form of transportation in most contexts.
Interesting...Only had a year of Russian so far, but they have been very careful to teach us to use ходить-идти/пойти when referring to going by foot, and ездить-ехать/поехать when going by any other means of transport. How else would you say that you are walking home?
- 1909
If you want to emphasize walking (in most cases you won't), you will want to use the combination идти пешком. For example:
- Я иду домой пешком = I am walking home.
In regards to the general use of идти: there is a nuance here which is context-related: When you say "Я иду домой" (I am going home), like in English it can mean that you're in the process of going home, or that you're going to start going home right away (a note on that later).
If it's the former, then Russian "я иду домой" usually means walking. It doesn't have to, but this is usually the intention. For example:
- "Где ты? —Я иду домой" = Where are you? I am on my way home (can imply walking)
If it's the latter, the verb идти implies nothing at all:
- "Мне пора, я иду домой" = It's time for me, I am going home
Note: The verb пойти is often more appropriate in this context, i.e. "Мне пора, я пошёл домой". It still doesn't imply any specific mode of transport.
Back to the original sentence: "Это значит, что мы идём домой" is the latter case in most practical contexts. In the rare case that it would be the former, for example:
- "Видишь, что мы не в обмундировании? Это значит, что мы идём домой" = Do you see that we're not in uniform? It means we're going [on our way] home.
it could imply walking, but that's really circumstance-dependent.
Sorry, Duolingo should accept 'walking. "Motion" verbs in Russian are very specific. ходить/идтй means to go on foot. You can not use these verbs correctly if you are using a means of transportation. The latter (идтй) means to go on foot in one direction; the former means to go and return on foot.
Am I right in thinking that the pronunciation of что (as a conjunction) is wrong, please? I guess 'o' in 'что' should be pronounced /ɐ/ rather than /o/.
The pronunciation of ч is an exception, but the vowel follows normal rules. If there's only one syllable, the vowel will always be stressed - so что sounds like other stressed о - /o/.
Mmhhh, this phrase could be useful at the ninetieth minute of a football final match :-)
I don't fully understand the purpose of что in this sentence. What would be the meaning (if there is one) of "это значит, мы идём домой"
Dear avichaim Your phrase translates as "this means we are going home." что is the word "that" as in "this means that we are going home." Although we sometimes state English sentences in speaking without the "that" the word "that" is understood in English if omitted.. Including что makes a grammatically complete Russian sentence.
Hmmm. "идём домой", could this not be translated literally as "To go on foot homewards"?
If so why is " It means that we are walking home." not okay.
If not, why?
can anyone explain why there is a comma after это значит? it would be incorrect in english but is used consistently enough in exercises here that i'm guessing it is correct in russian
Is "что" actually acting as a relative pronoun here, similar to the word "that" in English?
- 159
If u know Spanish, что is perfectly understandable, similar to que. Sometimes is a question, and sometimes it means "affirmation?"
