54 Comments
464
[ что это за ] ‧ is a fixed phrase used as a routine inquiry, rhetorical question and exclamatory expression. The phrase meanings are broader than the, [ кака́я како́й како́е каки́е ] [ what ] [ what kind of ] inquiry.
‧ что это за книга ‧ what a book it is ‧ ru.wikisource.org/wiki/Братья_Карамазовы_(Достоевский)/Книга_шестая/II ‧ www.klassika.ru/read.html?proza/dostoevskij/karams.txt&page=70 ‧ books.google.com/books?isbn=163537085X ‧
‧ Мадемуазель, что это за книга? ‧ Miss, are you sure this is the same notebook? ‧ Сериал Отряды-Тигров 1974-1983 ‧ Tiger Brigades ‧ 1974-1983 ‧ vvord.ru/Otryadyi-tigrov-7.html ‧ vvord.ru/tekst-filma/Otryadyi-tigrov/ ‧ www.film.ru/movies/otryady-tigrov
что это за ‧ ‧ Such/What a, Who is, What sort, What is up/going-on with, Who/What the heck, What is/are the/those/these ‧ ‧ www.babla.ru/русский-английский/что-это-за ‧ ‧ context.reverso.net/translation/russian-english/что+это+за ‧ ‧
I don't understand the meaning of что ... за in this sentence. Does it have the same meaning as какой?
- 1468
Yes, it has this meaning - "какой". Don't translate it literally.
Generally, the meaning of "что это за" depends on the context: "what kind(/sort) of", "what is it made of", "what is it".
Can что это за be used with people, in a relevant context ? ^^ Like if you see someone you know walking barefeet on the street, and you walk up to him and say "What kind of a man are you ?" to joke. If so, how would it be phrased in Russian ?
- 1468
Yes. If you would ask somebody about another man - "что это за человек?" - it means "tell me about this man, what does he do, where he works? etc."
You can use it as well for the question "Что ты за человек?" with the same meaning - "tell me about you", but it is rarely used question, more widely-used "Расскажи мне о себе".
If you would use it with the statement that is pronounced with angry intonation - "Что ты (/он/она) за человек!" - it means "you are (he/she) worst!"
I think , the first i need good English skill :) because as i see i dont have almost no mistake from Russian side... usually my mistake "english grammer mistakes".
There is no Turkish option yet right?
You're visiting somewhere and someone puts some unfamiliar cheese on your plate....
"tell me what kind of cheese is this?"
"That's called Stinking Bishop. It's a delicacy around here"
The fun part about this question is that we haven't learned any kinds of cheese or mushrooms yet so the answer would be some jibberjabber to our ears. Another one of these very helpful phrases of duolingo
It just told me that the answer should be "tell me, what kind if cheese it's?" ???what?
- 326
Duolingo isn’t very reliable on knowing when one can contract “it is” to “it’s”.
For the same reason you can ask, "Say, what kind of cheese is this?" It's not a literal translation, but a phrase cue to indicate what the speaker will be asking.
If you were to say "Tell me, what kind of cheese is this?" in English, you'd sound either pretentious, or like an old-movie villain (which is the same thing, I suppose.)
Simple answer is duolingo is a bot and hasn't been programmed for non-standard answers.
More complex is that this is not grammatically correct English. In English, we'd say "What kind of cheese is this?"
- 326
That depends what verb is used. You can say “Say, what kind of cheese is it?”, but if you use tell (like in the primary English version here) then you have to say “Tell me…” — you wouldn’t just say “Tell, what kind of cheese is it?” in standard English.
Would be ok if i change the order of the question a little but and i write " что за сыр это? " ?? In the original way i read it like " what is this kind of cheese? " i know its practically the same, just asking
I don't understand why the translation 'Tell us, what kind of cheese is this?' is wrong. Скажи is an imperative is it not?
Could it also mean, "Tell me, what is this cheese for?"
As in, is it for sandwiches? Are we putting it in a salad? On the pasta? ...etc?
Shouldn't it be tell, what kind of cheese is this and not tell me whta kind of cheese is this
Best answer in english "i don't know, but it sure is gouda"....couldn't resist....love puns
Something wrong here... I give the correct answer but it is not accepted...
I put "Tell me what kind is this cheese?". As it directs the words into an actual question, unlike the answer being more like a demanding statement.
Am I the only one that doesn't see this as a question? "Tell me what kind of cheese this is" isn't a question. It's more like imperative statement. "You!" Tell me what kind of cheese is this...."now!"(implied). I'm going to report it, as it doesn't reflect the qualities of an interrogative sentence. Anybody else possibly see this as a problem?
- 1468
I see "tell me what kind of cheese is this?" in the answer of this task, not this is. It seems like question to me =/
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