25 Comments
Would "The blue bus is going down the street" not be ok? I'm getting kinda confused about по улице...
Another examplе used гуляет по улицу to mean down the street. Any reason why down the street is wrong here?
629
It should be accepted. I translated just as mqleen did - and I reported that it should be an accepted translation (2/1/16).
Unless you apply a special intonation to the sentence, emphasizing по улице, it can't be THE bus as the subject - автобус - is put in the end of the sentence. So it is A BUS. 'Down the street' is OK, though.
- 435
Normal word order for "The blue bus is going down the street" with neutral intonation would be "синий автобус едет по улице".
Referring to the moving of the bus I would use идёт in this particular case. Едет when someone is travelling in the bus
As a native Russian speaker, I would say "по улице едет автобус" and "по морю плывет пароход", but at the same time, I would say, "этот автобус идет до вокзала", "пароход идет в порт" (in these examples the destination is mentioned an the manner of movement becomes irrelevant). I would also say, "Смотри! Мой автобус идет" for "Look! My bus is coming". It is common to say "поезд идет без остановок" (= it's an express train") and "поезд идет со всеми остановками" (it is a local train), but if you are on a bus/train, you'd say, "автобус/поезд едет быстро" for "the bus/train is going fast". When describing regular trips, we say "автобусы ходят по расписанию" (buses run according to the schedule) and "автобусы ходят регулярно" (there is a regular bus service), but "автобусы ездят быстро" for "buses run fast".
- 1897
I got it wrong for saying "the blue bus drives along the street." I'll report it just to see, but I think it might be wrong because word order generally puts new information at the end of the sentence. Since blue bus is at the end, that implies we don't know which blue bus it is, therefore it's "a" bus and not "the" bus," but it would be good if a native speaker chimed in.
Speaking of a bus, 'drives'/'runs'/'goes' all correspond to "ездит", whereas "едет по улице" means "is going down the street". Also, as native speaker I absolutely agree with cherub721.
- 629
Ah, interesting. I know whom to ask and will get back to you on this one.
To be fair, that word order sounds very odd in English - almost like Yoda talking ;)
The course is still in beta so there are still many correct translations that haven't been added yet. If you find that your correct translation is not accepted, report it using the "Report a Problem" button.
- 89
"синий" refers to a more true or royal blue, and "голубой" a lighter, sky blue
По улице means 'along/up/down the street'; 'outside' corresponds to "на улице / на дворе".
Again, I need some clarification and/or rational on the arbitrary selection of when the scorers decide the article is definite or indefinite. Why A but not THE, etc.
The rationale is that the course is still in beta, so the volunteers haven't gotten all the possible translations programmed yet.
The rule of thumb I use is that the tends to be the preferred translation when the noun group is at the front of the sentence (known, definite information), and if the noun group appears at the end of the sentence (new, indefinite information) the preferable translation tends to use a/an. Take a look at the stickied thread about word order on the discussion forum if my rambling is not making sense. :)
