- Forum >
- Topic: Russian >
- "У меня велосипед, мне бензин…
"У меня велосипед, мне бензин не нужен."
Translation:I have a bicycle, I do not need gas.
16 Comments
please permit 'fuel' here in addition to 'gas'. It is getting increasingly frustrating that my errors here more often are due to duolingo's idea of what's permissible in English is not the same as mine (when mine is in no way wrong), than any actual problems with my knowledge of Russian. The fact that many problems actually consist of duolingo getting English constructions wrong, and that problems are being dealt with very slowly, makes it a rather frustrating experience.
Yeah, it allows "petrol" here but it doesn't allow "fuel", even though that's what we say 95% of the time in england, especially when we're not being overly specific between petrol and diesel.
There are many different types of fuel, and there is probably another Russian word to reflect the generic "fuel" which they don't want to mislead us with.
As it happens, "gas" does not seem to be much more than marginally more specific than "fuel" - "gas" seems to include diesel, whereas "benzin" specifically is petrol. However, a bicyclist doesn't need diesel either, so in this context, being very specific about negating the need for petrol seems odd.
So no, the reason ExSquaredOver2 posts cannot be the case, or it's hamhandedly implemented.
Good example of the sentense where the "у меня... " construction is used without "есть".
You don't need есть if it is extremely obvious that you have something, e.g a body part, or in this case, probably the person saying "I have a bicycle" might literally be holding a bike in front of his friends or so.
388
So I am a little confused. Is бензина actual GAS gas, or is it that peculiar American word "gasoline", i.e. fuel?
- 1500
"Peculiar"? No need to be rude. "Gasoline" dates back to around 1850. If we started picking at words in your native language dating back to then, I'm sure we'd find some peculiarities in that list.
What is your preferred word for "gasoline"? You know that "petrol" is short for "petroleum", and if you put petroleum in your car, you'd have to replace the engine and fuel system, because it's more like thin mud. And "benzine" is highly toxic, a strong carcinogen, which is allowed in very limited amounts in gas/petrol mixtures - but which is used by more than one language as the word for "motor fuel".
In short, there really isn't a word for automotive fuel which isn't odd in some way. Do you have the same issues with "diesel oil" - the fuel for diesel engines?
- 388
Most of us use the word "fuel" as a general term for petrol, diesel, electricity or whatever fuels the vehicle.
I wouldn't consider "peculiar" to be a rude word, and it certainly wasn't intended to be so — and obviously there are peculiarities in every language, especially the various dialects of English. The reason I described "gasoline" as peculiar is because firstly it is unfamiliar to me and most English-speakers, and secondly because it causes a lot of confusion with the word "gas", which is, as far as I can tell, totally unrelated.
Which brings me back to my question, which you did not actually answer. Is this question referring to "gas" or "fuel"? This is not an attempt to be rude, but a genuine question. I am trying to find the actual translation of the word "бензин".
- 488
Yes, most (fossil-fueled) vehicles use a liquid fuel, not a gas. (Except those converted to LPG or CNG...)
