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- "In winter grandmother used t…
"In winter grandmother used the balcony as a refrigerator."
Translation:Зимой бабушка использовала балкон как холодильник.
24 Comments
There's no difference at all. It means the same. Just another good way to say that in Russian. You can perfectly use both of them and translate "to use (something / someone) as..." as "использовать (что-то / кого-то) как..." or "использовать (что-то / кого-то) в качестве...". The second phrase is a little bit more "official", maybe.
ABBYY Lingvo Dictionary, Essential Russian <-> English, 2015:
В качестве (кого-либо/чего-либо): as, in one's capacity (of), by way (of), for, as
в качестве варианта — alternatively, by way of illustration, as an illustration
в качестве основы (для) — as a basis (for)
в качестве отправного пункта — as the starting point
в качестве примера — as a case in point
543
Are both балкон and холодильник in the accusative case, i.e. direct objects of использовала, or is холодильник in the nominative case?
2583
Why not холодильником? Aren't you supposed to use instrumental when using something as something else?
351
'A grandmother' would imply that any grandmother would do this; 'the grandmother' would refer to a specific grandmother belonging to the family being discussed; just 'grandmother' means that s/he is referring to his or her own grandmother
351
You could and I probably would. 'My grandmother' might sound a little odd, however, if used in conversation with other members of the family who know the lady in question. If you just say 'grandmother' you are using the name of your relationship as a substitute for her personal name. My impression is that Russian people do this a lot, British people less so. Stylistically, if I were introducing my grandmother to a conversation, I'd probably refer to her as 'my grandmother' but after that, I might just call her 'grandmother'. But I wouldn't worry too much about it!
945
Thank you very much! I understood. I just have some difficulties with using articles that's why I pay attention on such cases.