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- Topic: Russian >
- "Картошка продаётся вон там."
24 Comments
1865
Yes. Sure. "Картошка" is the commonly used word (in colloquial speech), and "картофель" - is the word that is written on a price tag.
- 852
Both карто́фелина or карто́шина mean "a single root of potato", but apparently both are colloquial terms.
Why does this singular translate to plural? Is it wrong to say "картошки продаётся вон там"?
"картошка" is a mass noun like "water", see Tips and notes in the "Food" skill.
- 1865
See my explanation for the word "рыба" (my reply to BrookeLorren). The word "картошка" is used similarly:
- 595
продаётся is the he/she/it form, продаются is the they form. The same will be true for any verb ending in -ёт or -ют.
I'm not a native speaker. Could anyone explain me the difference between "there" and "over there"?
In this context, "over there" means in a particular spot which you could point at, or at least in the direction of. However "over there" can be used in wider contexts, foe example to refer to another country. "The Italians have high expectations of their coffee - there are no Starbucks over there."
hm... interesting... I would have used just "there" in both situations...
It sure does - even a year later! It makes me wonder if, given the possible confusion between a mass noun and a conventional plural, this use of the plural verb form might be a common error (or colloquial alternative) among native Russian speakers... Either way, I'd hope they'd fix the audio (or dress me down for hearing it wrong!). Set me right, native speakers!
- 13
confusion between a mass noun and a conventional plural, this use of the plural verb form might be a common error (or colloquial alternative) among native Russian speakers...
No, not really. There's no confusion for native speakers, becasue for native speakers it's just a regular mass noun. Only non-native speakers might have trouble with it, because they are thinking by the logic of their own language where there is a distintion between singular "potato" and plural "potatoes" . For native speakers that's not an ussue. Thus, such an error would almost inveriably denote a foreigner or at least a very small child who's still figuring how the language works.
A belated thanks, Kundoo! Adastra88's and my problem clearly must be in our ears, and perhaps overlooking the fact that it's a "ё" and not a "е" in продаётся. In any case, now, a year later, the male voice sounds right (not sure if it ever really sounded like a ю).
