- Forum >
- Topic: Russian >
- "Эта комната с зелёным ковром…
"Эта комната с зелёным ковром очень тёмная."
Translation:This room with a green carpet is very dark.
51 Comments
LOL I've lived around many Spanish speakers in my life and have heard this word many times. But does it exactly translate to MFer? I know it actually refers to a man who knows his wife is cheating on him but does nothing, and it's sort of a general insult.
You're a little confused, I think, or maybe it's a regional thing. Here, in Mexico "buey" or "chivo" (btw, both are animals with horns) are words used for men whose wives are cheating on them and do nothing (or maybe they don't even know). "Cabrón" (that is similar to the word "cabra" another animal with horns) means MFer, but it's not as rude as MFer, it seems to me, though.
http://www.languagerealm.com/spanish/cabron.php
ok slightly confused, from I've read here. I was off about the part about the man knowing. There's even a similar word/concept in Italian & French, but the part about the man having knowledge I can't speak to. But it wouldn't make sense to insult a man for his wife being unfaithful, unless he knew it. It's even mentioned in the movie Goodfellas, and the idea behind the insult probably goes back to Europe. And I know the word is also used in a friendly way, as I've heard it with my own ears. As far as a regional context, that is possible as I grew up in the New York City area, the land of Puerto Ricans.
159
Jajajajaj I have thought the same. Regarding the meaning of «cabrón», I'm from Spain and even though it's an insult it's very often said in a friendly way. As far as I know, it doesnt have any specific meaning. It's the first time in my life I hear that it can be used for men being cheated. I dont know if that was the origin of the word, but for sure nowadays it's not at all related. And nobody would ever call «cabrón» a man for being cheated.
Most native English speakers I have ever known would say "The room with the green carpet is very dark", UNLESS they were standing right in or in front of the room in question, and then they would simply say, "This room is very dark", because "with green carpet" is not needed to identify the room. About the only time anyone would call out the green carpet while already in the room, is if they were calling out the green carpet as a cause of the room being dark. "This room is very dark, with the green carpet." (I.e, we need a different carpet in here.)
But that form — "The room with the green carpet is very dark" — is not accepted.
Does anyone have any good reason why this would not correctly translate the Russian?
1301
so subtle ))) thanks Dmitry )) Actually, I had the impression that someone had bought a dark green carpet that that the carpet had seemed to make the room darker. Which is exactly what you pointed out as incorrect ))). On an aside, since I was not thinking of specific word order, I thought of this sentence as "this roon is very dark with green carpet" but maybe (still getting the hang of instrumental), that sentence would not use "с" but just "ковром" But as I said, I am still getting my head around instrumental so my thoughts might still be very raw. (notice that I also omitted "a" from "a green carpet" as to my Aussie ear, it still sounded OK - with it is also OK but without it also works for me )))
“Dark with [a] green carpet” suggests that the carpet is what makes the room look dark. That idea can be expressed in Russian in two ways: (1) В этой комнате очень темно от зелёного ковра and (2) Зелёный ковёр делает эту комнату очень тёмной. Only a few Russian adjectives can be followed by the instrumental form of a noun without a preposition. When used predicatively, those adjectives take their short forms. Here is the list of such adjectives (I cannot claim that it is complete): богатый, бедный, сильный, слабый, крепкий, полный, гордый, довольный, недовольный, счастливый, несчастливый, известный, полезный, приятный, любезный, чреватый, беременная.
436
Wouldn't that (“This room, which has a green carpet in it, is dark”) be: 'Эта комната, в которой есть зелёный ковёр, очень тёмная', or the like?
It appears to me that the Russian sentence does suggest--though without saying so explicitly--that the green carpet contributes to the room's darkness.
This is gramatically awkward sentence in English. We would never say 'THIS a with a b'...
If you were introducing a new room it would be 'THE a with a b'
Or if you were trying to stress that an aforementioned room was dark because of the carpet it would be 'This room is very dark with a green carpet'
I'm doing this on the review and have already completed the course. What lesson was this in, as I do not recall it.
Could I check my understanding of something? And ask a related question?
In this question the adjective тёмная agreed with the subject комната in gender and number. In a previous question, the sentence was В этом доме очень светло. The house is masculine but the adjective is neuter. Is this because the current sentence has a true subject, but the previous sentence was subjectless or had an implied one: "(It) is very bright in this house"?
And while I'm at it: could темна have been used instead? The notes on the predicate skill (Short & Long) seem to indicate it could be.
"Эта комната ... тёмная." It's because the room is the subject of the sentence.
In the sentence with В этом доме светло, the actual subject is not overtly expressed. It might be easier to read it as "Это светло в этом доме" (there you can see that светло goes with это, as a sort of neuter, nondescript noun). That sentence is also fine, but it's got two extra syllables that you don't necessarily need to express that thought fully in Russian.
It is not modifying "дом". If you said "в этом доме светлом", it would still mean "In this bright house" (which is not a complete sentence, and which has a strange word order).
In this context, using the short-form adjective sounds... weird. Maybe for poetry it might be used, but I don't think it's used very often otherwise (except in "темно", as the opposite of светло).
In general, you are right. However, no Russian will ever say, «Это светло в этом доме», because no «это» is implied in impersonal neuter forms such as светло, темно, холодно, тепло and the like. For example, if you want to say, “it’s dark outside”, you simply say, «На улице темно»; it would be incorrect to translate “it’s” with any word in such sentences. Neuter singular adjectives agree with the implied «то, что я вижу/слышу/чувствую» (“what I see/hear/feel is”). The use of short forms темен, темна, темно as complements is limited. Here are some examples: «Лик его тёмен» (poetic) = “His face is dark”, «Ее биография темна» = “Her biography is obscure”, «Его прошлое темно» = “His past is dark”.