a line i am having trouble with

[im-such-a-slav.livejournal.com]

Но мои шансы на это невелики, я совершенно не способен взглянуть в глаза незнакомой женщине.

why is it "я" not "мне" followed by an adverb (совершенно)
the word "способен" (which i am assuming is a form of способый- but maybe not and if it is i dont recognize the form)
finally "в глаза" i am assuming is in genitive, but why is it singular and is something like "взглянуть в глаза незнакомой женщине" a normal sounding phrase?

here's my attempted translation: But my chances of that aren’t great, I’m completely unable to look at this unknown woman.

im lost...

Comments

[oblomov-jerusal.livejournal.com]

My chances are not great, I am unable to look into eyes of an unfamiliar woman. глазА is plural accusative (or nominative) (singular genitive is глАза.

[portugalist.livejournal.com]

глаза is plural

eyes of an unknown womam - глаза (кого?) незнакомой женщины

неспособен - is a short form of неспособный (adjective)

я неспособен (сделать что-либо) - I'm unable (I cannot) to do smth

[ex-ex-zhuzh.livejournal.com]

almost there
But my chances of that aren’t great, I’m completely unable to look into an unknown woman's eyes

Я is nominative as it should be, because it's the subject
Способен is the short form of способный. Most (all?) adjectives can be in the short form. Short form is often used as a predicate. Compare: I am unable = Я не способен. The verb 'to be' is omitted here as is customary in the present tense. In the past tense it would be Я был не способен. The adjective is considered a part of the predicate here, unlike in English.
Взглянуть в глаза = to look in the eyes. It's plural accusative, not singular genitive. The stress is on the last syllable.

[orloffm.livejournal.com]

"Но мои шансы на это невелики" why? because "я совершенно неспособен" do what? "взглянуть" at what? "в глаза" ("in what" actually) of who? (незнакомой женщине) ("whom?" actually).

[tinde-j.livejournal.com]

why is it "я" not "мне" followed by an adverb (совершенно)
The costraction is "я [есть] не способен" "I'm unable", with quite a usual pronoun subject; the copula "быть" in present is normally omitted. You have probably confused it with something of the sort "мне трудно", which corresponds rather to "it's difficult for me"
the word "способен"
is really a peculiar form of способый; in Russian, most adjectives that can be used as predicates have a so-called short form (besides the full one), like "красив-ый" beautiful - он красив/ она красив-а/ оно красив-о; sometimes in masculin the final consonants combination is not euvphonic - than a sertain vowel is inserted; this is to be looked up in a dictionary. Though the full form may be possible, it's not stylistically nice
"в глаза"
the question of the Russian plurals is complicated enough; all you need now is that "глаза" is the nominative plural of "глаз" and (since the noun is unanimated) coincedes with accusative - that is, spart from the fact genetive singular looks the same :)
But my chances of that aren’t great, I’m completely unable to look at this unknown woman
I would rather say "look into the eyes of an unfamiliar woman", but, well... you are the native speaker to choose the best :)

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

>is really a peculiar form of способый
sorry to correct an otherwise informative comment, but it's способный, NOT "способый" (which simply doesn't exist.)

thank you)

[tinde-j.livejournal.com]

of course; I'm sorry for copying the original post without niticing the mistake

[brocster.livejournal.com]

Well, you've certainly gotten some great feedback, so everything should hopefully be fairly clear by now. I just wanted to toss in one more perspective, since I don't know whether you've run across this type of construction in Russian yet.

The second half of your sentence could be literally translated as "I'm completely incapable of looking to an unknown woman into the eyes".

Whereas English would use a possessive construction -- "into the eyes of an unknown woman" -- Russian often uses the Dative case of the individual, especially as part of a construction focusing on some part of the body (hand, eye, mouth, etc.).

So, to say, "I shook my friend's hand" in Russian, you'd use:

Я пожaл (моему) другу руку.

...with the Accusative of рукa (the direct object of the verb "shake") and the Dative of "my friend" (to indicate whose hand you shook).

Similarly, to say "Look me in the eye(s) and tell me...", you would use:

Посмотрите мне в глaзa и скaжите..."

...where the verb "смотреть" acts kind of like a verb of motion (hence the в + Accusative -- "look into the eyes") and the Dative мне simply indicates the possessor of the eyes.

Оr, finally, a sentence such as "They broke his leg." would be:

Сломaли ему ногу.

...with the Accusative of ногa (the direct object of the verb "break") and the Dative of the individual whose leg was broken.


This Dative (of possession) construction is fairly frequent in such contexts (with parts of the body):

Аннa ему что-то шептaлa нa уxо -- Anna whispered something into his ear.

Врaч посмотрел пaциенту в рот -- The doctor looked in the patient's mouth.

... and so on.


Hope that helps!

- Andrew : )

[ducking.livejournal.com]

Actually, I'd prefer using "not capable" instead of "unable". It's psychological, not physical, isn't it?

[ars-longa.livejournal.com]

"Посмотреть в глаза" means "to make an eye contact with smb."

[im-such-a-slav.livejournal.com]

thanks so much. the word order in russian is already a problem for me and combined with an unknown form of an adjective everything just fell apart.

another question: why would someone use the short form of the adjective rather than the standard form?

он красив
он красивый

[tinde-j.livejournal.com]

Actually, the short form is to be normally used in predicates (yet now both forms are getting almost equal). There is a slight semantic difference: the short form implies a permanent characteristic, also always when there is an adverb modifying the adjective; whereas the full one doesn't have the implication. Thus, if one says "он красив", it is understood as "he is beautiful (always, he was born beautiful, etc.)", and "он красивый" may mean "he looks handsome (now)".
Besides, you'll come across the fact some adjectives have only one form, like "glad" "рад", since it is normally used only in predicate; or "бедный" "poor" when it means unlucky - it is normally not used but as a definition.
If you are interested in the problem, I might translate the whole corresponding article of the Russian language grammar, only I'll need considerable time to do it :)