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[rockmysocks028.livejournal.com]

i am very much a beginner and i was just wondering what the suffix -те literally translates to (as in "как вы поживаете?")

thanks!

Comments

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

It does not translate. Suffixes normally do not translate at all, but they help to understand the grammar - case, tense, gender, and other factors that change the form of the word (note that in Russian all those factors really change words, unlike in English.)

-те, for example, shows that the verb is present or future tense 3rd person plural, or in imperative 3rd person plural. Вы будете в Москве завтра? (Will you be in Moscow tomorrow? - future tense.) Что вы едите на завтрак? (What do you [usually] eat for breakfast? - present tense.) Сидите здесь, никуда не уходите! (Do sit here, don't go anywhere! - imperative.)

Oooops.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Plural 2nd person, of course. Weak brain, narrow mind, fat fingaz.

[wordchick.livejournal.com]

It indicates that the verb has been conjugated into the 3rd person, plural form.

[salexey.livejournal.com]

Not 3rd, but 2nd.

[salexey.livejournal.com]

If I right understand your questuon, -те means 2nd person, plural:

вы играете - you play, вы читаете - you read etc. So "Как вы поживаете?" means "How are you?" (literally "How do you live?")

[delphin4ik.livejournal.com]

Just it isn't TE, but ЕТЕ. it's used for the second person plural form (You - вы) for the verbs of the first conjugation
It is like
Как ТЫ поживаЕШЬ (How are you)- for a person
Как вы ПоживаЕТЕ (How are you)- for a group of people

The same
Ты идЕШЬ (you are walking) - for a person
Вы идЕТЕ (you are walking) - for a group of people

[ars-longa.livejournal.com]

It can be also used if you're addressing only one person using ВЫ. Plural in this case is a matter of expressing respect. In written language in this case "Вы" is used, as opposite to "вы" when talking about more than one person.

[asurapuji.livejournal.com]

as it has been pointed out '-ете' is the 2nd plural ending. it is also the formal (as opposed to informal) ending.

[yozhevich.livejournal.com]

We should mention that -те is the formal ending for imperatives. For example, "Читайте!" Read! (formal/plural) vs. "Читай!" Read! (informal).

[beltspinner.livejournal.com]

"literally translates"
you may want to almost eliminate this phrase from your vocab. I stopped using it after about a month of Russian. Translating ideas happens more directly, I believe, and words and phrases.

[tatyshki.livejournal.com]

Love the icon.

[oryx_and_crake]

It is not a suffix, it is an ending of the plural form in 2nd person. As soon as you start learning how to conjugate verbs you will get acquainted with this one.

[noser.livejournal.com]

Just to explain what oryx_and_crake said. It is a suffix, of course, in the common sense, but gramatically it's called an "ending". Because there are grammatical entities in Russian, which are called "suffixes" (suffices?), but go before the endings (in 99.9% cases). So, it's wrong to use the word "suffix" regarding the ending, at least if you want to avoid confusing everybody.

Suffixes are immutable, while endings are mutable.

[kragoth.livejournal.com]

It's just a plural ending.

поживаЮ
ПоживаЕШЬ
ПоживаЕТ
-------
ПоживаЕМ
ПоживаЕТЕ
ПоживаЮТ

It's more of like a ,"Sir, do you have a quarter?". Sir, in this case, would be polite, so you use -те to show respect for an elderly or someone you don't know. It's also used to show plurality, which someones translates as "You's guys" if your englsish is that horrible.

[honey-melt.livejournal.com]

The list above from kragoth shows the different conjugations of this verb in Russian.

We conjugate verbs in English, too. But there are not as many different forms.

I run, you run, he runs, she runs, they run, we run.
(just run or runs when formed in the present tense)

The example you gave "вы поживаете" only works with вы.
If, for example, you said вы поживает it would be incorrect, just like "you runs" would be incorrect in English.