a mistake or...

[captainfisto.livejournal.com]

a friend just wrote me a letter and i am trying to figure out if he made a typo or if he used something i don't understand.

Приезжал Гленн - тут такое было! Многого и не расскажешь.

i put in the first sentence for context, but it is the second sentence that i am a bit confused about. why the extra го? it that a typo or does it have a meaning?

Comments

[oryx_and_crake]

It's genitive for многое.

[solne4ka.livejournal.com]

It has a particular meaning, I'll try to explain.
Много не расскажешь - I can't tell a lot
Многого не расскажешь - There were so many doings(or events), that I even can't tell you about many of them. Sorry, if it's too tongue-tied.

[captainfisto.livejournal.com]

that's fine, thanks.

now that brings up the question: why is the verb in that form?

[oryx_and_crake]

Using 2nd person singular here is similar to English "one" (as in "one couldn't do that") or "you" when you don't mean a person you are speaking to, but are making a general statement.

[solne4ka.livejournal.com]

UnfortunatelyI can't explain exactly the use of this very form, but I must say that it's also possible to write Многого не расскажу or Многого не рассказать, and it won't change the meaning of the whole phrase.

[wildest.livejournal.com]

There may also be another meaning: I wouldn't even dare telling you many of the things that happened (because they were so strange/absurd/intimate etc.)

[selain.livejournal.com]

My friend has used that to say that he couldn't even begin to tell me everything because there was so much.

[aka-lacerda.livejournal.com]

O RLY? =)
Многого не расскажу = I won't tell you many things.
Многого не рассказать = I just can't describe many things in a words.

[captainfisto.livejournal.com]

is it pronounced "mnogava," with stress on the first vowel?

[oryx_and_crake]

yes

[solne4ka.livejournal.com]

RLY :)
I won't tell you many things = Много не расскажу, that was the heart of the problem.

[aka-lacerda.livejournal.com]

Actually, the post above was about "не расскажу" и "не рассказать" which have total different meaning. While многое и много is nearly synonyms.

[solne4ka.livejournal.com]

I think, that не расскажу is the 1st person singular from не рассказать, which is the infinitive. Where is the total difference?

[solne4ka.livejournal.com]

BTW Много is an adverb, but Многое is a noun

[aka-lacerda.livejournal.com]

Exactly! But "не рассказать" have a strong idiomatic meaning of "не передать словами". In that particular case многое и много is nearly synonyms because past can be presented both as a number of countable events that is "многое", or as a continuous timeline that is "много".

[n-two.livejournal.com]

браво :) очень точно, хотя и длинно. велик и могуч, как говорится