(no subject)

[gnomygnomy.livejournal.com]

I need help with a rule that's never been fully explained to me before concerning быть. It seems that when you follow the verb with a noun, the noun should be in instrumental case, such as:

Он хочет быть врачом.

But what if you follow it with an adjective?

Он хочет быть счастливым?

And what if you change the tense?

Он будет/был врачом/счастливым?

If these examples are correct, then when, if ever, is it not appropriate to follow быть with a noun/adjective in the instrumental? Or is this just one of those always-consistent rules that somehow missed me?

Thanks for your help, guys!

Comments

[natha1ie.livejournal.com]

Changing the tense doesn't change the case. Your example is correct. By the way, the case for a noun and for an adjective is the same. For example: Он хочет быть счастливым врачом.

[natalya-l.livejournal.com]

Normally they put an adjective infront of the noun no matter if the verb is быть or something else. If it is used in the opposit way, mostly it is in some poetry or song lyrics, like:

Идёт коза рогатая (The goat horned goes for)
За малыми ребятами (Little kids)

It is a poem to play with babies. So in average conversation people would not say "коза рогатая", but "рогатая коза".
The same with the song:

По Дону гуляет казак молодой (The young kazak walks on the Don-river)

If to take your example, the right way to say is "он будет счастливым врачом". The phrase "Он хочет быть врачом счастливым" sounds like a perfect starting line for some poem :-))

[temcat.livejournal.com]

"mostly it is in some poetry or song lyrics"

also fairy tales, so it can be prose, too

[marlene-ks.livejournal.com]

If you say like you have written here - it will be in every case absolutely correct.

Still it might be useful for you to know that there are the so-called "shortened adjectives" (don't know the corresponding term in English, sorry) that are used only in the nominative case and are also rather frequently (even more frequently than the instrumental case of the full adjectives) used after быть:

Он/она будет/был/была счастлив/счастлива

Actually, as you know, the verb быть is omitted in Russian in the present simple tense (but it is however implied), so to convey the meaning of somebody's being happy we generally say

Он счастлив (usually not: он счастливый)
она счастлива (usually not: она счастливая)

[http://users.livejournal.com/bc_/]

Он счастлив (usually not: он счастливый)

This is partly because of the meaning of the specific adjective (счастливый 'happy') in your example; with others (e. g. новый 'new') it would be the other way round.

Full adjectives as predicates stress the constant nature of the quality, short adjectives refer to transient states, or to qualities somehow becoming topical in the particular situation in question.

E. g.:

Он счастлив - He is (or even: feels) happy.
Он счастливый - closer to He is a happy person (much less common).

But:

Оно новое - It's new (more-less synonymous: ... a new one, ...a new item).
Это для меня ново - This is new to me (much less common).

[marlene-ks.livejournal.com]

I would argue with you here.

One can say:

Она сегодня счастливая

but still:

он счастлив в браке

[cheryltheperil.livejournal.com]

My teachers always explained it to me by saying that when there has been a 'change of state' the instrumental is necessary i.e. he isn't a doctor, but he intends to become one. Consequently, in a sentence like он был русский the instrumental case is not needed as presumably he was always Russian and that never changed.

[http://users.livejournal.com/bc_/]

Correct for most cases.

Он был врач - sounds like one speaks of a late person (no change of the state of "his" being a "doctor", therefore, past tense seems to relate to "his" own existence).

Он был врачом - may just mean that "he" isn't a doctor any more (although the alternative understanding, that "he" himself isn't with us any more, is still possible).