(no subject)

[coldshadows24.livejournal.com]

How do you mix tenses in Russian? For example to say "I think my Russian class will be canceled."
From what I've learned the verb following the future tense of быть needs to go back to infinitive form...

Also, how would you say the equivalent to 'belated happy birthday' ?


Thanks in advance

Comments

[oryx_and_crake]

Я думаю, что урок русского языка отменят.

As to "belated happy birthday", there is no direct equivalent.

[krivoshey.livejournal.com]

Indirect: "С прошедшим"?

[oryx_and_crake]

right

[coldshadows24.livejournal.com]

What about something like "I'm sorry that I am late in wishing you happy birthday" ? --anything to convey some similar meaning. I feel bad that I forgot to wish a friend happy birthday.

[oryx_and_crake]

You can say something like "С днем рождения! Извини, что опоздала / не вовремя /поздно."

[zeqfreed.livejournal.com]

It would be 'Прости, что опоздала с поздравлениями', 'Прости, что не поздравила тебя с днем рождения вовремя', or 'Прости, что забыла поздравить тебя с днем рождения'.

The first variant is more general, but I think it's pretty obvious, your apologies would relate to the birthday. The second and the latter are more specific.

And you certainly can use a variation of 'С прошедшим тебя!', if you don't really feel guilty about forgetting to wish happy birthday in time (or maybe if it wasn't your fault at all). It is nicer to hear a wish than an apology, I suppose :)

[coldshadows24.livejournal.com]

Thanks
One more question: what is the difference between урок and курс? Is one referring to a specific lesson or lecture and the other describes a more general course? (and therefore not interchangeable?)

[oryx_and_crake]

Урок is one lesson.
Курс is a set of lessons devoted to a particular topic, after completing which you usually get a university credit, a certificate or some well-defined set of knowledge and skills.
e.g. курс алгебры - a course in algebra
курсы первой помощи - First aid course

Курс can also mean a course of treatment (курс уколов) or a group of students of the same year in a university department (мы были на одном курсе - we were in the same year)

[oryx_and_crake]

P.S. They are certainly not interchangeable.
Also, please note that урок is normally used for school setting; for the university you would say занятие (лекция or семинар). Home lessons are also урок: she teaches music - она дает уроки музыки.

"Класс" is another false friend: English "in class" is not equivalent to Russian "в классе".

[coldshadows24.livejournal.com]

Ah ok, that's what I figured. I am looking for the general course held for an entire semester's length (not just one class).

Thank you for all your help!

[oryx_and_crake]

That's certainly курс.

[andrey-bessonov.livejournal.com]

'canceled' is not in past!! it's passive
if you want the direct equivalent in Russian you need the Russian passive participle:
"я думаю, что урок русского будет отменён"

[andrey-bessonov.livejournal.com]

but in Russian we don't use passive as much as it's used in English

so oryx_and_crake's suggestion (Я думаю, что урок русского языка отменят.) sounds more natural

[khathi.livejournal.com]

Well, I'd even say that Russian has a positive aversion for passive. ;)
Especialli comparing how much it is used, say, in English or Japanese.

[oryx_and_crake]

My impression is that passive is not used so much in English; in fact, Russian native speakers tend to overuse it when speaking English.

[khathi.livejournal.com]

Still it is used much more often in English. So it might be an overcompensation. ;)

[coldshadows24.livejournal.com]

Hmm, would saying: "my university will likely discontinue the Russian language course" be better then? If yes, then how would one say this in Russian?

[oryx_and_crake]

Видимо, университет отменит курс русского языка.
Похоже, в университете больше не будут преподавать русский язык.
Похоже, в университете отменят преподавание русского языка.

[oryx_and_crake]

P.S. The last two have a more general meaning: i.e. not one particular course will be canceled, but there will be no more courses of Russian altogether. However, if the course in question was the only one in the university, the meaning of 2 and 3 is the same as in 1.

[pinky-the-cow.livejournal.com]

The more generally used translation for "likely" is "вероятно", I think.

[coldshadows24.livejournal.com]

that's right, I wasn't thinking when I posted.
thank you :)

Sequence of tenses

[nikitapopovich.livejournal.com]

What you’ve learned is correct: «Я буду продавать пирожки на Красной площади». Your example, however, doesn’t have anything to do with that. Others have already given good advice about how the passive should be avoided in Russian. «Я уверен, что завтра меня выпишут из больницы». (I’m sure I’ll be discharged from the hospital tomorrow.)

Your reference to mixing tenses sounds vaguely like confusion over English sequence of tenses, which is confusing for Russians speaking English and for English speakers speaking Russian. For example, “He said he was going to St. Petersburg next week.” Russian speakers ask why “was” is in the past tense when we’re talking about the future, in other words, next week. In Russian, a future event is expressed logically in the future without being influenced by the verb in the main clause: «Он сказал, что он на следующей неделе поедет в Санкт-Петербург».

Anthony