Question....

[tapdancinnoodle.livejournal.com]

I'm rehearsing for the show "Ragtime" right now and there is a part in the show where immigrant workers are striking and the director asked us all to find different languages to yell something in, so naturally I picked Russian... cause it's great!

So my question is...

How would you say

"How can I feed my family?!"

and

"I can't feed my family with these wages!"

Thank you in advance for your help!!

Comments

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

Чем мне кормить мою семью?!
Мне не прокормить семью на эту зарплату!

[icamel.livejournal.com]

first also could be "Как мне семью кормить?"

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

I didn't write this one 'cause to me its meaning is somewhat more ambiguous. "How/как" is broader than with "what/чем". Without a clear context in may receive stupid kinds of answers like "as usual/как обычно/как все". The one I wrote IMO has less ambiguity and it implies there's no food or no money for the food.

[icamel.livejournal.com]

IMHO, if a man in a crowd cries out that he have no resources to feed his family he will not be so reasonbale in selecting words.

[unwis-virvatuli.livejournal.com]

The second also can be Мне не прокормить семью на эти копейки!

[inoctiluci.livejournal.com]

Could it also be "чем мне кормить свою семью?"

If not, why?

[irina-medvedeva.livejournal.com]

It could.

[unwis-virvatuli.livejournal.com]

By the way, can you read Russian letters?