(no subject)

[drivebyluna.livejournal.com]

How do you say "it depends."


Thanks!

Comments

[oryx_and_crake]

You don't.
I mean, there is no standalone expression like this in Russian. You can say "Это зависит от..." but in this case you must say exactly what it depends on.

[ksenia2005.livejournal.com]

In informal speech you can hear just "Зависит от." It maybe not literary, but it sounds quite usual nowadays.

[oryx_and_crake]

This is an awful calque from English. While a native speaker can get off with it, a non-native speaker will make an impression that his or her Russian is extremely bad.

[divine-1987.livejournal.com]

+1

[racoonbear.livejournal.com]

It is wonderful exampleof very general statement having no match in russian language. Russian is very specific language. You have to be more exact in any description. It depends on many factors - "это зависит от многих факторов".

[drivebyluna.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Where's the stress on зависит ?

[iris-arctic.livejournal.com]

завИсит

С наступающим!

[racoonbear.livejournal.com]

завИсит

[pzrk.livejournal.com]

"Черт его знает..."

[p4i1.livejournal.com]

I know slightly better version - "it depends" -> "кто его знает"

[katiroma.livejournal.com]

It seems to me that when you say "it depends", it means that the answer to the question depends on something, and it also means that possible answers are available. "Кто его знает" (who knows), on the contrary, means that the person doesn't have the answer. All the other variations of this expression, with reference to God, devil, dick etc. have the same meaning.

[oryx_and_crake]

+1
I, too, don't agree that the two are the same. The meaning is very different.

[p4i1.livejournal.com]

and of course there a lot of obscene versions of this phrase )) If you will talk to lover class people they whould probably say - "х.й eго знает" or simply "х.й знает"

LOVER CLASS PEOLE

[al-r.livejournal.com]

That's a great typo! :)))))))
"lover class people"...
makes sence definitely!

[pzrk.livejournal.com]

As we're talking about Russian language here, even most obscene words can not be censored - so warn about obscene content and write that phrase as it is: "хуй его знает".

[pigmeich.livejournal.com]

«Посмотрим».

[moai-s.livejournal.com]

+1
«Посмотрим» - Exactly! Or "Как сказать".

[zveriozha.livejournal.com]

It depends on the sentence ^)

[ilia-yasny.livejournal.com]

The good variant is "[Это] зависит от обстоятельств"

[crimeanelf.livejournal.com]

My dictionary says, it is "Как сказать..."

[crimeanelf.livejournal.com]

Note that "it depends on..." is a different structure and is translated as people suggested, "в зависимости от...", "смотря по...", "зависит от...".

[nedotoha.livejournal.com]

I usually use По всякому бывает.

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

As others noted, there's no direct translation of that in Russian. In a dialog you could probably replace it with "Всё не так просто." as a response to someone making a claim that is true only conditionally, not generally/always. Then there would be several options: tell the details, get asked about the details, try to continue without telling the details. There're a few other ways to express partial disagreement like "Я бы так не сказал."

[oiseau-russe.livejournal.com]

I think the closest is the family of expressions "Когда как", "Kто как", "что как", "когда где" etc

[katiroma.livejournal.com]

I think you can use the expression with the word "смотря".
Смотря как
смотря что
смотря кто
смотря куда
смотря где
смотря какой
etc.
The second word depends on the context. So you need to identify on what exactly it depends: a person, an object, a place, a way of doing something, etc, and use the appropriate pronoun.

[gipsylilya.livejournal.com]

+1

[windy-corner.livejournal.com]

I also think this is the best equivalent.

Смотря по обстоятельствам.
Смотря по ситуации.
В засисимости от контекста.
or
Смотря кто, что , где, когда, с кем, чем, о чем, для чего, почему, зачем..........

[benny-linus.livejournal.com]

May be это взаимосвязано

[oryx_and_crake]

Certainly not. This means a completely different thing.

[acuzena.livejournal.com]

По разному.

[oryx_and_crake]

1. It is "по-разному", with a dash.
2. "По-разному" is not exactly the same. If, for example, someone asks you if you plan to go on vacation next month, you will not answer "по-разному", because this will not make any sense. You will probably say something like "Пока не знаю, это зависит от ..." (ситуации на работе, наличия денег, дадут ли мне отпуск etc.)