(no subject)

[superslayer18.livejournal.com]

Hey guys, two quick questions for you, both from the same sentence :)

I was listening to Куда приводят мечты by UmaTurman and was pleasantly surprised that I understood the majority of the song.  It's pretty slow, but quite nice!

Anyways, at one point he sings "Давай-ка выпьем по сто грамм что ли" (taken from an online lyrics site where I was double checking that I wasn't hearing things incorrectly).  

Why would he use давай-КА?  Is it just a slangy variant or is there some grammar rule I'm missing here?  EDIT: Can you add it to imperative?  Like Читай-ка or беги-ка? What about in the formal?  Would it be давайте-ка?

I assume Что ли is just a way of ending a sentence looking for an affirmative answer, like "how about it?".  Is that correct?

Thanks!

Comments

[gera.livejournal.com]

I assume Что ли is just a way of ending a sentence looking for an affirmative answer, like "how about it?". Is that correct?

Yes.

-ка serves pretty much the same purpose.

[alek-morse.livejournal.com]

As for me, I can answer only as an ordinary Russian-speaker, not specialist.

A form "Давай-ка" is more unceremonious than merely "Давай".

[phoonzang.livejournal.com]

a) "давай-ка выпьем" = "let's just drink"

b) absolutely correct

[zoa-mel-gustar.livejournal.com]

"-ка" is something like "come on!", it's just another way to show suggestion...
Yes, you're right about "что ли".

[brat-pushkin.livejournal.com]

-ка can be added to verb in imperativus in order to make the sentence more informal. Also I would say that it makes the suggestion or command more strong/expressive.

[alek-morse.livejournal.com]

On my view, "-ка" can be added to the verb, if a speaker is close friend to somebody

"слышь, друг, сбегай-ка в магазин за молоком"

or in case of threat for somebody:

"иди-ка ты отсюда по-добру, по-здорову!"

[ksenia2005.livejournal.com]

> Why would he use давай-КА? Is it just a slangy variant or is there some grammar rule I'm missing here?

The verb with the particle "-ка" quite often used in the spoken language: пойдем-ка, давай-ка, сделай-ка etc. It is always written with the hyphen between the verb and "ка". The closest translation is "let's": let's go, let's do etc.

> I assume Что ли is just a way of ending a sentence looking for an affirmative answer, like "how about it?". Is that correct?

Yes, the meaning is something like that. I cannot find better translation for this case.
For the general meaning good translation could be: or what? or something?

Are you blind or what? - Ты что, ослеп, что ли?

[fun-collector.livejournal.com]

maybe, the last example is not quite correct. "Ты ослеп что ли?" without comma is an exact question, requiring definite answer.
i'd say "let's do smth. shall we?" but it's rather formal. anyway, "что ли" at the end of a sentence, separated by comma, means, that speaker is not quite sure whether he should do or say smth.

[surkova.livejournal.com]

yes, I think that что ли is closer to question tag in English

[alexzzzzz.livejournal.com]

>The verb with the particle "-ка" quite often used in the spoken language: пойдем-ка, давай-ка, сделай-ка etc. It is always written with the hyphen between the verb and "ка". The closest translation is "let's": let's go, let's do etc.

«Let's» means «let us», but «-ка» doesn't mean «us».

― Сходи купи, пожалуйста, хлеба. = Go buy some bread, please.
― Сходи-ка купи хлеба. ~ Why don't you go buy some bread? ~ Since you have nothing to do, go buy some bread. ~ How about to go buy some bread?

[xiefyn.livejournal.com]

Constructions with "–ка" are colloquial. In writing their use is generally restricted to direct speech.

"Давайте–ка" is correct for the formal and plural.

Also it could be used for the first person: Пойду–ка я лучше домой. Пойдем–ка посмотрим, что они делают.

[alamar.livejournal.com]

Читай-ка and беги-ка are fully correct:
Водка кончилась, беги-ка за добавкой!

[spiritrc.livejournal.com]

I believe that "сходи-ка купи хлеба" doesn't actually contain any question in it. It's still a proposal. I guess your translation with "since you have nothing to do" is the best for that phrase.