About самый

[viric.livejournal.com]

Let's see... I think I'm unable to guess what's the meaning of самый some times...
Sometimes it's like "most", and sometimes it's like "same". Maybe anyone can explain a bit about that? :) Thanks

Обновление: How do you say: "I'm reading the most important book" and "I'm reading the same book" (may the context for the last sentence be: "I'm reading The Devil's Dictionary"). Even take the example: "то же самое мнение, что и у меня".

Better or best?

[temcat.livejournal.com]

When producing comparatives and superlatives from the adjective хороший, there is one gotcha that Russian learners should know about. The gotcha is in the word лучший, which can mean both "better" and "best":

Он искал лучшей доли - He was seeking a better lot
Должен быть какой-то лучший способ обработки этой информации - There must be some better way to process that information

Ты лучшее, что у меня есть в этой жизни - You are the best thing in my life
У нас лучшие повара во всем городе! - We have the best cooks in town!

Because of this ambiguity, use лучший with caution in order to not make a fool of yourself. In fact, it can happen even with a Russian! An excellent example of embarassment that лучший can cause was a speech that one of my acquaintances gave on a wedding (Вика was the name of the bride):

Я глубоко убежден: Вика заслуживает лучшего!

All guests laughed like mad! Apparently, he meant "It is my strong belief that Vika deserves the best", but together with the verb заслуживать the adjective лучший is perceived as a comparative, therefore what he actually said was:

It is my strong belief that Vika deserves something better!

Which was, of course, not something the groom would like to hear on the wedding :-) Luckily, this can be easily be avoided. To make a superlative, just put the word самый (most) in front of лучший:

Я глубоко убежден: Вика заслуживает самого лучшего! - It is my strong belief that Vika deserves the best!

This way, the ambiguity is eliminated.

The meaning of 'делай' and the dative form of отец

[nominals.livejournal.com]

What does делай and делайте mean? Is it a command stating, "Do it."?
Also, what is the dative form of отец?