Pronouns!

[kutsuwamushi.livejournal.com]

In English, we use "one" to avoid repetition. (We also use he, she, it, and whatnot, but I know how to use those!) For example: "The post office ate your letter. Will you write me a new one?"

How is the idea of the "one" rendered in Russian? Is there a similar pronoun, or is this dealt with a different way?

Comments

[damiel.livejournal.com]

It is dealt with by simply dropping the noun and leaving the adjective (with whatever inflection it needs). There's no need for a special pronoun, as is the case in English.

[kasak.livejournal.com]

"I don't want this book. I want a new one."
Не хочу эту книгу. Хочу новую.

It works the exact same way in Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, and practically the same in most Germanic languages. Just make sure the adjective matches up with the number and case of what you're referring to.

[yers.livejournal.com]

I'm just wondering why no one chose to translate your _beautiful_ sample phrase.

На почте съели твоё письмо. Ты напишешь мне новое?

[kutsuwamushi.livejournal.com]

Why is it "на почте" instead of just "почта"? And why is it "съели" instead of "съела"?

It seems like you're saying that they ate the letter at the post office, rather than that the post office did the actual eating. Is this how the idea is represented in Russian?

In English, the post office is anthropomorphized, so it's doing the eating itself. It's like saying "the vending machine ate my money," even though there are clearly no people inside the vending machine.

One learns something new every day. :D

[yers.livejournal.com]

It seems like you're saying that they ate the letter at the post office, rather than that the post office did the actual eating. Is this how the idea is represented in Russian?

You see, почта is a vague concept in Russian. It can mean 'postal service', 'post office' or 'mail' (the actual heap of envelopes in the box', so почта съела is extremely ambiguous in terms of imagery, and почтовое отделение съело is too many words. So another image suggests itself, of some clandestine letter-eating creatures inhabiting the post office.

[viesel.livejournal.com]

гм...
Я бы перевел так:
"Почта проглотила твое письмо. Не напишешь еще одно?"
(глотать - to swallow)