more questions....

[costumier.livejournal.com]

thanks for all the feedback on "hoorah" and the like! спасибо!!

now i'd like to know if there is any website or database that would have russian equivalents (including gender) of words like "corset" and "bodice" and other nouns, verbs, and phrases of fashion/garment-making nature.

ALSO: in english, we can make adjectives out of virutally any noun using "-like." is there any way of doing this in russian?

(sorry...because i've suddenly found the time, i'm trying to compose an entire journal entry in russian. i feel like i've neglected my studies, and this is sort making up for it)

thank you all for your patience.

Comments

[eliebeth.livejournal.com]

You can just say "быть похожим на ..." — "to be like ..."

It won`t be an adjective, but I think you`ll be able to express what U want.

[costumier.livejournal.com]

so, if i want to say "a corset-like bodice," i would write "bodice быть похожим на corset"?

[eliebeth.livejournal.com]

No, in such a case you`d better use "похожее на корсет боди" = "похожий/ее/ая на something". The modal verb "быть" mostly is used in past and future tenses.

sorry me for my english :)

[jaspe.livejournal.com]

bodice, похожий на corset

[babelfish.livejournal.com]

-подобный
богоподобный, например.

[babelfish.livejournal.com]

Родной язык не знают, а туда же лезут.

[costumier.livejournal.com]

ah, thank you both.

the full sentence in english:
i need to buy fabric for a corset-like bodice that i'm making.

the full sentence in russian:
мне нужно купить тканью для бодис (похожий на корсет) что я шю.

is this correct? (i figure that my conjugation of шить is wrong. :-S )

[costumier.livejournal.com]

я не говорю по-русски. :-(

[silentreverie.livejournal.com]

i recently found a website which seems to have a very extensive dictionary. the address is: http://www.multitran.ru/DefaultE.htm. i did a quick search for 'corset' and 'bodice' and it knew both, so i'm sure this site will be able to help you out. :)
xox maaike

[costumier.livejournal.com]

СПАСИБО! this is the best online dictionary i've seen yet! WOW. i'm speechless (this is ironic of course because this whole lj network is based on the absence of speech; sorry, it's late here ;-] )

[belacane.livejournal.com]

one can figure out the gender of the noun, in most cases, by how it's spelled.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Мне нужно купить ткань для боди (not бодис! - Russian girls call it "боди"!) вроде корсета, который я шью. Варианты: для корсетообразного боди, который я шью; для корсетоподобного боди, который я шью; для боди, похожего на корсет, который я шью...
In all cases you could use "что я шью" instead of "который я шью".

[costumier.livejournal.com]

well, femimine words are usually pretty obvious, but what about neuter?

[belacane.livejournal.com]

-feminine nouns end in 'a' (hard) 'ya' (soft) or soft sign
-masculine nouns end in consonants (hard) 'i' (and variations thereof - soft) and soft sign
-neuter nouns end in 'o' (hard) and 'e' (soft)

[costumier.livejournal.com]

мне нужно купить тканью для корсетообразного боди, что я шью.

so is that ok?

QUESTION: can you explain how шить conjugates to шью? what i assume so far about this verb: it's a 2nd conjugation verb that means "to make clothes." (in one translation, it said "to sew." which is more correct?)

[costumier.livejournal.com]

thank you very much. you've made things much easier! :-)

[jaspe.livejournal.com]

Not "тканью" but "ткань". Мне нужно купить (что?) ткань.

Шить has two meanings: "to make clothes" and "to sew", both are correct. The meaning depends on context.

The verb "шить" has "ь" in all conjugations: я шью, ты шьёшь, он (она) шьёт, мы шьём, вы шьёте, они шьют.

[jaspe.livejournal.com]

There are masculine nouns which end with -а or -я: папа (dad), дядя (uncle), мужчина (man)

[costumier.livejournal.com]

thanks!

but ткань is the nominative form of "fabric." wouldn't you use the accusative form in this case?

[jaspe.livejournal.com]

This is true, we use the accusative case in such phrases (мне нужно купить (кого?/что?) ) but for the word ткань (feminine noun that ends with -ь) the accusative form coincides with the nominative form.
Тканью - this is the ablative form.

The accusative form differs from the nominative form if a word ends with a vowel and if this word is feminine or masculine (not neuter).
Examples:
1. the nominative form: книга (feminine, ends with a vowel) --> the accusative form: книгу (мне нужно купить книгу).
2. the nominative form: платье (ends with a vowel but neuter) --> the accusative form: платье (мне нужно купить платье).
3. the nominative form: материал (masculine, ends with a consonant) --> the accusative form: материал (мне нужно купить материал).

книга - book
платье - dress
материал - material

[costumier.livejournal.com]

ah, many thanks!

[jaspe.livejournal.com]

not at all :)

[belacane.livejournal.com]

yes, and they decline as feminine nouns. but they're modifiers (ie. adjectives) decline as masculine.

[jaspe.livejournal.com]

No, they are masculine.
Believe me, I'm a native speaker :)
If this is not enough, look this (http://www.megakm.ru/ojigov/encyclop.asp?TopicNumber=22218&search=%EF%E0%EF%E0#srch0) for example. This is an article of Ozhegov explanatory dictionary of Russian language, the word папа. You'll see "ПАПА, ы, м." This "м." means "masculine".
You also can try other words there (дядя, мужчина, бродяга, скряга, etc).

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

"To sew" and "to make clotes" is the same verb in Russian - шить (я шью, ты шьёшь, он/она шьёт, мы шьём, вы шьёте, они шьют; present tense: masculine я/ты/он шил, feminine я/ты/она шила, plural мы/вы/они шили). Sorry for being unable to explain it theoretically :))

Мне нужно купить ткань, NOT тканью. "Тканью" answers "кем/чем" questions and thus is творительный падеж. In this case, you answer the "кого/что" question, and thus it is родительный падеж.

[costumier.livejournal.com]

masculine я/ты/он шил, feminine я/ты/она шила, plural мы/вы/они шили

isn't that past tense?

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Блин, of course, it is PAST tense. Fat fingers disturbed by bad brain caused this typo :)

[costumier.livejournal.com]

no problem :-)

[belacane.livejournal.com]

I am also a semi-native speaker (my extended family speaks russian, so I've heard a lot and picked up a lot, but we didn't speak russian at home, now I'm taking classes in grammar from a native speaker to become fully fluent in the language).

They are masculine nouns, but with their 'a' 'ya' endings, they decline in the different cases as a feminine noun would (which is what i said previously anyhow).

take care =)