translation Russian-English

Question

Dear teachers,i got a question about translation some phrases from my native-Russian to English ..could you please advise me,how is it better to ..

? ???????????????? ??? ???? ?? ???,??? ?? ????? ????

and

?? ????? ?????, ? ?? ?????, ???????????? ??? ???

Thanks a lot !

Kind regards,
Lidia

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

My Russian isn't so good, but someone will come along to help. I'll try anyway in the meantime.

Air...?? ????? ?????, ? ?? ?????, ???????????? ??? ???

My world extends that far and no farther.

Air...? ???????????????? ??? ???? ?? ???,??? ?? ????? ????

This one stumps me.

Actually, nothing was as it seemed?????
Actually, nothing was real??????

CJ

Air... · Answer

frankly speaking , still kind of pondered in suggestions.
don't know if the sense which is put in russian working in translation .
very grateful to you ,CalifJim ! thanks

Ruslana · Answer

Hi Air,

I'm comfortable with CJ's first translation.

As to the second one, "? ???????????????? ??? ???? ?? ???, ??? ?? ????? ????" - ?? ??? ??????, ??? ???? ?? ??????? ?????? ??????? ???????. ? ??????????? ???? ??, ???????, ??? ??????? ?????, ?? ??? ?????? ???????? ??????, ?????? ????? ????????? ????????. ??????? ???????, ????? ???????? ??????????.

??? ?????? ????? ?????????:

? ????????????????, ??? ???? ?? ???. - Actually, everything was not quite so.
??? ???? ?? ???, ??? ?? ????? ????. - Everything was not as it seemed (??? ?? ??????? CJ - Nothing was as it seemed).

Air... · Answer

exactly what i needed ! thanks !

CalifJim · Answer

RuslanaEverything was not as it seemed (??? ?? ??????? CJ - Nothing was as it seemed).

Yes. I'm sometimes confused with the scope of negation when I'm working in a foreign language.

Is the intent really "Nothing was ..." (complete negation) or "Not everything was ..." (partial negation)?

The unfortunate thing about "Everything was not ..." is that it is ambiguous in English between those two choices. Maybe it's supposed to be equally ambiguous in Russian? Don't know.

CJ

Ruslana · Answer

The problem with the original phrase is that even in Russian it sounds somewhat complicated and slightly overloaded with words that could be omitted. We may use phrases like that when we talk about something emotionally (although I'm not sure I would do it) but I can hardly imagine seeing it in a newspaper or a book.

The intent was, "every single thing was different from what you thought/expected" - that's complete negation, I assume? Now you got me interested. In what way is "Everything was not as it seemed" ambiguous? Is "Everything was not quite so" ambiguous too? Does it mean the combination "everything + not" is not very common and "nothing" had better be used instead?

An interesting thing:
"Everything was not as it seemed" and "Everything was not quite so" sound okay to me but
"Everything wasn't as it seemed" and "Everything wasn't quite so" do sound awkward. Weird!

Now I wonder if "Actually, nothing was like that" would sound more natural and just easier, hehe.

CalifJim · Answer

Ruslanathe combination "everything + not"

All combinations of a universal quantifier in the subject (everything, everybody, all, both, ...) with a negative modifier of the verb create this problem of ambiguity in English. That doesn't mean that people don't use those combinations, especially when they think they are speaking unambiguously!

The solution is to negate the subject for partial negations (not everything, not everybody, not all) and to change to the universal negative quantifier for total negations (nothing, nobody, neither). Sometimes adjustments in the rest of the sentence can also be used to disambiguate.

All of the students were not in class. ???
Two interpretations:
None of the students were in class. (Total negation) (Zero students in class)
Not all of the students were in class. (Partial negation) (Maybe some students in class; some not)

Likewise,
Everything was not as it seemed. ???
Two interpretations:
Nothing was as it seemed. (Total)
Not everything was as it seemed. (Partial)

CJ

Ruslana · Answer

Oh I see the ambiguity now! Thanks! <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/> I really didn't notice this before.

translation Russian-English

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions