Common mistakes in English made by Russian speakers

Несколько примеров того, как некоторые слова русского языка имеют совершенно разные варианты перевода на английский в зависимости от той ситуации, в которой мы их используем:

Текстовая расшифровка видео и перевод на русский язык:

 

Hi again! Welcome to my next video lesson! Today I’m going to be talking about some more
differences between English and Russian. In Russian, there are some words which can be used
in many different contexts, but this is not the case in English, where we have an extremely
wide vocabulary.

Often, they only have very small differences in meaning, but sometimes, making a mistake with
these words can completely change the meaning of what you want to say! I am going to discuss
three examples where the Russian language uses only one word (or one pair of words) whilst the
English language has two or more different possible translations.

All of these examples are very common words in both English and Russian, so it is a good idea
to learn the differences carefully to avoid making mistakes!

The first example is пожалуйста. In Russian, this word has two meanings, but in English we need
to use two different words to express this.

Here is a common situation: you are ordering food in a restaurant, so you ask the waiter: “could
I have the margarita pizza please?” In this case, the translation of пожалуйста is: please. Now
let’s imagine that ten minutes later, the waiter brings your pizza to the table. You say “thank
you”, and he says “you’re welcome.” In this case, the translation of пожалуйста is:
“you’re welcome”.

So, to review:

In Russian, we can use пожалуйста in two different ways.
In English, we must decide whether we need to use please or you’re welcome.

The next example is место. In Russian, this word has lots of meanings, but unfortunately
in English, we have to use different words for each situation. Let’s consider three different
contexts where Russian language would use the word «место».

I had to teach my lesson outside because there were no free rooms in the school!

(on the bus) “Excuse me, is this seat free?”

My favourite place is the park. It’s very relaxing there.

We can see that each example has a very different meaning, but in Russian all the phrases can
use the word место.

So, to review:
In English, the word место can mean:
place
seat
room

Next, let’s look at a pair of words which were very, very difficult for me when I was
studying Russian: учить/учиться. In Russian, учиться has two meanings, and although учить has
only one meaning, it is very different to учиться! So, first, two examples where Russian
would use учиться:

I study French and Russian at university.

I learned how to knit a scarf when I was a child.

We can see that there is a difference in these contexts: one is serious academic work, and
the other is an afternoon with your grandmother!

Now let’s consider the use of учить:

My grandmother taught me how to knit a scarf when I was a child.

Now you can see why you have to be careful: this has the opposite meaning to учиться! I am
a teacher,and I teach English. You are my students, and you learn English. It’s best not to
confuse these!

So, to review:
«Учиться» can mean
to study
to learn
«учить» must mean: to teach

Finally, I’d like to talk about a mistake I heard very often when I was working in Moscow.
Let’s imagine that it is time for exams at school. What is the difference between «сдавать
экзамен», «сдать экзамен», and «не сдать экзамен»? Well, let’s look at some examples in English:

I took three exams last year, and this year I have to take another five. It’s so stressful!

My grade was 80%, so I passed the exam! My parents are very happy.

Unfortunately you have failed your exam, so you need to retake it next month.

I was unwell, so I didn’t take the exam on Monday. I’ll go back on Friday and take it then.

So, what is the difference?

“to take an exam” is the action. We don’t know about any results.

“to pass an exam” means to do well; to get a good result.

“to fail an exam” means that the result was very bad.

Be careful:

“I didn’t take the exam” means that nothing happened; there was no exam and no results.

“I didn’t pass the exam” means that you failed the exam; your result was bad.

So, to review:

сдавать экзамен means: “to take an exam”
сдать экзамен means: “to pass an exam”
не сдать экзамен means: “to fail an exam”

So, I hope that you learned something new today, but even if you didn’t I hope that this
was a good revision lesson! Thank you for listening, and I will see you soon!

Sin?ad