Russian language questions

[NovaKart]

I started studying Russian again since I'm in Baku and I have some questions. Hope that anyone else studying or wanting to comment can use the thread too.

First of all - apparently there's 3 different words for jacket -

жакет, пиджак, куртка. What's the difference?

Does кроссовки mean tennis shoes and туфли mean dress shoes?

If you want to use the genitive case like Anna's house, Mikheil's house you say дом Анны , дом михаила right? But what if there's a female name that doesn't end in A or a male name that ends in A, such as a foreign name? What's the rule then?

Any advice?

Thanks

 

[Yeekim]

I started studying Russian again since I'm in Baku and I have some questions. Hope that anyone else studying or wanting to comment can use the thread too.

First of all - apparently there's 3 different words for jacket -

жакет, пиджак, куртка. What's the difference?

AFAIK, the first would be e.g. upper part of a female business suit, second is the same for men and the third is something you would wear when you go to skiing.

Does кроссовки mean tennis shoes and туфли mean dress shoes?

Yes, jogging shoes vs slippers.

 

[madviking]

жакет, пиджак, куртка

generic, blazer, winter jacket

кроссовки, туфли

generic/sneakers, sandals

I'm pretty awful with grammar but I'm pretty sure that male names which end in 'a' (e.g. Sasha) retain the 'a'; "Дом Саша", but I have no idea about 'a' less female names.

 

[NovaKart]

I see, so курорт is something you could wear on a cold day but the others are part of a business suit?

And what about туфли? Are they just something you wear formally or at home? I thought тапочки were slippers like for home use.

 

[NovaKart]

So what is the name for sandals/slippers, sneakers and ordinary shoes and dress shoes?

 

[red_elk]

жакет, пиджак, куртка. What's the difference?

Пиджак - usually part of formal business suit, male or female.
Жакет - short female variant.
Куртка - casual clothing (http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Файл:Safari-Jacket.JPG)

Does кроссовки mean tennis shoes

Rather sport shoes.

and туфли mean dress shoes?

Yes, exactly.

If you want to use the genitive case like Anna's house, Mikheil's house you say дом Анны , дом михаила right? But what if there's a female name that doesn't end in A or a male name that ends in A, such as a foreign name? What's the rule then?

Jane's house = Дом Джейн.
Joshua's house = Дом Джошуа.
Name should not be changed here.

 

[red_elk]

I see, so курорт is something you could wear on a cold day but the others are part of a business suit?

Yes, if you mean "куртка".
"Курорт" means resort.

And what about туфли? Are they just something you wear formally or at home? I thought тапочки were slippers like for home use.

So what is the name for sandals/slippers, sneakers and ordinary shoes and dress shoes?

Ordinary shoes - ботинки.
Dress shoes - туфли.
Sandals - сандалии.
Slippers - тапки / тапочки.

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

First of all - apparently there's 3 different words for jacket -

жакет, пиджак, куртка. What's the difference?

"куртка" is more of a coat. "пиджак" means blazer.

Does кроссовки mean tennis shoes and туфли mean dress shoes?

"туфли" are just shoes of any kind. I've never heard the first one.

If you want to use the genitive case like Anna's house, Mikheil's house you say дом Анны , дом михаила right? But what if there's a female name that doesn't end in A or a male name that ends in A, such as a foreign name? What's the rule then?

Then you use the genitive case of that name, or you turn the name into an adjective (Анненый до&#1084. Foreign words are not declinable, so they are always the same regardless of their sense. Some Russians will try to decline them anyway, based on what they might be if they were Russian words.

 

[red_elk]

or you turn the name into an adjective (Анненый до&#1084.

This is not fully correct.
Something like this is possible with another names, for example "Anya" (diminutive form of Anna)
"Anya's house" - "Дом Ани" or "Анин дом".
But not "Анненый" for sure, there is no such word in Russian.

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

This is not fully correct.
Something like this is possible with another names, for example "Anya" (diminutive form of Anna)
"Anya's house" - "Дом Ани" or "Анин дом".
But not "Анненый" for sure, there is no such word in Russian.

Maybe I'm spelling it wrong.

 

[NovaKart]

Thanks, that clears up some questions. I know курорт means resort but I was kind of out of it when I posted that.

 

[Yeekim]

Ordinary shoes - ботинки.

Isn't that just about any type of footwear, including tankboots etc?
Maybe обувь?

 

[red_elk]

Isn't that just about any type of footwear, including tankboots etc?
Maybe обувь?

Any type of footwear is "обувь".
"ботинки" = shoes, (short footwear, not boots).
Boots in general are better to translate as "сапоги", but tanker boots are often being translated as "армейские ботинки" (military shoes).

 

[Virote_Considon]

Russian is just Polish if it wasn't spoken by ducks.
Seriously, I may decide to learn Russian soon, this thread may be useful!

 

[NovaKart]

Ok I have another question, what's the difference between лежать and стоять. I've seen them both used the same way, like где лежат ваши тетради? Где стоят цветы? Can they be used interchangably? What about находиться?

 

[red_elk]

Ok I have another question, what's the difference between лежать and стоять. I've seen them both used the same way, like где лежат ваши тетради? Где стоят цветы? Can they be used interchangably? What about находиться?

Лежать = to lie (something or somebody is placed horizontally)
Стоять = to stand (something placed vertically)
Находиться = to be located

For example,
"цветы стоят в вазе" (flowers stand in a bowl)
"цветы лежат на столе" (flowers lie on the table)
"цветы находятся в моей комнате" (flowers are located in my room)

 

[NovaKart]

Ok that makes sense, to translate лежать directly to lie sounds a bit strange sometimes in English but I'll try to get used to it.

Are there any Russian movies you would recommend?

 

[red_elk]

Ok that makes sense, to translate лежать directly to lie sounds a bit strange sometimes in English but I'll try to get used to it.

Just in case, I might misspell some English sentences in this topic, but I'm pretty sure that my Russian phrases here are written correctly.

Are there any Russian movies you would recommend?

Well, it depends on what kind of movies you like. In general, there are some very good classic Soviet movies, just a few examples:

Comedies:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_Arm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping,_Caucasian_Style

War movies:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dawns_Here_Are_Quiet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cranes_Are_Flying

TV series:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeen_Moments_of_Spring
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Sherlock_Holmes_and_Dr._Watson

From modern Russian movies, "Piter FM" and "We are from the future" (first part, not sequel) are not bad.

 

[NovaKart]

I'm sure your sentences are right, I'm just saying that to say lie like the flowers lie on the table sounds more poetic or literary than real everyday English but that's English, not Russian.

I'll check those out. It would be good to practice Russian listening more. True I hear Russian almost as much as Azeri nowadays but to really be in the mindset for listening would make a difference. The only thing I usually see on TV here is Azeri variety shows, Turkish music videos and Turkish TV series all of which are awful except for some of the music videos. They do have Azeri talk shows, sort of a more mild version of Jerry Springer which is sort of interesting although I can't understand most of it.

 

[Yeekim]

Something short:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9ONrO9Or_o&feature=related