English Practice, feel free to try your "skills"

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Forumul Softpedia > Pasiuni Comune > Literatorul > Limbi straine > Limba engleza

Lozen

28th July 2006, 13:15

QUOTE(Fr3ak @ Jul 28 2006, 05:03)

so the correct form for the plural and genitive is w/o apostrophe.

yes, the correct form for the plural is GREs (though quite a few people do use an apostrophe... to me it looks funny without the apostrophe, but grammarians say you shouldn't use one)

no, the genitive DOES take an apostrophe --> <<GRE's creators>>

QUOTE

and the apostrophe should be applied in abbreviations like "it's" = "it is"

yes, but we usually call that a "contraction" -- it's, can't, won't , etc.

QUOTE

as i said...it is almost never used. like the character from Adams Family, cousin It. so he would make lots of little Its

so my p.s. may be a stupidity. i cancel it

Ohhhhhh hahaha

mianna

28th July 2006, 14:11

ok, so correct is "the GRE".

but how is correct: "next friday I'm taking the TOEFL", also?

QUOTE(Lozen @ Jul 28 2006, 12:18)

you normally take more than one, i.e. you take the general test then a subject test like biology or English, etc.

I'm not sure that is true. and when I'm talking about GRE I mean GRE general; if I want to talk about GRE subject, I specify this.

Lozen

28th July 2006, 14:42

QUOTE(mianna @ Jul 28 2006, 06:11)

ok, so correct is "the GRE".

but how is correct: "next friday I'm taking the TOEFL", also?

Yes, "next Friday I'm taking the TOEFL" is correct.

...

Anyway, though I'm happy to answer questions about English, my primary purpose in joining this forum was to ask questions about the Romanian language and Romania.

Maybe you can practice your English and teach me some stuff at the same time.

My first question is: What is an autobuzist?

I couldn't find it in the dictionary and a Google search didn't pull up any elucidating results. Is it someone who regularly takes the bus? who commutes by bus?

LoveDemon

28th July 2006, 23:12

LOL, this pseudoword isn't even worth the question. You won't find it anywhere outside of Softpedia's famous thread. The uninspired thread starter used "autobuzist" as "bus driver", in a poor attempt to be funny, probably.
It's not his invention, though, it's just a very incorrect and unused way to call a driver.

LoveDemon

28th July 2006, 23:23

Oh, and along with that thread the word took a whole new connotation: an "autobuzist" is somebody who hangs out in the said topic, that became so famous after people, intrigued by the insipidity of the story the guy posted in the "fun" section, started to pollute it with all kinds of ineptitudes and made it, bit by bit, what it is today

. Many intelligent and cultured people fell prey to it, but I never had the patience to keep my eyes there for more than a couple of seconds. My loss, I presume.

Lozen

29th July 2006, 01:43

QUOTE(LoveDemon @ Jul 28 2006, 15:23)

. Many intelligent and cultured people fell prey to it, but I never had the patience to keep my eyes there for more than a couple of seconds. My loss, I presume.

Oh,

hehe where is that thread by the way? I must've missed it. I only read autobuzist mentioned on this thread.

-------

Now, I have a question of a more practical nature: how would you say, "Thank you for confirming that you've received my documents"?

I have: Vă mulţumesc pentru că aţi confirmat să primiţi documentele mele.

Is that right? Mersi!

LoveDemon

29th July 2006, 09:56

They split it, at some point, it was killing the server. Here's the original one:
http://forum.softpedia.com/index.php?showtopic=31814
And here is the sequel:
http://forum.softpedia.com/index.php?showtopic=116221

"Vă mulţumesc pentru că aţi confirmat să primiţi documentele mele" is rather incorrect, and it would be translated more into "Thank you for accepting to receive my documents" (if you think hard enough).
I would say "Vă mulţumesc pentru că aţi confirmat primirea documentelor mele" ("Thank you for confirming the receipt of my documents"), or getting futher from the English text, "Multumesc pentru confirmarea de primire a documentelor mele", or getting as close as possible to the English text, but not extremely elevated in Romanian, "Multumesc pentru ca ati confirmat ca ati primit documentele mele".
Errr... if you want a grammatical explanation, I'll do it after I come back from the mountains

gika_killeru'

29th July 2006, 09:57

QUOTE(Lozen @ Jul 29 2006, 02:43)

Now, I have a question of a more practical nature: how would you say, "Thank you for confirming that you've received my documents"?

I have: Vă mulţumesc pentru că aţi confirmat să primiţi documentele mele.

Is that right? Mersi!

Va multumesc pentru confirmarea primirii documentelor.

Lozen

31st July 2006, 11:14

QUOTE(LoveDemon @ Jul 29 2006, 01:56)

"Vă mulţumesc pentru că aţi confirmat să primiţi documentele mele" is rather incorrect, and it would be translated more into "Thank you for accepting to receive my documents" (if you think hard enough).

Oh, and I was trying to sound more Romanian.

QUOTE

Va multumesc pentru confirmarea primirii documentelor.

This is nice -- short and sweet. In English it would sound a bit awkward --> Thank you for the confirmation of the receipt of the documents. (too many "for the"/ "of the"s)

This is definitely one place where the Romanian case system comes in handy.

Lozen

1st August 2006, 23:35

QUOTE

În vitrinele de sticlă intrară lenjuri albe cu funde mari de panglici colorate

Could someone explain what "cu funde mari" means?

Mersi!

mianna

2nd August 2006, 00:25

QUOTE(Lozen @ Aug 2 2006, 00:35)

Could someone explain what "cu funde mari" means?

Mersi!

"funde" is the plural form of the noun "funda" = bow = a knot with two loops and loose ends; used to tie shoelaces (but here is from decoration, not from shoes

)

so, "with big bows of coloured ribbons".

I'm surprised that you didn't asked what "lenjuri" is, because it is an old romanian word

Fr3ak

2nd August 2006, 00:50

QUOTE(mianna @ Aug 2 2006, 01:25)

"funde" is the plural form of the noun "funda" = bow = a knot with two loops and loose ends; used to tie shoelaces (but here is from decoration, not from shoes

)
so, "with big bows of coloured ribbons".

I'm surprised that you didn't asked what "lenjuri" is, because it is an old romanian word

I am also surprised.

Lozen

2nd August 2006, 00:51

QUOTE(mianna @ Aug 1 2006, 16:25)

"funde" is the plural form of the noun "funda" = bow = a knot with two loops and loose ends; used to tie shoelaces (but here is from decoration, not from shoes

)
so, "with big bows of coloured ribbons".

Thanks

I would never have figured that out. I thought the base word was "fund" .

QUOTE

I'm surprised that you didn't asked what "lenjuri" is, because it is an old romanian word

I found "lenjuri" in dexonline.ro, but I didn't know that it was an *old* Romanian word. That's interesting.

mianna

2nd August 2006, 03:51

QUOTE(Fr3ak @ Aug 2 2006, 01:50)

I am also surprised.

ups!

didn't ask

do we have here, at english section, a little "box of mistakes" ?

Fr3ak

2nd August 2006, 08:50

why not?

Lozen

5th August 2006, 11:31

Hi everyone

I was reading a poem by Mircea Cărtărescu called "Zâmbesc" and there were some words and phrases I couldn't figure out:

Nişte grăsane se uitau la mine
şi atunci îmi dau seama că zîmbesc.
zîmbesc în maşina 109 în drum spre slujbă.
fireşte impresie bună nu poate să facă
un tinerel pletos care se uită pe geam şi zîmbeşte.
dar eu mi-am amintit de tine şi, ca de obicei, am zîmbit.
e o reacţie necontrolată.
m-am trezit dimineaţa încîlcit în vise urîte, cu jupuiri de viu,
cu andrele străbătindu-mi dantura
şi mi-am amintit de orele de gramatică.
în masină pute-a maieuri şi-a benzină
iar pe geam ce să vezi? blocuri şi iar blocuri.
am zîmbit şi am ramas, cred, minute bune cu zîmbetul ăsta.
mi te-am amintit în tricoul galben, lăbărţat
şi eu tot în tricou, cam soios, cum am intrat la bulandra.
era antreul plin de gagici încoţofenite
şi tipi la costum...
noi parcă eram picaţi de la Woodstock,
la şcoala directorul m-a luat în primire şi secretara
m-a ameninţat
planta ornamentală neudată la timp mai avea
doar un sfert din frunze
încercînd să stăpânesc clasa
am simţit zămbetul revenind atât de irezistibil,
încât a trebuit să mă întorc cu faţa la tablă.

1. grăsane - I know this is the plural of grăsană, but I would like some discussion about the nuances of this word. Is it kind of insulting to call women grăsane or is it more affectionate? Would you ever call someone 'grăsană' to their face? And does it mean that the person is really fat or just chubby? I was thinking that maybe "fatty" might be a good translation for the word... 'fatty' is rather insulting but in a funny sort of way, a word children might use though adults use it too...

2. străbătindu-mi dantura - I understand this to mean: "going through my denture" Is dantură a common word in Romanian? In English we don't normally refer to our teeth as dentures. The common meaning of denture(s) is a set of *false* teeth.

3. pute-a maieuri şi-a benzină - I don't understand the grammatical structure here... the 'a' sort of makes it look like a possessive (genitive), but does it mean (maşina) smells like _________ and gasoline? I couldn't find maieuri in the dictionary... what does it mean?

4. cum am intrat la bulandra - Is this some kind of expression? I know that bulandra means "rags"... Does it mean something like: "like I've become a tramp (vagabond)?"

5. încoţofenite - I couldn't find this word at all in the dictionary...what does it mean?

6. tipi la costum - Does this mean "guys in suits"?

I know this is a lot to answer, so if you don't feel like answering them all, feel free to pick and choose!

Thanks, I would really appreciate any help anyone can give me.

LoveDemon

5th August 2006, 20:49

Nişte grăsane se uitau la mine
Some fatties were looking at me.
cu andrele străbătindu-mi dantura
with kneeting needles sweeping my teeth.
în masină pute-a maieuri şi-a benzină
in the car it reeks of undershirts and gasolene (filthy workers are known to walk around in [white] shabby undershirts, smelling of all kinds of stuff)
şi eu tot în tricou, cam soios, cum am intrat la bulandra.
as i entered bulandra (a well-known theater),

Shit... only now i looked at the bottom and saw your notes. Gotta go to the movies, I'll resume later if you won't get any other explanations by the time i come back.
1. "Grasana" can be equally funny and insulting, just as "fatty" is in English. I wouldn't call somebody "grasan/a" to their face if I didn't know them very well and I wouldn't be very familiar with them. "Fatty" is the closest translation you can get. Etymologically, "grasan" would be an augmentative, so initially it meant "very fat", but lately it has developed into a rather funny appellative.
"Grasut" is more like "chubby".
2. "Dantura" is a very commom word in Romanian and it sounds much better and... elevated than just... "dinti".
3. "a" here means "like", "of", "as", "as if" - "miroase a flori" - "smells of flowers"; "arata a actor" - "he looks like an actor"; "ridica o spranceana a mirare" - "he lifts his eyebrow wonderingly" - as if he's wondering; "arata a nou" - "looks as new".
"Maieu", with the plural "maieuri", also spelled "maiou" ("maiouri") is a very common piece of undergarment in Romania (from the French "maillot").
The "maieuri" in your text would looks something like this (the clean version): Click pentru a vizualiza ataşamentul
Sorry I don't have a better picture, Google doesn't help. This one is from my private collection

.
To be continued, I really have to go

LoveDemon

5th August 2006, 21:45

Movie is postponed, I have a few minutes.
4. No expression. "Bulandra" is a very famous theater in Bucharest:
Click pentru a vizualiza ataşamentul

Lozen

7th August 2006, 16:07

Oh my gosh

! thank you so much, Lovedemon. Your explanations are so helpful. I would have responded sooner, but for some reason I'm not getting email notifications of replies to my posts.

I'm in a bit of a rush now too, but I just wanted to say that we also have the word "fatso," which is a lot like "fatty" but to me "fatty" is just a bit funnier.

Also, I don't think I've ever heard the plural of "fatso" which would be "fatsos", which is not as easy to pronounce as fatties -- maybe that's why I've never heard the plural.... dunno

I'll write more later. C'ya!

Lozen

7th August 2006, 21:13

QUOTE(Lozen @ Aug 7 2006, 08:07)

Oh my gosh

! thank you so much, Lovedemon. Your explanations are so helpful. I would have responded sooner, but for some reason I'm not getting email notifications of replies to my posts.

I'm in a bit of a rush now too, but I just wanted to say that we also have the word "fatso," which is a lot like "fatty" but to me "fatty" is just a bit funnier.

Also, I don't think I've ever heard the plural of "fatso" which would be "fatsos", which is not as easy to pronounce as fatties -- maybe that's why I've never heard the plural.... dunno

I'll write more later. C'ya!

Let me correct myself, that should be "fatsoes" in the plural according to dictionary.com (I don't know why but the "edit" button isn't showing up

)

Nenea Zap

9th August 2006, 12:39

Because the EDIT button only appears for an hour

Lozen

9th August 2006, 17:02

Oh, good to know, thanks

Lozen

9th August 2006, 17:14

I have a few more questions about this poem and also about LoveDemon's responses. Anyone can answer

QUOTE

zîmbesc în maşina 109 în drum spre slujbă.

Is that like a car on a train or is it a bus or maybe a trolley (tramvai)?

QUOTE

cu andrele străbătindu-mi dantura
with kneeting needles sweeping my teeth.

Are the knitting needles going through the teeth (like between the teeth or between the teeth and the gums (gingii)? or do you think the poet means that they are going through the mouth, like from the opening of the mouth and through the mouth to the back of the mouth? (in any case, it's a scary dream

)

QUOTE

şi eu tot în tricou, cam soios, cum am intrat la bulandra.
era antreul plin de gagici încoţofenite

Is this the antreu to the blandra?

What do they show at the bulandra?

multumesc anticipat!

Maple_mich

15th August 2006, 14:10

QUOTE(Lozen @ Aug 9 2006, 11:14)

I have a few more questions about this poem and also about LoveDemon's responses. Anyone can answer

Is that like a car on a train or is it a bus or maybe a trolley (tramvai)?

It must be a bus.

QUOTE(Lozen @ Aug 9 2006, 11:14)

)

When I first read it, I immagined it going between the teeth, like the toothpicks, only painfully larger.

QUOTE(Lozen @ Aug 9 2006, 11:14)

Is this the antreu to the blandra?

What do they show at the bulandra?

multumesc anticipat!

It is the “antreu” at the Bulandra, a theater where they play classical and contemporary plays J. Here is their website: http://www.bulandra.ro/ro/proiecte.htm

If you live in the ET zone and when you look for more prompt responses, send me a PM, and I can help you through YM.

Lozen

16th August 2006, 10:52

Mulţumesc mult Maple_mich. Mi-a fost de mare ajutor.

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