# To Visit (в гости)



## RhoKappa

I need some help on the expression to visit. My textbook gives one translation for it, but my audio sources give another, and my dictionary gives yet another.
The glossary in my textbook translates to visit as быть в гостях, but its usage in the pertinent dialogue makes no sense. Here is the passage from the dialogue: Мы каждую весну ездим туда и бываем у них в гостях месяц. What I fail to understand here is why быть conjugates to бываем. My Russian verbs book offers no present tense conjugation of быть, so this means that there is no present tense conjugation at all, nor do I even find бываем anywhere in any of my books except from the dialogue in my textbook.
My audiobooks give a different expression of to visit as в госте. For example, она приезжает ко мне в госте, or at least that is how I hear it. The literal English translation is to come as a guest. This is inconsistent to what my textbook fails to define as to visit.
Finally, my dictionary gives yet a completely different definition of the verb to visit: посещать/посетить. I suppose that я хочу посетить в Москву makes sense to you native speakers?
I am quite confused here, and hopefully you can help me understand the differences of these expressions, in what contexts they are used, and what is the most common and correct way of how I can say it without sounding awkward?


----------



## morzh

Быть  - infinitive.

But when you say "бываем вгостях" it means "we visit" (from time to time). Repeated action. The infinitive is "бывать в гостях".
If you are visiting, it is "Мы в гостях" ("быть" is omitted). The infinitive of it is "быть в гостях". (present continuous).
.
And, it is "в гости", not "в госте".

Бывать - is not "быть".


----------



## ARGON_24

Morzh is absolutely right, i just want to add...

"To visit" can be translated as "приходить в гости" if we speak about people or "посещать/посетить" for cities or countries. When we visit sick person(patients) in a hospital it should be translated as "навещать".
 "Я хочу посетить Москву" - is quite alright (not " в Москву ", because here we need accusative case). In this case we can also say " побывать в Москве" instead of "посетить Москву" and it sounds a little bit better.


----------



## morzh

Well, "to visit" may even be translated as "нанести визит", "прийти с визитом".  Makes it sound standoffish / official, but it does exist, especially when speaking about some dignitaries visiting foreign countries. 
"С визитом в США приехал чрезвычайный посол Абракадабрии Чеонгомар Кразински-Кулински".


----------



## rusita preciosa

This is not a simple expression.
Perhaps it would be easier for you to note that *в гостях/в гости *grammatically is treated as a location:
*в гостях (где?), *e.g. быть в гостях _(prepos.)
_*в гости (куда ?), *e.g. идти / ехать в гости _(accus.)
_*из гостей (откуда?), *e.g. вернуться из гостей _(gen.)
_
so, for *быть в гостях *you just conjugate *быть* like you normally conjugate it
present: *мы [есть] в гостях *(есть is omitted as usual when you conjugate быть)
past: *мы** были **в гостях 
*future: *мы** будем **в гостях

*(BTW, *бываем *in your example is not the verb быть, it is the verb *бывать* and it has a different conjugation from быть)

Same with the others. Here are some examples (present/past/future):
*мы идём / ходили / пойдём в гости*
*мы возвращаемся / возвращались / вернёмся из гостей*

Obviously all these can be used with быть and with the appropriate verbs of motion, both in perfective and imperfective.

As mentioned above, there are synonyms, like *посетить, **нанести визит *etc…


----------



## rusita preciosa

RhoKappa said:


> I am quite confused here, and hopefully you can help me understand the differences of these expressions, in what contexts they are used, and what is the most common and correct way of how I can say it without sounding awkward?


Usually *в гостях/в гости *means visit a person/people at their place (most often their home); *посещать/посетить *can mean either visit a person or people in some other place (office, hospital etc...) or visit anything else (a city, a museum, a location...)


----------



## RhoKappa

morzh said:


> Быть - infinitive.
> 
> But when you say "бываем вгостях" it means "we visit" (from time to time). Repeated action. The infinitive is "бывать в гостях".
> If you are visiting, it is "Мы в гостях" ("быть" is omitted). The infinitive of it is "быть в гостях". (present continuous).
> .
> And, it is "в гости", not "в госте".
> 
> Бывать - is not "быть".


Wow, then my textbook is wrong.  The glossary after the lesson actually reads, "быть в гостях," and furthermore the audio section actually reads "быть в гостях" aloud.  I cannot see how they could be right, but now I can see how you can be correct with the correct verb бывать.


----------



## Saluton

"Быть в гостях" means "to be at someone else's place", "to be someone's guest" (быть в гостях у кого-то). So yes, your textbook is wrong.


----------



## wonlon

RhoKappa said:


> My audiobooks give a different expression of to visit as в госте. For example, она приезжает ко мне в госте, or at least that is how I hear it.



I personally think that it is a listening problem.

If someone writes it down it must be _она приезжает ко мне в гост*и*_.
*
(идти*́*) в го́́сти *and *(быть) в гостя́х* are very common phrases as I study Russian along.


----------



## wonlon

What I don't know is which case гость is in *(идти*́*) в го́́сти*.
After в it should be accusative, but if the noun is animate, it is the same as genitive.
Then why isn't it *в госте́й*?
**


----------



## Maroseika

Morfologically гости is Plural Nom. of гость. But in this construction гости is not a form of гость.
В гости is an adverb.
В гостях is another adverb.
And из гостей is yet another one.

I think that originally в гости meant to come somehwere for temporary stay for trade (гость originally meant a strolling merhcant).

Other cases of в + Pl. Nom.:
Ты мне в сыновья годишься.
Таких не берут в космонавты.


----------



## Sobakus

Why in the world would it be Nominative, when в+Nominative means direction instead of place? I think it's quite obviously Accusative, and it's not marked for animacy under the influence of Old Church Slavonic, where that grammatical category is absent.


----------



## Maroseika

Sobakus said:


> Why in the world would it be Nominative, when в+Nominative means direction instead of place? I think it's quite obviously Accusative, and it's not marked for animacy under the influence of Old Church Slavonic, where that grammatical category is absent.



I'm far not sure but still think that etymologically it is Nominative just because Acc. for гости would be гостей. В гостей (кинул бутылку в окно, но угодил в гостей) really means direction, but в гости meant not direction, but a status, like в сыновья, в отцы.


----------



## Sobakus

Maroseika said:


> I'm far not sure but still think that etymologically it is Nominative just because Acc. for гости would be гостей. В гостей (кинул бутылку в окно, но угодил в гостей) really means direction, but в гости meant not direction, but a status, like в сыновья, в отцы.


   In OCS the Acc. for гости was гости, the reason I don't believe it to be Nom. is because the preposition "в" simply doesn't agree with Nominative in any IE language that I know of. And I don't really know what I meant when I wrote about direction D), but в гости/сыновья/купцы etc means exactly direction, a person entering a certain group of people, see for example "выйти в дамки" (выйти в is obviously direction), "податься в поэты" etc. In this case the name of the group is technically plural of an animate noun, but isn't treated like one either under the influence of OCS or because a group is just an idea.


----------



## Maroseika

Maybe you are right. Though the issue is still onscure for me.


----------



## wonlon

From _A Comprehensive Russian Grammar, Terence Wade_ 3rd Edition
 Just as I have thought, it is a historical problem. I don't think в can be followed by nominative (except when it is accusative plural inanimate > form = plu. nom.).

*449 Prepositions that take the accusative** (wonlon: under Other Important Meanings Expressed by Prepositions)*

(1) *В*
*В* + accusative denotes:

(i)…
(ii)….

(v) A professional or other group (note that what *appears *to be the
*nominative plural* in these constructions is *historically an accusative*):

Он не годи́тся *в* *музык**а**́**нты*    He is not cut out to be a musician
идти́ *в го́́сти  *                         to go visiting
произвести́ *в* *офице**́**ры*           to commission

*<...>*


----------



## Angelo di fuoco

"Мы каждую весну ездим туда и бываем у них в гостях месяц" - because of the long time (a month, not an tea party, dinner or overnight stay) there's a verb that suits better in this context: "Мы каждую весну ездим туда и гостим у них месяц" - imperfective infinitive "гостить", perfective "погостить".
"проводим у них в гостях месяц" is also a valid option".


----------



## Enquiring Mind

RhoKappa said:


> Wow, then my textbook is wrong.  The glossary after the lesson actually reads, "быть в гостях," and furthermore the audio section actually reads "быть в гостях" aloud.  I cannot see how they could be right ...



I don't think your textbook is wrong.  One thing that no-one has mentioned in this thread yet, which may help an English learner of Russian: 
"To visit" has *two* meanings in English:
1) to *be *on a visit - Быть в гостя́х
2) to *go *on a visit - идти́ в го́́сти


----------

