# через неделю; через день



## eni8ma

через + accusative seems to have different meanings.

- я бегаю через неделю - I'm running in a week.
- я бегаю через день - I run every other day.

- через месяц я еду домой. In a month I am going home.
- через неделю я еду домой. In a week I am going home.
- через день я еду домой. Every other day I go home.

Is that right?

Is it just different for через день, and all the others mean "in a ~"?  Perhaps that is because "in a day" from now is already covered by завтра? and "in a day", in any other context, would be в один день.

If that is the case, how do we say "every other week/month"? "every other week" is not always the same as "fortnightly"; it is one week on, one week off ...


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## Maroseika

eni8ma said:


> через + accusative seems to have different meanings.
> 
> - я буду бегать через неделю - I'm running in a week. (strictly speaking, бегаю is also possible, but sounds not very well. In other cases it can work though: Через неделю мы играем с "Барселоной").
> - я бегаю через день - I run every other day.
> 
> - через месяц я еду домой. In a month I am going home.
> - через неделю я еду домой. In a week I am going home.
> - через день я еду домой. Every other in a day I go home.
> - через день я езжу домой. Every other day I go home.
> 
> Is that right?


Not completely.



> If that is the case, how do we say "every other week/month"? "every other week" is not always the same as "fortnightly"; it is one week on, one week off ...



Every other week/month - каждую вторую недель, второй месяц.

Через is also possible, but only in some contexts:

Я уезжаю через месяц (a month after).
Я бегаю через месяц (in a month = every other month).


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## Natalisha

eni8ma said:


> через + accusative seems to have different meanings.
> 
> - я бегаю через неделю - I'm running in a week - I run every other week.
> - я бегаю через день - I run every other day.
> 
> - через месяц я еду домой. In a month I am going home.
> - через неделю я еду домой. In a week I am going home.
> - через день я еду езжу домой. Every other day I go home.
> In a day I'm going home. - Через день я еду домой.



PS Now I see that Maroseika has already answered your question.


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## eni8ma

I think I see now - so the correct rule is 
через + accusative + progressive => in a ~
через + accusative + iterative => every other ~

I do sort of understand the verbs of motion, but am still getting used to taking them into consideration all the time.  'specially when the reference I look up just says через день = every other day, with no notes to say what verb form is required. 

But ... what if the verb is not a verb of motion? so then there is not a progressive and iterative form.
I suppose then it is:
через + accusative + perfective => in a ~
через + accusative + imperfective => every other ~

??


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## Natalisha

eni8ma said:


> But ... what if the verb is not a verb of motion?


For example?


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## eni8ma

If my last post is correct, then for time periods less than a week:
в Acc + progressive/perfective => on/at/in ~
в Acc + iterative/imperfective => per ~

- я пью три стакана в день - I drink three glasses a day - в Acc + imperfective
- я выпью беер в субботу - I will drink beer on Saturday  - в Acc + perfective


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## eni8ma

Natalisha said:


> For example?



через день я пью три стакана. Every other day I drink three glasses.


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## Maroseika

eni8ma said:


> - я пью три стакана в день - I drink three glasses a day - в Acc + imperfective
> - я выпью беер пиво в субботу - I will drink beer on Saturday  - в Acc + perfective



No difference if this is not a motion verb. Typical doctor's recommendation: Принимать по две таблетке через день.


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## Mr_Darcy

eni8ma said:


> через день я пью три стакана. Every other day I drink three glasses.



Rule of thumb: If you mean "every other day", never put "через день" in front.
In this case (let's add water to the story, otherwise it sounds incomplete), you could say, "Я пью *по* три стакана воды через день".

Alternatively, you could say "Я пью (по) три стакана воды каждые два дня" or "Каждые два дня я пью (по) три стакана воды".
The second and third options sound somewhat better (though the first option is quite ok too).


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## Natalisha

eni8ma said:


> через день я пью три стакана. Every other day I drink three glasses.


Yes, that's right.


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## Mr_Darcy

Maroseika said:


> No difference if this is not a motion verb. Typical doctor's recommendation: Принимать по две таблетк*и* через день.


Just to avoid misleading non-Russian natives.



Natalisha said:


> Yes, that's right.


Still, I'd reiterate that you cannot put через день in the beginning of a phrase if you mean "every other day."
"Через день" opening a sentence unambiguously means "in a day."


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## eni8ma

Maroseika said:


> No difference if this is not a motion verb. Typical doctor's recommendation: Принимать по две таблетке через день.



So is через день "every other day" in this script?

Is there any time when  в день means "per day"? The reference said  в+ Acc = "per ~".
However, in another place it said  в+ Acc = "in/on/at ~"

в субботу - on Saturday
  в день - per day

I was hoping that the verbs would resolve when a particular meaning has effect.


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## eni8ma

Mr_Darcy said:


> Rule of thumb: If you mean "every other day", never put "через день" in front.
> In this case (let's add water to the story, otherwise it sounds incomplete), you could say, "Я пью *по* три стакана воды через день".
> 
> Alternatively, you could say "Я пью (по) три стакана воды каждые два дня" or "Каждые два дня я пью (по) три стакана воды".
> The second and third options sound somewhat better (though the first option is quite ok too).



So через ~ = "every other ~" is not the preferred option?

The usual usage for "через ~ " is "in a ~" (with a progressive verb of motion, or at least the imperfective)?


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## eni8ma

Mr_Darcy said:


> Still, I'd reiterate that you cannot put через день in the beginning of a phrase if you mean "every other day."
> "Через день" opening a sentence unambiguously means "in a day."



Just noticed that.

So ...
Через + Acc + progressive imperfective => in a ~
iterative imperfective + через + Acc => "every other ~"


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## Mr_Darcy

eni8ma said:


> So через ~ = "every other ~" is not the preferred option?



Preference is probably not the right word. I should not have used it.

Let's put it like this. The word combination "через день" out of context can mean two things: "in a day" or "every other day."

When you put it in a context, in most cases this ambiguity disappears.
For instance, if your doctor says, "Будете принимать по две таблетки через день," you understand from the context that you doctor means "you will take 2 pills every other day," not that "you will start taking 2 pills in a day."

How do you know that?
First, because of "*по*" (which is a sign of regularity: "по две таблетки" means two pill at a time). Second, because of the fact that the doctor said "будете принимать" (not "примете"), which again tells you that the doctor was speaking of a repeated, rather than one-off, activity. So, from all this you understand that "через день" refers to "every other day."

On the other hand, if the doctor said something like "Принимать нужно через день," I would probably ask, "Вы имеете в виду, что нужно _начать_ через день или принимать раз в два дня?" To avoid questions form me, the doctor should have said, "Принимать нужно раз в два дня".


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## Natalisha

Mr_Darcy said:


> Still, I'd reiterate that you cannot put через день in the beginning of a phrase if you mean "every other day."
> "Через день" opening a sentence unambiguously means "in a day."


It's a good point, but I would change your "cannot" into "shouldn't".


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## eni8ma

Mr_Darcy said:


> On the other hand, if the doctor said something like "Принимать нужно через день," I would probably ask, "Вы имеете в виду, что нужно _начать_ через день или принимать раз в два дня?" To avoid questions from me, the doctor should have said, "Принимать нужно раз в два дня".



Thanks for showing me a new phrase: иметь в виду - have in mind


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## morzh

"Иметь ввиду" has at least two translations: "To have in mind / to mean" and "to keep in mind".

When you ask someone "что вы имеете ввиду" or "вы имеете ввиду, что мне нужно начать....." then it is  "what do you have in mind", or "you mean that (I need to start....)" 

But then when you say "Имейте ввиду, что вам нужно начать" (giving instructions) - then it is "Keep in mind that you need to start......"


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## eni8ma

morzh said:


> "Иметь ввиду" has at least two translations: "To have in mind / to mean" and "to keep in mind".
> 
> When you ask someone "что вы имеете ввиду" or "вы имеете ввиду, что мне нужно начать....." then it is  "what do you have in mind", or "you mean that (I need to start....)"
> 
> But then when you say "Имейте ввиду, что вам нужно начать" (giving instructions) - then it is "Keep in mind that you need to start......"



Спасибо, также; это всё полезно.  This is all grist to the mill, as the dictionary and other references do not always say much about actual usage.


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## Natalisha

morzh said:


> "Иметь в виду" has at least two translations: "To have in mind / to mean" and "to keep in mind".
> 
> When you ask someone "что вы имеете в виду" or "вы имеете в виду, что мне нужно начать....." then it is  "what do you have in mind", or "you mean that (I need to start....)"
> 
> But then when you say "Имейте в виду, что вам нужно начать" (giving instructions) - then it is "Keep in mind that you need to start......"


A small correction. 

"Иметь в виду", but "ввиду того, что".


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## morzh

Yes. Shame on me


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