# Будушчее за нами!



## seitt

Greetings,

I think that this was a slogan at a convention of Единая Россия.

Is it за + instrumental here?

Best wishes, and many thanks,

Simon


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## gvozd

БУДУЩЕЕ за нами!
Yes, the instrumental case.


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## seitt

Thank you for the correction. Please could I have a translation of the phrase?


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## morzh

The future belongs to us!


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## gvozd

morzh said:


> The future belongs to us!



What about "The future depends on us!"?


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## Maroseika

seitt said:


> Thank you for the correction. Please could I have a translation of the phrase?



Surprisingly, it is not that easy to interprete the slogan.
Here за + noun means belonging to the noun:
За тобой долг - You owe me.
Решение за тобой - It's up to you to decide.
Место остается за вами - The position is reserved for you.
Победа будет за нами - Victory will be ours.

Будущее за нами looks like a paraphrase of the latter  (well-known expression): "The future will be ours".
But as a whole, будущее за нами looks somewhat weird - as if we shall win the future.


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## morzh

gvozd said:


> What about "The future depends on us!"?



No no no. In this context - means "belongs to".

Or, if you want active - 

"We own the future!"
But not "depends".

If you wanted "depends" it'd be something like 

"От нас зависит будущее!" (Будущее зависит от нас!)


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## ahvalj

Actually, the "United Russia" was accused (who could doubt?) of copying the nazi slogan "Tomorrow belongs to us" — both the creators and critics apparently were inspired by the kitschy song from "Cabaret".


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## morzh

It is actually funny, as just about 3 days ago I was speaking to someone, and made a joke, that "Будущее за нами" literally means "we are ahead of the future"   (or the future is behind us).


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## ahvalj

morzh said:


> It is actually funny, as just about 3 days ago I was speaking to someone, and made a joke, that "Будущее за нами" literally means "we are ahead of the future"   (or the future is behind us).


«Непереводимая игра слов с использованием местных идиоматических выражений» ©


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## Maroseika

ahvalj said:


> Actually, the "United Russia" was accused (who could doubt?) of copying the nazi slogan "Tomorrow belongs to us" — both the creators and critics apparently were inspired by the kitschy song from "Cabaret".



I doubt whether their imagemakers are so erudite. Just the same mentality.
"Creen poder controlarlos?"


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## ahvalj

Maroseika said:


> I doubt whether their imagemakers are so erudite. Just the same mentality.
> "Creen poder controlarlos?"


Well, I am going off topic, but nazis had a dream and had what is now called «драйв», while our present chiefs have villas in Britain and no dreams.


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## Maroseika

ahvalj said:


> Well, I am going off topic, but nazis had a dream and had what is now called «драйв», while our present chiefs have villas in Britain and no dreams.



You know, I prefer chiefs with villas to chiefs with dreams. 
Well, let's end this off-topic.


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## PERSEE

At first, when I discovered the topic, I thought it was a paradox, meaning: The future is behind us!

I'm still not sure I understand this possessive meaning of за, by the way...

In French, we would say quite simply and naturally: “L'avenir est à nous !" (Thus, like in Russian, we use a preposition.)


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## ahvalj

Here, «за» is used to convey the secure possession. The origin of this usage probably comes from phrases like «за пазухой», "in the bosom". Also, this construction may mean the action somebody is expected to do: «дело за тобой», "it is your turn to act".


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## Maroseika

PERSEE said:


> At first, when I discovered the topic, I thought it was a paradox, meaning: The future is behind us!
> 
> I'm still not sure I understand this possessive meaning of за, by the way...
> 
> In French, we would say quite simply and naturally: “L'avenir est à nous !" (Thus, like in Russian, we use a preposition.)



The only problem with this preposition за is that it is very polysemantic and multifunctional. This can be a good source of jokes, but it really can mean quite different things, and 'geometrical' sense is only one of them, although, most likely, the most primary.
But in other cases it can be rather far from this old sense: спрятаться за столом (behind the table), сидеть за столом (at, not behind the table), ценить за красоту, наказать за провинность (reason), купить за рубль,  успеть за пять дней, успел за минуту до сеанса, ему за сорок, победа за нами (our), выйти замуж за красавца, бороться за мир, приняться за работу, взять за руку (direction of action), держать за дурака, сделать работу за другого, etc...


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## morzh

PERSEE said:


> At first, when I discovered the topic, I thought it was a paradox, meaning: The future is behind us!
> 
> I'm still not sure I understand this possessive meaning of за, by the way...
> 
> In French, we would say quite simply and naturally: “L'avenir est à nous !" (Thus, like in Russian, we use a preposition.)



"За" as a preposition has extremely wide range of meanings.

This particular one, I am not sure how exactly to formalize it, shows some sort of possession, that someone has something.


- За мной (за тобой) должок - I owe you (you owe me). Literally - I (you) have debt.
- За мною выпивка - I will provide the booze (lit/ I have obligation to provide the libations).
- За тобой - расчет параметров и чертежи - You are responsible for calculations and drafts. (lit. you own the responsibility to provide calcs and drafts).

But, otherwise, "за" is extremely versatile:

Examples:

1. Behind - Я стою за стеной (I'm behind the wall).
2. To be at: Я сижу за столом (I am sitting at the table).
3. Purpose of an action - Следить за исполнением задания (To watch over completion of the job).
4. Cause / because - За неимением денег, он питался у друзей (Because of the lack of money he constantly invited himself over dinners at his friends).
5. To hold on to something: Он держался за работу (he was holding on to his job). Я держусь за поручень (I am holding on to handrail).
6. Over Limit / Threshold - Температура зашкалила за 100 Фаренгейта - The temperature has crossed 100F. Ему за 40 - He's over 40.
7. Distance to the location. Это за 20 миль отсюда - This is 20 miles from here.
8. Elapsed time - Я пробежал 1 милю за 8 минут. - I ran a mile in 8 minutes.
9. Instead of someone. - За него его работу делают другие - his job is always done by others.
10. The purpose / for something. Мы стоим за колбасой - we are in this line to buy the baloney (for the baloney). Мы боремся за качество - we are striving to improve quality (literally - fighting for quality).
11. After something / someone. Один за другим - one after another; Вы за мною - you will be after me. 
12. During. За бутылочкой вина мы скоротали время - we passed time drinking a bottle of wine (literally "while the bottle lasted"); За ужином мы говорим о чем угодно - during suppers we 
discuss just about anything.
13. As remuneration for efforts / pay for merchandise - деньги за рыбу (money for the fish), оплата за труд - compensation for labor.
14. To marry a man (for women) - Выйти за одноклассника - to marry her high school sweetheart.

There is more, but then you may transform them to these, more or less.


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## Albertovna

ahvalj said:


> Actually, the "United Russia" was accused (who could doubt?) of copying the nazi slogan "Tomorrow belongs to us" — both the creators and critics apparently were inspired by the kitschy song from "Cabaret".


Ditto  They even sang "to me." "Tomorrow belongs to me!"


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## LilianaB

Well, tomorrow can belong to anybody. Is it an exact translation of a phrase from a nazi song or just from the _Cabaret_?


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