# но где ж он сам?



## Kahless

What does this mean in English?

Thanx


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## Ptak

~Where is he?


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## Saluton

Literally: "but where is he himself?"


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## Kahless

Thank you. I believe both answers are correct. I seems yours is probably the literal interpretation of the words, Ptak gave the the way it would be more smoothly and directly said in English.

Thanx both of you.


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## Kolan

Kahless said:


> Thank you. I believe both answers are correct. I seems yours is probably the literal interpretation of the words, Ptak gave the the way it would be more smoothly and directly said in English.


The phrase is Russian conveys a more definite and emphasized meaning, like *But where he is personally now?*


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## Kazman

I believe that the particle *ж *would indicate that the phrase, using Ptak's translation, would be "Where in the world _is_ he?"  This indicates that the speaker has no idea of that person's location, and is expressing annoyance at not being able to find him.


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## Kazman

Of course, the pronoun *он *could also refer to a thing that, in Russian, has been assigned the masculine gender.  Therefore, "Where in the world is it?"


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## Kolan

Kazman said:


> I believe that the particle *ж *would indicate that the phrase, using Ptak's translation, would be "Where in the world _is_ he?"  This indicates that the speaker has no idea of that person's location, and is expressing annoyance at not being able to find him.


QUOTE]'ж' stands more for impatience than for annoyance.


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## morzh

You guys are trying to extrapolate Russian to English. Those are unnecessary and quite futile exercises, and what Saluton wrote is quite fine, only I'd remove "himself", as this is rather literal.

If you want an intensifier you may add "where in the world".

I would stop at "but where is he?"


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## Kahless

Hello. My book is soon to be published. May I have English to russian Cyrillic translations for these sentences please?

*Major Breshnev, the Americans are twenty minutes from the pass now.

Are there any armed vehicles or snipers seen?

No, comrade Major. The Americans have unarmed vessels for battlefield cleanup at the south end of the pass.

Good they will fight then, and there are no snipers.

Watch them closely, lieutenant.

Yes, Comrade Major.

Major Breshnev. Look! I just saw that American ambulance move one whole meter.

Let me see! Bah, it is nothing. Keep a closer eye on them.


Thank You in advance. I am soon to have this up on Kindle Direct Publishing as an ebook.

Kahless*


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## Saluton

I don't know what kind of pass, vessels and cleanup you are mentioning so I'm not translating them.

- Товарищ майор, американцы в двадцати минутах от the pass.
- Боевые машины или снайперы есть?
- Нет, товарищ майор. У них есть vessels без вооружения для cleanup местности на южном конце the pass.
- Хороши вояки! Да ещё без снайперов.
- Не спускай с них глаз, лейтенант.
- Есть, товарищ майор.
- Товарищ майор! Смотрите! Их санитарная машина передвинулась на целый метр, я видел.
- Дай посмотреть! Да ну, ерунда. Следи за ними повнимательней.

In the third and the eighth sentences, I replaced 'American' with 'their' because американцы would sound unnatural and too long a word to say during a battle. I also omitted the surname Breshnev (Брешнев) because Russians don't address majors by surnames but if you use it elsewhere, I'd like to warn you that the surname does exist but Russian readers will laugh at it because it will be clear to them that it's an altered surname Brezhnev. I'm sorry, but you should replace it.


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## Kahless

Thank you, Saluton. To start with, _the pass _refers a narrow space between two parallel mountain ridges or entrance into a canyon, and it is the entry point where you leave and enter it. We refer to it as a _pass,_ a place where you must _pass through_.

As far as American use here, in both instances the battle hasn't started yet. This is a Tactical Operations Center observing enemy movements pre-battle from satellite access. (these are actually two scenes seperated by time, the first ending with the words, "*Yes, Comrade Major.")*

Sorry about Breshnev, I got it off a list off Russian surnames from wikipedia. I guess I can use a non-speaking sentence to identify the Major as Brezhnev, but not have the young lieutenant address him as such.

Ok, since you are familiar with Russian military protocol, how would a Soviet subordinate address a superior officer?

Thank you, Kahless


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## Saluton

Oh, so you don't know who Brezhnev was. Sorry about that but if you click the link, you'll see he was head of the USSR in the 70s. Using his surname or a similar one for an officer is almost like calling the officer Gorbachev, Stalin or Putin... I hope you get the point.

I'm not as familiar with military protocol as I probably should be, but I think a subordinate will always call a major товарищ майор ('Comrade Major'), which I used in the translation (you may want to open a separate topic about it, though). If so, the lieutenant will repeat it four times.

Does _vessels_ mean 'ships' here? How are they supposed to clean anything up?

I get the idea of the pass, though. It's literally translated as проход but I would use the word тропа ('a narrow space on the ground where you can walk') here.

Also, to be sure about the translation, I have to confirm the following:
- Is the lieutenant male?
- Is the ambulance a military vehicle?

These small things may influence the translation.


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## Kahless

Ok, I can change the Major's name to something else. Do you have a suggestion? I have used quite a few in this book. Tkachenko and Kiknadze already main characters and used already.

_vessels_ in this case are hovercraft utility vehicles used for recovering precious metal from the destroyed ships on the battlefield after a fight. They are nicknamed _scavengers because of what they do.

Ambulence _is a medial vehicle, used to pick up soldiers wounded in the conflict.

The lieutenant is male.

Thank you for all your help.

Kahless


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## trblmkr_nj

Hovercraft is  "судно на воздушной подушке" or "aмфибийное судно". Although, I am not  sure if they are used in the Russian Army/Navy *for recovering precious metal from the destroyed ships on the battlefield after a fight*.

Ambulance is "машина скорой помощи" or simply "скорая помощь"

Pass, based on your definition, is "ущелье". However, if you mean *mountain pass*, then if will be "перевал"

Some Russian male names: _Ivanov, Petrov, Vasiliev, Nikitin, Tarasov, Titov, Fedoseev,  Fedorov, Sidorov, Alekseev, Egorov, Demidov, Mihailov, Andreev, Alexandrov. _Most of Russian last names ending change depending on gender, for example, male - Ivanov, but female - Ivanov*a*. In most cases ending "a" is added in female last names. Petrov - Petrov*a*, Eltsin - Eltsin*a*, Gorbachov - Gorbachov*a*, Putin - Putin*a*.  There are some disputes about translation of Russian female last names,  for example, last name Gorbachova can be translated as Gorbachov and  Gorbachova. Variant Gorbachov is the most widespread


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## Kahless

I am sorry if I made it unnecessarily unclear. This is a science fiction setting on Mars. Conventional thinking about battlefield cleanup of precious metal doesn't apply. It would be enough to call them ships or vessels. All vehicles in my make believe world are based on hover craft physics. So it is enough to refer to the _scavengers_ as _scrap_ _recovery vehicles_.

Yes. I knew about the feminine/masculine versions of Russian names. I have used some of your suggestions already, so I think a good substitution for Brezhnev would be _Ivanov, _which I have not used yet.

And yes, I know who Brezhnev was.

And yes, it is a _military ambulance_, and that is the correct term in English.

Thank You, Kahless


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## Kahless

Ok, to clarify the translation.

*Comrade Major, the Americans are twenty minutes from the pass now.
*Товарищ майор, американцы в двадцати минутах от ущелье.

*
Are there any armed vehicles or snipers seen?
*Боевые машины или снайперы есть?
*
No, comrade Major. The Americans have unarmed vessels for battlefield cleanup at the south end of the pass.
*Нет, товарищ майор. У них есть vessels без вооружения для cleanup местности на южном конце ущелье.

*
Good they will fight then, and there are no snipers.
*Хороши вояки! Да ещё без снайперов.
*
Watch them closely, lieutenant.
*Не спускай с них глаз, лейтенант.
*
Yes, Comrade Major.
*Есть, товарищ майор.
*
Comrade Major! Look! I just saw that American ambulance move one whole meter.
*Товарищ майор! Смотрите! Их машина скорой помощи передвинулась на целый метр, я видел.

*
Let me see! Bah, it is nothing. Keep a closer eye on them.*
  Дай посмотреть! Да ну, ерунда. Следи за ними повнимательней.

If there is any fine tuning to the translation, let me know.

Thank You, Kahless


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## Saluton

I made some corrections to my previous versions, translating _battlefield cleanup_ as сбор металлолома на местности после боя ('collection of scrap metal on the battlefield after a fight').

 Ущелье ('the pass'), suggested by trblmkr_nj, means 'gorge'. I think it's a good version, too.

Also, trblmkr_nj translated _ambulance_ as машина скорой помощи. This just means an ordinary ambulance car, but I'm sure a military ambulance is different and will have a different name in Russian, most probably санитарная машина ('field ambulance car').

Tkachenko is a good choice.

Kiknadze? I hope you know it's a Georgian surname, although a Russian may have it, too.

Ivanov? The most popular Russian surname? Okay.

You mention 'that American ambulance' in the last but one sentence. Was it mentioned before in the text? Do Americans have more than one ambulance?

So:

*Comrade Major, the Americans are twenty minutes from the pass now.
*Товарищ майор, американцы в двадцати минутах от ущелья.

*Are there any armed vehicles or snipers seen?
*Ты видишь снайперов или боевые машины?
*
No, comrade Major. The Americans have unarmed vessels for battlefield cleanup at the south end of the pass.
*Нет, товарищ майор. У американцев есть корабли без вооружения на южном конце ущелья, чтобы собирать металлолом на местности после боя. ('The Americans have unarmed ships at the south end of the pass to collect scrap metal on the battlefield after a fight')

*Good they will fight then, and there are no snipers.
*Хороши вояки! Да ещё без снайперов.
*
Watch them closely, lieutenant.
*Не спускай с них глаз, лейтенант.
*
Yes, Comrade Major.
*Есть, товарищ майор.
*
Comrade Major! Look! I just saw that American ambulance move one whole meter.
*Товарищ майор! Смотрите! Санитарная машина американцев только что передвинулась на целый метр.

*Let me see! Bah, it is nothing. Keep a closer eye on them.*
  Дай посмотреть! Да ну, пустяки. Следи за ними повнимательней.


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## Kahless

Yes, I mentioned American ambulence in the first sentence. Perhaps since it is understood that they are monitoring the Americans, that _military ambulence _is better. Yes they would have more than one. In fact, the scene previous to this employs two.

Thank You, Kahless


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## Saluton

*Comrade Major! Look! I just saw that American ambulance move one whole meter.
*Товарищ майор! Смотрите! Та санитарная машина американцев только что передвинулась на целый метр. (I've added the word та = that)

I hope we are done now.


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## Kahless

You bet! Thank you, sir. I will have my novel up on Kindle Direct Publishing in about 2 weeks. I have been working on it for 7 years, a bit of a perfectionist I am afraid.

Kahless


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## Saluton

Good luck...


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