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janetlinOkay, so teachers should totally not hand out candy in class.
Lately, мой любимый профессор has been bringing us candy: Kit Kats, Tootsie Pops, Starburst, etc. Dunno why but hey I'm not complaining. But today for some reason the sugar just really hit me. This unit is about giving directions, and describing various modes of transportation (which means we're dealing with the ever-so-lovely verbs of motion). Well, one of the verbs for "to go" (unidirectional, imperfective, by vehicle) - ехать - conjugates awfully similarly to the verb for "to eat" - есть. So, "Today I'm going to work by means of/in a taxi," = Севодня, я еду на работу на такси. ((bold indicates the stressed syllable))
So профессор looks around the room and asks, "Why couldn't you say, 'я еду на такси'?"
I helpfully reply, "Because that means, like, 'I'm eating the taxi.'" And I get this image of, like, Cookie Monster happily munching on a taxi, and it gives me the giggles like you wouldn't believe. I think I might have actually made a munching sound in the midst of the giggles, too. Профессор grins at me and then asks the rest of the class, "Where'd the candy go? I don't think we have enough sugar over here." *facepalm*
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elven_alchemist, why is it на автобусе, на машине, etc.? Why на + prepositional? Shouldn't it be instrumental: автобусом, машиной? Like пешком is instrumental. It makes more sense, since it's the case for "by means of..." expressions. But my учебник doesn't even mention the possibility. Is using the instrumental case in situations like this completely wrong, or just archaic or something?
Lately, мой любимый профессор has been bringing us candy: Kit Kats, Tootsie Pops, Starburst, etc. Dunno why but hey I'm not complaining. But today for some reason the sugar just really hit me. This unit is about giving directions, and describing various modes of transportation (which means we're dealing with the ever-so-lovely verbs of motion). Well, one of the verbs for "to go" (unidirectional, imperfective, by vehicle) - ехать - conjugates awfully similarly to the verb for "to eat" - есть. So, "Today I'm going to work by means of/in a taxi," = Севодня, я еду на работу на такси. ((bold indicates the stressed syllable))
So профессор looks around the room and asks, "Why couldn't you say, 'я еду на такси'?"
I helpfully reply, "Because that means, like, 'I'm eating the taxi.'" And I get this image of, like, Cookie Monster happily munching on a taxi, and it gives me the giggles like you wouldn't believe. I think I might have actually made a munching sound in the midst of the giggles, too. Профессор grins at me and then asks the rest of the class, "Where'd the candy go? I don't think we have enough sugar over here." *facepalm*
And
elven_alchemist, why is it на автобусе, на машине, etc.? Why на + prepositional? Shouldn't it be instrumental: автобусом, машиной? Like пешком is instrumental. It makes more sense, since it's the case for "by means of..." expressions. But my учебник doesn't even mention the possibility. Is using the instrumental case in situations like this completely wrong, or just archaic or something?
