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A classic example is ????????? and ???????. ????????? is a season ticket, a subscription; ??????? is the subscriber. ? ????? ????????? ?? ???? ?????? ? ????? (I bought a season ticket to a series of lectures at the museum.) ? ???? ???????? ????????? ??? ???????? 53999 (I want to leave a message for subscriber 53999).
???????? / ??????????? can also throw you. ???????? is something you are aiming for, ??????????? is what you would like to see happen, the preferred outcome. Sometimes these are synonyms -- what you are aiming for is what you prefer to get -- but sometimes they are not. However, you can see the subtle distinction in the following sentence (which is a bit of a linguistic stretch, for illustration purposes): ???? -- ??????????? ????????, ?? ???? -- ??? ???????? ???????? (Dima is a preferred candidate, but Sasha is the candidate we want).
Confused already? Then take two kinds of "friendly": ??????? and ?????????????. Both express the idea of "being disposed in a friendly way" but ??????? means "internally friendly," made up of friends, while ????????????? means "externally friendly," disposed in a friendly way to others. So ??????? ??????? is a team made up of friends, while ????????????? ??????? is a team that is friendly to other teams.
You can see the difference in the news headline (that was the inspiration for this migraine-inducing column): ?????? ? ??? ??? ?? ??????? ??????, ?? ????? ????, ??? ?????? ??????????????? This is a real nightmare for translators. What it means is: Once upon a time the members of the Yabloko and SPS parties were all good friends, but now they aren't. Can the parties at least get along? But that doesn't help the poor translator in the news bureau, who has 10 minutes to come up with a headline. How about: Yabloko and SPS are no longer one big happy family, but maybe they can still be friends? Or: Yabloko and SPS are no longer chummy, but maybe they'll at least stay congenial? You lose the nice word play, but at least you convey the meaning.
Thank heavens ?????? / ????? (to dress) are paronymous words with clear-cut rules of usage -- complicated, yes, but at least comprehensible. ?????? ??? (what) ?? ???? (on whom) or ?? ??? (on what); ????? ???? (whom) ?? ??? (in what) or ??? (as what).
The rule of thumb is that ?????? is followed by an inanimate object (WHAT you are putting on), and ????? is followed by an animate object (WHOM you are putting it on). ?????? is the verb to use when you are talking about yourself. ? ?????? (????) ?????? (I put on my coat.) ? ????? (????) ??????? (?? ????) ?? ?? ????? (I put the bracelet on her wrist). ? ????? (?????) ??????? (?? ????) ? ???????? ????? (I dressed the child in his school uniform.) ? ????? (?????) ??????? (????) ???????? (I dressed the child as a rabbit).
So how about a more interesting example: What verb do you use for a condom? The confusion comes from not knowing if a body part is considered to be animate or inanimate in Russian. But look at the example above: ? ????? ??????? ?? ?? ?????. In Russian, body parts are inanimate (sorry, guys). ?????? is the way to go: You use it for putting something on yourself, or for putting something on something else.
Michele A. Berdy is a Moscow-based translator and interpreter.
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