Англо-русский учебный словарь

Emphasis has been given to the spoken language—both everyday colloquial uses and more specialized uses, e.g. the' language of the committee man. Many of the examples are given in the second person singular indicating exchanges between friends of the. same age, or colleagues of the same rank, or members of a family. A strong distinction is made between colloquial expressions and slang, the latter being included only if it is well established, partly because it can date so quickly, partly because it is hard to appreciate its exact tone in a foreign language. Translations are as far as possible stylistically matched. Where there is no true equivalent of an English expression such as ghost writer, it has seemed better to omit the term rather than to offer explanations or cumbrous circumlocutions, which the student could equally well form for himself if need arose.

ILLUSTRATION

Translation by single words seldom enables the student to use these words in a living context. The illustrations are designed to provide such a context. They also show the difference between the two languages in construction and grammar where rules apply. For example, translation of the English predicative adjective does not always in Russian follow directly from the attributive form, e.g. unconnected sentences несвязные фразы, but the two events are quite unconnected эти два события никак не связаны между собой.

Illustrations also serve to familiarize the student with Russian word combinations and word order, and with the typical flow and rhythm of the Russian sentence, none of which can be deduced a priori. Though word order in both languages is flexible, varying according to emphasis, nevertheless there are standard patterns of order where the two languages differ, e.g. she walked in her sleep last night сегодня [NB] ночью он ходйла во сне. Again the invariable English cadence is supply and demand, but the Russians prefer спрос и предложение.

LAYOUT

All English words and phrases are printed in bold type. Indicators (of style, meaning, etc.) are printed in italics. Long entries are divided; each division is numbered, begins on a new line and is inset. But short entries which can be taken in at a glance, may contain no divisions, even when these would be justified semantically.

ORDER WITHIN AN ENTRY