From subject to object

[Hugh Whinfrey]

Goloviznin asks:

> 
> In the following three lines actions are transferred from subject to
> object:
> 
> I love you
> I want you
> I need you
> 
> But at translation into Russian we get action transferring only for
> two lines. In the third line the subject keeps its action to itself:
> 
> Я люблю тебя
> Я хочу тебя
> Я нуждаюсь в тебе (= Я нуждаю СЕБЯ в тебе)
> 
> Making a translation again from English and staying within
> english-way-of-thinking we get
> 
> Я люблю тебя
> Я хочу тебя
> Я нуждаю тебя
> 
> I'd like to know whether this difference really exists or something
> else?

Well, maybe English speakers differ in the nuances of
what they mean with these expressions, however in my
own speech all three of them are along the lines of 
"Я нуждаюсь в тебе" in that the object incurs no
obligation to be affected at all by the verb involved,
which in turn makes it difficult to characterise any 
actual action in the statements as aimed directly
towards anything other than the subject. Think of the 
word "you" in all three of them as being in the dative
in English, that might help you visualise their meanings 
better.

Hugh

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