Каждый думал о своем.

English translation: He was lost in his thoughts, she in hers --

04:45 Dec 19, 2009

Russian to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / General/Conversation

Russian term or phrase: Каждый думал о своем.

Ужинали молча. Каждый думал о своем, но, как выяснилось, об одном и том же.

There is one man and one woman involved

I'd like to avoid the awkward "each of them was thinking about HIS OR HER own" and can't think of something shorter. Thank you.

Eng-Rus/Rus-Eng KudoZ activity Questions: 62 (none open) (6 closed without grading) Answers: 96 United States
Local time: 10:22

English translation:He was lost in his thoughts, she in hers --

Explanation:
-- but as it turned out, they were....

Selected response from:

Jim Tucker (X)
United States

Grading comment

Thank you all.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +4

He was lost in his thoughts, she in hers --

Jim Tucker (X)

4 +3

They were both wrapped up in their own thoughts.

Terry Moran

4 +3

[they were doing such-and-such,] each engrossed in their own thoughts

Rachel Douglas

Everyone was deep in their own thoughts./ Each one was devoured by their thoughts.

Vladimir Grishin

Each was thinking his own thoughts

Olga Arakelyan

Both of them thinking about something which in fact turned out to be the same.

Masha Haccoun

Everyone was engrossed in their own thoughts....

Alexandra Liashchenko

3 -1

they were thinking about their own

Dilshod Madolimov

Answers

23 mins confidence:

Everyone was engrossed in their own thoughts....

Explanation:
I hope this is not that awkward.

Alexandra Liashchenko
United States
Local time: 10:22
Native speaker of:

Russian,

Ukrainian
PRO pts in category: 16

19 mins confidence:

Each was thinking his own thoughts

Explanation:
everybody was thinking their own thoughts

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Note added at 26 mins (2009-12-19 05:12:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

А-а-а.. тогда предлагаю each of us was thinking our own thoughts. или we were thinking our own thoughts. Вообще я слышала, как американцы употребляют мест. they в таких случаях. то есть, наверное, можно сказать each was thinking their own thoughts.

Olga Arakelyan
Russian Federation
Local time: 17:22
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Russian
PRO pts in category: 24

Notes to answerer

Asker: 'his' is my problem... as would be 'her'

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

He was lost in his thoughts, she in hers --

Explanation:
-- but as it turned out, they were....

Jim Tucker (X)
United States
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 43

Grading comment

Thank you all.

5 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

They were both wrapped up in their own thoughts.

Explanation:
One of many possibilities, obviously.

Terry Moran
France
Local time: 16:22
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 20

7 hrs confidence:

Everyone was deep in their own thoughts./ Each one was devoured by their thoughts.

Explanation:
As to "their", from the Grammar rules, as far as I remember, we use "their", "them" and "they", to refer back to EVERYONE, EACH, EACH ONE etc. which don't indicate specific gender (male or female) ( See UNIT 66, Advanced Grammar in Use, by Martin Hewings, Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Vladimir Grishin
United States
Native speaker of: Russian

15 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): -1

they were thinking about their own

Explanation:
Может так

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 39 mins (2009-12-19 05:25:12 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

или "each was thinking about their own"

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 hrs (2009-12-19 13:34:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

each was thinking about their own thoughts

Dilshod Madolimov
Uzbekistan
Local time: 19:22
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Uzbek,

Russian

Notes to answerer

Asker: you are probably right, I just wonder if this would show each was going through an individual thought process...

10 hrs confidence:

Both of them thinking about something which in fact turned out to be the same.

Explanation:
*
or
Each of them thinking of something different which turned out to be the same.

Masha Haccoun
Israel
Local time: 17:22
Works in field
Native speaker of: Russian

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

[they were doing such-and-such,] each engrossed in their own thoughts

Explanation:
If you compose the phrase with each being attached to the subject of a verb, I think you can swing it. "They ate in silence, each engrossed in their own thoughts".

I'm not even sure it comes under this explanation (which never occurred to me explicitly as a rule before), but look:
Each is or Each are?
"When each is used as a subject, it takes a singular verb or pronoun.
[Example:] Each of the reports is to be submitted ten weeks after it is assigned.
When each occurs after a plural subject with which it is in apposition, it takes a plural verb or pronoun.
[Example:] The reports each have white embossed titles on their covers." (Alred, Brusaw, and Oliu, The Technical Writer's Companion 291).

In any event, whether or not that's the right rule, search the exact phrase "they each saw their", for other examples.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 hrs (2009-12-19 12:29:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Ужинали молча. Каждый думал о своем, но, как выяснилось, об одном и том же.
Experimenting:

a) They ate in silence, each thinking their own thoughts, which...
b) Eating in silence, they were each thinking their own thoughts, which...

True, a) begins to beg for a singular instead of "their", while b) sounds fine to me. But as soon as I make the participle passive, it sounds better, although Terry and Susan may be right in thinking that the "each" is too far removed from the plural subject to still work:

c) They ate in silence, each engrossed in their own thoughts, which...

So, you could keep it as two sentences:

d) They ate in silence. They each were thinking their own thoughts, which...

The closer "each" is to "they", the better it sounds!

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Note added at 10 hrs (2009-12-19 15:29:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

To asker:

Grammatically, that variation is fine, but "private" seems to add something. The more I think about it, the more I like:

"Eating supper in silence, they each were thinking their own thoughts, which..."

Rachel Douglas
United States
Local time: 10:22
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 384

Notes to answerer

Asker: maybe, slightly changing your initial suggestion: they were eating in silence, each engrossed in private thoughts... ??

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

disagree

Terry Moran: each ... in their...? No, each is singular - which leaves you with the his/her dilemma.

2 hrs

-> I think it's not illegal. "They were thinking their own thoughts." "They each were thinking their own thoughts." As long as "each" is attached to "they", it's OK & emphasizes the eachness (not collective "both") w/o shift to sing subject.

agree

DTSM

3 hrs

-> Thanks, Dmitry.

agree

Jim Tucker (X): This is also fine; singular "their" is perfectly good English, though some choose to avoid it: http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/austheir.html#X1x

3 hrs

-> Thanks, Jim. I was thinking of it more as a disaggregated plural "each", than a singular "their".

neutral

Susan Welsh: That rule sounds weird, and "each ... their" sounds funny to me. Each sounds singular.

3 hrs

-> Thanks, Susan. I agree the "rule" sounds weird, but see my note to Terry. What I proposed is a stretch of "They were each engrossed in their own..." but it doesn't grate my ear - too much. But, you made me think of a better way, see Note.

agree

Vladimir Grishin: The option sounds good to me. I guess 'each' stands for "each of them", just "of them" is omitted, it is possible, then you can explain where that "their" comes from.

4 hrs

-> Thanks, Vlad.

agree

svetlana cosquéric: the style of the original text.

13 hrs

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Каждый думал о своем.

English translation: He was lost in his thoughts, she in hers --

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English translation: He was lost in his thoughts, she in hers --

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