sit with children

[Valentina1992]

Добрый день!

Is it possible to say" sit with children" in the following sentences?

1. Her parents help her a lot. They sit with children while she is at work

2. I must sit with children all day long. I don't have time for myself

[adelaida]

Я думаю, нельзя. Это русский оборот "сидеть с детьми".

В англ. подойдет "to look after the children"

[SirReal]

Вам нужен глагол babysit. он переходный.

They babysit their grandchildren while she's at work.

I must babysit my children all day. I have no time left for myself.

[интроьверт]

+ take care of

[00002]

«I must babysit my children all day»

Так вряд ли можно, to babysit – смотреть за детьми вместо их родителей, "подменять" родителей (обычно на ограниченное время), one can not babysit their own child.

[4uzhoj]

Если речь идет о своих детях, то, возможно, следует посмотреть в сторону look after?

It's hard work looking after three children all day.

Еще пример: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/look-after-my-children-id-rather-work-1262129.html

Если речь не о своих детях (как в первом предложении), то babysit (someone else's children)

[4uzhoj]

adelaida,

извините, пропустил ваш пост от 16.07.2019 8:17:14

[SirReal]

да, верно

[Amor 71]

///Это русский оборот "сидеть с детьми".///

Лет сто назад это было нормально и в английском. Просто сегодня не используют.

[johnstephenson]

I wouldn't use 'sit with children', as 'sit with' simply means that you physically sit next to/close to the children – as you might do, for example, in a cinema or on a park bench with children you've never met before. To 'sit with' doesn't convey the idea that you're caring for/watching over the children; however, 'to babysit' does.

Note that you can babysit either babies or children aged up to about 12 years. There's no verb 'to childsit', so 'to babysit' is used for both.

Sentence 1: Use either:

* 'they babysit the children while she is at work'; or

* 'they babysit for her while she is at work' (where 'for' means 'on behalf of'/'in place of'); or

* 'they look after the children for her while she is at work'.

Sentence 2: Use:

* 'I (have to/must) look after children all day'

Also, as 00002 says, you can 'look after' either your own children or s.o. else's children – but you can only 'babysit' s.o. else's children. This is because 'to babysit' implies that you're doing it in place of the child's parents.

[Amor 71]

///...as 'sit with' simply means that you physically sit next to/close to the children///

Exactly.

The 1937 source does describe a far more likely derivation: those unskilled girls were hiring themselves out for an entire evening for what a regular cleaning lady or nanny would charge for a single hour of work. In other words, they weren't skilled nannies or maids offering a full range of services;   they literally only   sat with   the baby   and kept an eye on it to make sure nothing went too wrong.

http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/459598/what-does-sitter-refer-to-in-babysitter

[johnstephenson]

Amor: Very interesting – thanks. I wasn't aware of the etymology of 'to babysit'.

Other words based on 'to babysit/baby-sit' have been added to English over the years, including:

* 'to dog-sit' (=to look after a dog while its owners are away);

* 'to house-sit' (=to stay in a house temporarily while its owner/occupant is away – for example, to keep out burglars);

and others.

[Erdferkel]

погуляли с псиной

посидели с кошкой

поухаживали за рыбками и птичками

пополивали цветы

(цветы явно приблудные - не в тему)