"Kids, eat eggs!"
Translation:Kinder, esst Eier!
53 Comments
Uhh... Have I encountered "imperative" before this one? I don't think so. Not fair...
I think this is because Duolingo teaches by introducing topics and noticing how you deal with them and learn them. For example, by the English "Kids, eat eggs!" we can see that this is a commanding tone. If we notice the difference between that and regular grammar, we can learn what is going on. I think it's a clever way of learning Grammar. You learn it without having to be told directly.
Granted, but shouldn't a little instruction be there beforehand? This is just painful, and would be confusing for a person who wouldn't recognized this as imperative. I knew it was, and hesitated before writing 'essen', but I didn't know what it would have been... wait...
Darn it, I should I looked at the mouseover!! Maybe there should be some kind of hint.
EDIT: nope, no conjugation of the imperative tense in the mouseover. I am justified.
It isn't about being fair or giving you the answer. Being able to correctly answer the question is irrelevant. Learning the language is what matters. Introducing topics this way helps you to learn, it is more consistent with the way that we all learned our native languages when we were children and has been proven to be more successful than the traditional method of 'introduce, teach, then test' that has been used in classrooms.
Also, it is free...
But I WANT instruction - it's no good just having a tricky one on the last question and making me repeat the WHOLE lesson when really all I need is: 'look out, it's an order, so say: 'esst'.'
In this case, the "Kinder" are treated like a second person so instead of saying "essen" (3rd person plural) we use "esst" (2nd person plural).
But my point was how on earth are we meant to know this trickier tense unless Duo instructs us. There's no point going into battle without prior training - there's no point attempting to speak a language without first getting some rules straight.
If the original sentence was "Kids, eating eggs" it would be merely talking ABOUT the kids so the "kids" would be third person and the sentence would be translated as "Kinder, essen Eier." However, the original sentence was of an imperative form, "Kids, eat eggs!" making the "kids" second person because they are on the receiving end of the speaker's command. So it would instead be translated as "Kinder, esst Eier!"
I must admit, this sentence took me by surprise and I did get it wrong the first time around but sometimes the best way to learn something is by making a mistake and then learning from experience how not to make it again.
One way to look at it is to see, "hmm, there is a comma between the first noun and the verb as well as an exclamation point. It must be an imperative, so I read: Kids, [you] eat eggs!"
That's my thoughts any way. Always understand the you in imperatives to help with understanding.
i think this is the whole point of the comment section. I didnt know what it was so checked here and boom, now i know what my mistake was thanks to you guys ;p
What did you lose? A lingot?take it easy or start over! However you learned something!
not that google tranlate wins here, but even GT says Kinder, essen Eier...so, I don't get this one? not claming unfair, just confusing...and this example isn't "teaching" me anything.
Think of it more as "Kids, you eat those eggs!" "Kids, eat eggs!" is a shortened version of what we'd say in English. That "you" is read as kind of snippy in English and we don't say it often, but it shows up more clearly in German because the verb is conjugated.
Hallo! I dont think we learned about imperative form by this point (plurals)! Kinda dissapointing when i almost got the lesson without a mistake. Just saying - it should be fixed in some way for future users.
Things that allot points can be passed with 100 percent. Points awarded equate duolingo to a game. Games require rules. Games without all rules displayed before playing are not fair.
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... but Duolingo is not (just) a game, it's a language learning tool. In any language school you'll get texts for reading or listening, in class or as homework, where you won't know all the words and all the grammar.
That's perfectly fair. This method of learning is about inferring the answer, not having it explained upfront. That's actually why it works - you try, you get it wrong, you figure out why, and your brain learns the rule.
The way it is phrased, "Kids, eat eggs!" is basically the same as saying, "Kids, YOU eat your eggs!" It is not saying, "Kids are eating eggs." It is telling them to do so. If it had been, "Kids eat eggs." or "Kids are eating eggs.", then "essen" would have been correct.
Thank you! I've never thought of the imperetive that way, and it makes total sense. Also this is the first helpful post I've seen on this. Danke danke danke!
I'm confused in the conjugation as I thought esst was for singular? Is it possible to clarify the conjugations here?
I can suggest this site to check the conjugations, they are mostly listed for verbs. http://www.dict.cc/deutsch-englisch/essen.html
And yes, er/sie/es isst (singular); ihr esst (plural).
Duolingo, this is getting frustrating... IT's not "essen" but "esst", then it's "renne" instead of "rennen".
Please make an imperative lesson?
My problem with this question is not whether essen or esst is correct. The problem, as previously stated by others, is why on earth would I think to use the word esst when it was never introduced before? They should introduce new verb forms in German first, not expect users to translate an English phrase.
Because it has been introduced before (ihr esst). Just like in English, the subject of the sentence is being addressed. If I said, "Amanda, bring me those books," I'm addressing you - that is, I'm technically saying "Amanda, you bring me those books." We'd consider that a bit rude in English, but it's still there, and German does the same thing, so the verb is conjugated to match the "you" that's being left out.
This whole comment thread is kind of ridiculous. Why on earth would I think to put an umlaut over Apfel to make it plural? I wouldn't, but I got a question wrong and learned it. That's how this learning method works and it's not the first time any of you have encountered it if you've gotten this far. They expected you to be able to take a grammatical concept that's been introduced since the first lesson (conjugating based on the subject of a sentence) and apply it in a more complex way. I have no idea why so many people are angry about it this particular time.
do you have more info about imperative plural... it is not very clear to me Thanks
I got this wrong and it told me: 'You used the you form "isst" instead of the you form "esst".' WHAT??????? That is not helpful at all... Could someone please help me normally?
Kinder is plural, so you use esst, which is the plural you form, instead of isst, the singular you form. Ihr esst, du isst.
It never said kids you eat (your) eggs. It just said a plural Kids which in turn is a plural essen.
Kids are being treated as one plural entity and since the command is direct to them, the verb command takes second person plural. Second person plural is "Ihr (which means 'you' in the sense of 'all of you' or 'all y'all')" and has its own conjugation (which can be very irregular at times) as well (which is why its "ihr esst" for "you (all) eat" and "ihr seid" for "you (all) are").
well for starters I've never seen esst before (ever) not on here, nowhere! And if you are commanding kids to eat eggs you say 1. Kids eat your eggs 2. Kids eat those eggs. Never do you say Kids eat eggs, (that is purely a statement only) Not a command!
that is where the placement of the comma is important...
but yes, humans on here should not be expected to know when a comma makes a difference because there are different rules for different languages. so I suggest changing the phrase to something more " regularly " imperative.
Kinder, essen Sie Eier.
The formal imperative is a bit different from the other two by actually including the subject pronoun in the imperative. It is always included after the verb.
I don't understand why this isn't „iss“. You don't say Sagen mir! or Machen das! or Singen mir! or is it just because a plural was stated with „kids”? So, without the kids, would it just be: „Iss Eier!“ ?
I used (and was accepted with) "Kinder, Eier essen!".
Nobody has discussed this construction yet, and it doesn't really fit with the Imperativ grammatical structure linked by christian, but I've heard it used on several occasions.
You'll never forget it now, though, will you? I got it wrong, too, and I'll never forget it. The explanations in the comments were excellent.
Hey guys, maybe it's a good way to learn to pay attention to details. You lost a lingot, next time you'll pay attention. That's how I learned to recognize when to put den instead of der, and it worked fine.
