"Jenny is not a girl but my cat."

Translation: Дженни — это не девушка, а моя кошка.

[19aloni]

biggest plot twist ever

[BernhardMa1]

Still a better love story than Twilight. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[greenstreet365]

Isn't девушка nominative? Why is not девушкы ?

[jtaylor162]

Well, the genitive would be девушки, but I have the same question as you. Can someone answer greenstreet365's question? Doesn't the negative call for genitive??

[Aleks.Mr]

You should use genitive only with "нет" (there is no, have no). "Не" (not a) doesn't require genitive.

У меня нет девушки. I have no girl.

Там нет девушки. There is no girl over there.

Это не девушка. It's not a girl.

Она не девушка. She is not a girl.

[malinskiiiii]

Short answer:
не -> nominative
нет -> genitive

[Robin498746]

Wouldn't using the genitive here be like saying Jenny isn't any girls, instead of sayi g she isn't a girl? Normally when I see the genitive used with a negative it's saying there isn't any of something.

[Jeffrey855877]

I'm not exactly sure of this, but I think that не negates the invisible verb "is", and doesn't negate the word девушка/девочка. Why that is the case is completely unclear here, since девушка/девочка both mean a human girl, while кошка is a feline girl, so negating the fact the Jenny is not a human girl is not illogical or nonsensical.

[J.B.Presto]

Not sure if you know, but девочка refers to a young girl - a child, whereas девушка refers to a girl from about the age of puberty on into womanhood.

The issue with the genitive here, is that genitive would be used to say there isn't any of something, but if you are saying someone or something isn't something else, then it remains in nominative case.

[TomiDuo1]

because it is nominative :) (we ask "who?/what?" about nominative)

[Duffbones]

Девушка девушки, девушке , девушкой, девушек девушками, девушкам, девушках. It's no word девушкы

[Poljinka]

There is no девушкы word in Russian. Nominative - девушка

[Stan560975]

What a faboulus plot twist! Ty duolingo

[Eva_Zyon]

Why not " мой кот"?

[Kundoo]

Well, "Jenny" is a female name, so one would assume we are talking about a female cat - "кошка". Not that it's impossible to name your male cat ("кот") Jenny, but I don't blame the creators of the course for not anticipating this answer.

[Eva_Zyon]

of course you're right :-)
sometimes people have strange ideas like naming a cat "собака" , one of my friend did it :-D

[GilDankner]

what is the difference between девочка and девушка?

[Robin498746]

Девочка refers usually to a young girl, like a child.
Девушка is more like a young woman or can also refer to a girlfriend.

[risc-32bit_f]

So both are correct?

[DanBeuc]

Is it mandatory to use это here?

[HuiBui3]

Why not Дженни нет девушка?

[Duffbones]

Here is rubbish sentence)))But it's true. Мою кошку зовут Дженни)

[Stephen794249]

Why can't you use мой кот?

[Titmaus44]

What's the difference between а and но for but?

[slycelote]

Но is used when there is a meaning of "despite". Учитель зашёл в класс, но дети разговаривают - The teacher entered the classroom, but kids are talking. Он не учил песню, но знает слова - He didn't learn the song, but he knows the lyrics.

[omgmonsters]

Why это and not эта? Thanks!

[Jeffrey855877]

I want to know why you'd use это here at all.

On returning to this exercise, since I got it wrong at first, Duo accepted Дженни не девушка, а моя кошка.

[omgmonsters]

Just found this and now I understand: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/11536858/A-Guide-to-Using-%D0%AD%D0%A2%D0%9E

[israellstesoro]

Le gasp

[Rem825463]

Should be 'she is not a girl, but my cat', rather than 'it is not a girl, but my cat'.

[dlaekdnlt123]

So all this time, duo was blaming a cat for forgetting the luggage in the subway? Smh