"Эта кровать не на месте."
Translation:This bed is not in its place.
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Thanks :) I thought "in place / not in place" is bad English and did not include it.
It seems, sometimes I am too cautious when a phrase sounds remarkably like a Russian one.
As a native American speaker, I would use "not in place" when something is planned, but not yet done: "The chair is not in place yet - but it will be by tomorrow." I would especially use it if the chair was not in sight.
I prefer "out of place," but would understand it to be interchangeable with "in the wrong place," although "out of place" could also be used when the chair is in the right space, but it doesn't fit the style of everything around it.
Would you use "не место" when the chair is there, but needs to be moved, or when the space intended for the chair is empty, and the chair is not in sight?
You mean, would I use «не на месте»? Sure. It fits such situation: usually it would mean that the chair is not where it is supposed to be and should be moved. As for being not in sight... I think, it is possible but not likely, after all, there are better ways to decribe your experience when you cannot find something (you usually use «на месте» in the meaning of presence/absence with people).
"Out of place" (in the stylistic meaning) is definitely a rare interpretation.
Out of place is not a rare interpretation at all. It can mean it is not proper given its surroundings or it can mean it is not where it is supposed to be. It should be allowed as correct answer here.
A British speaker would only say " out of place" to mean not proper (right) for the surroundings. I agree that "not in place" is also not correct here, but that "not in its place" is right.
What do you mean? The Russian sentence does not mean it is not proper giving its surroundings.
I'm saying that "out of place" can mean two things. In addition to what you are saying (not proper given its surroundings), it can also mean the same as "not in place," or "in the wrong place." Therefore "The bed is out of place" should be perfectly acceptable answer. It is currently not accepted as such.
Be sure to read: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/11536858 - it helped me get a handle on the same question. As I am seeing things, in this sentence "эта" is an adjective modifying bed, but if I say "Это - кровать", "это" acts as a pronoun whose gender is unknown until I finish the sentence, so it isn't declined.
This is a very useful phrase to know when you happen upon a whole bed frame stuck in a tree.
"this bed is not on its place" is not accepted. It sounds like acceptable english to me.
I'm confused with the use of не / нет. Why "зта кровать не на месте", but "на столе нет книги" (also in Duolingo)?
Because of "Эта", which specifically marks this bed and not any other. It might be replaced with "the bed" in a translation when we are speaking about the bed already and context makes it very clear that "the bed" is this bed and not any other.
But since the Russian "Эта" marks so strongly that it is this bed, I guess that "this bed" is better than "the bed" when doing a "neutral" (that is, not context-specific) translation.
The same "Эта" would be "Этот" with masculine nouns and "это" with neuter.
Any tips for people who can't tell the difference between unstressed O and A so I can stop getting these wrong by misspelling?
Unstressed O and A usually sound the same (there are some regions where this is not the case, though). Russian spelling is not entirely phonetic, though, so we tend to stabilise the spelling between the different forms and different words with the same prefix/suffix.
Trying to find a form with the same syllable stressed will not help you much if you aren't a native speaker. However, it is useful to remember that the word with the same root usually keeps the spelling, and a prefix is spelt the same regardless of whether it is stressed
- some roots with alterations or twins with a different vowel are a real pain here.
- speaking of "stable" spellings, we spell с/з-ending prefixes with a consonant we pronounce, i.e. З before vowels voiced consonants and С before devoiced ones (разговор, разум / рассвет, изучать / исходить, безопасность / бессмертие). This tradition has a long history. Other prefixes are spelt the same without taking voicing into consideration.
It is not the same meaning if I say: "This bed is not in or (on) the right place?
Why does Duolingo accept errors in your answer when it's a listening exercise? I typed это instead of эта and it was considered correct. But this way I'll learn wrong stuff.
We've had Genitive and Nominative phrases but this lesson expressly said it will be directing its examples to the prepositional case which it outlined in the TIPS so good luck to those being critical that is not directed at the main point, being that this is a prepositional case 1st look.
Why do you think, that you are right? This bed is in the wrong place - in Russian means: эта кровать не в том месте