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- "Does he know the answer?"
"Does he know the answer?"
Translation:Он знает ответ?
10 Comments
In one example duo said: я не знаю ответА but when i entered он не знает ответА it was not accepted,, i believe that in both cases the word ответ should remain in the nominative because its inanimate.. So which one is the right answer??
You're referring to the formation of accusative. For animate masc. and neuter nouns, it's same as genitive. For inanimate masc. and neuter nouns, it's same as nominative. That's true.
For, in negative sentences you can also put direct object in genitive (i.e. not accusative looking like genitive, but genitive). The rules for choosing when genitive is applicable and when it's not are somewhat obscure, but «я не знаю́ отве́та» and «он не зна́ет отве́та» both sound OK to me. IMHO both should be accepted.
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I think the main reason your answer is wrong is because you put
Он НЕ знает ответа. When it was supposed to be...
Он знает ответ. No negation. Your answer would be accepted if it the question was 'He does not know the answer.'
What? I wrote "Он ответ знает?" and Duo called it incorrect... What on Earth?...
I think you need the word, "ли" (whether).
I put "знает он ответ?" and it said:
You missed a word.
Знает ли он ответ?
Google Translate:
Definitions of ли
conjunction
Употр. в знач. разделительном или условно-уступительном.
Рано ль, поздно ли, но приду .
particle
Употр. в вопросительных и относительных предложениях.
Examples
Прид ь ли ты?
Рано ль, поздно ли, но приду .
See also
вряд ли, едва ли, Так ли это?, возможно ли, Не правда ли?, навряд ли, чуть ли не
Why is "ответ он знает" wrong? My (obviously wrong) understanding is that the new information goes at the end, and in this case it's about an existing answer and the new information is whether or not he knows it. Thanks!
