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- Topic: Russian >
- "Это озеро, а не море."
28 Comments
"This is a lake but not the sea" just doesn't makes sense. Strictly in terms of grammar that translation would be possible but you wouldn't say that in English. You can say "this is a fruit but not an apple" but you wouldn't say "this is a pear but not an apple". You would say "this is a pear, not an apple."
dmitry.tsarev
2365
I find Duo to be inconsistent in regards to using but/and/while in such sentences. Don't see why "but" isn't accepted here.
BenYoung84
761
If you're asking because of the negation, most negation in Russian does not use the negative tense.
- "but not sea" is not correct English. You need to add "a" or "the": "It is a lake, but not the/a sea." 2. Adding "the" or "a" makes the sentence grammatically correct but you just wouldn't say that in English. You can say "it is a fruit but not an apple" but you wouldn't say "it is a pear but not an apple". You would say "it is a pear, not an apple." Using "but" makes it sound like "sea" is a subcategory of "lake".
TheFinkie
593
Could this not be "this lake is not a sea"? Or would tgat have something different instead of это?
BenYoung84
761
Because you have to translate а, and because you can't write "sea" without an article (a/the) in front of it.