"На земле лежит собака."
Translation:A dog is lying on the ground.
54 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
1960
Olimo, I had answered: The dog is lying on the ground. I was under the understanding that "dog" being the subject to place it in the beginning of the sentence when translated, which I did. So my question is did I get it wrong for using the word "the" instead of "a"? If so why? thanks for your time.
1436
"The dog is lying on the ground." was also not accepted. That's simply an article change from "A" to "The". Is this a Duolingo omission or can we actually distinguish between which is which in this context?
1436
Are you sure about that? I’ve only ever been told that definite and indefinite articles in Russian are only identifiable by context (at least without adding words like этот). So the moderators just haven’t yet for this exercise added the translation. Could you point to an official rule for how sentence arrangement determines definiteness in Russian? Thanks.
1436
Well, you just provided a context that does not exist in this exercise. What it sounds like to me is happening is that without a rule, either translation is perfectly acceptable, though some people will have their own preferences. This happens all the time when people explain English, so this effect is familiar. I will hear my countrymen say this is right or wrong—often emphatically—while themselves being wrong. For I will often use English in ways they believe is incorrect because of their own limited experience but which happens to be perfectly valid. Language is a funny thing. Where the rules end, we have much liberty. I like this liberty and find it artful; though you may be right, I am not inclined to trust you until I see the rule in this case, as even other places in the Duo forum and other Russian language websites seem to go against what you’re saying. Without the rule, either way must be correct.
So even if your native language is Russian, I am not inclined to believe you until I see the rule, and that’s the way it should be, that’s the way language works.
868
Because we know about THE dog, it goes first. Because we don't know where so it's the new info it goes last. Собака лежит на земле. If it said a dog is on the ground it's the reverse. На земле лежит собака. The dog is the new info. If that isn't correct please tell me!
868
Probably because a dog lying on the grass is said the same way in both languages. But groceries are in a bag and don't lie in bags in English.
506
"The dog is lying on the ground." Russian doesn't use articles. It doesn't matter if it is the dog or a dog. Should be accepted.
506
The only difference between my translation and the Duolingo translation is an article "A" or The", not the word order. It is "a" or "the" that does not matter, since we do not know which without context.
868
Im hearing земЛЕ but i thought it was supposed to be pronounced ЗЕМле. WHICH IS CORRECT?
560
"A dog is lying on the floor" was not accepted. Is that a mistake or are there some fine differences, i am not aware of?
136
I said "A dog is laying on the ground." Apparently I don't know English either- anyone know the difference between lay and lie?