39 Comments
toward and towards are equally acceptable forms in English, so either should be accepted.
Agreed. And actually, some style books suggest toward is more American while towards is more British. The authors have stated this course is based on American English, so if we are to choose only one, then it should be toward rather than towards.
"toward" is still not accepted as of 6.10.2017. American editors frown on "towards."
It could also be regional American English. In Massachusetts we say "towards" more frequently than "toward".
If the school is the destination, why isn't "школу" in the accusative used here?
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If you wished to say that you have classes to get to you would use в + accusative case. к + dative case is more like we are searching for the lost dog and youare going to look in the direction of te school, or someone left in that direction.
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к means toward(s) while в means in(side).в implies going inside some place/building/location. к is more directional, indicating in what direction someone is going/should go.
There's a consonant cluster here after «К» («'шк'оле»), so why is it not «ко»?
Unfortunately, the rule of adding ‘о’ doesn’t apply to all consonant clusters. Wiktionary mentions вс- , вт-, мн-, сн-, but there are more: св-, вз-… and I can’t think of other examples. Шк-, however, is definitely not one of them.
Duolingo mobile doesnt have the module explanations, so maybe ive lost something there... Why К and not В?
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K is towards, in the direction of and it takes dative case. B is in(to), inside, to (as in inside) and it takes accusative. к школе would mean towards the school (we are going to meet someone in front of the school so we are going towards the school. people are walking towards the school/ went in the direction of the school). в школу is to school in literal or educational sense, regardless of the way there. The problem is they can both be translated with to school, but they don't mean the same thing.
к школе should be translated as "to the school," and в школу as "to school." English is weird that way. The article actually indicates the reason one is going. Without the article, it is for a class. With the article, it is for some other reason -- a game, a meeting, practice, etc.
We have the same with "to church" versus "to the church." Without "the," we are going for a religious service. With the article, it is for some other reason -- choir practice, Boy Scout meeting, etc.
Splitting hairs, this exercise is in dative usage. The situation eould be unlikely in either language.
Pfffff before I translated идти к школе as "... going to the school" and it was marked as wrong because it said it needed to be "to school" without the "the". Now I translate this sentece as "... going to school" and it is marked wrong, it says it should be "to THE school". What the heck? It's just so frustrating.
You are correct, translation should be based on correct vernacular English instead of the literal Russian as long as full meaning is retained.
"walking to school"and "walking to the school"are very subtle differences in English. What would the Russian versions be?
Correct me if I'm wrong but...
«Они идут в школе.» = They're walking in the school. «Они идут в школу.» = They're walking to school. «Они идут к школе.» = They're walking towards school.
hello everyone with russian prepositions v/vo and k/ko and o/ob have to do with spelling and vowels, if I am correct. I am working off memory and have not looked it up in some time, and sadly forgot the exact rule at work.
Is the difference between к and в comparable to the difference between zu and in in German?
Yes. The "k" implies physical proximity while the "B" implies going "into" the space. In English when you say "I went to the office" we assume you meant you actually went inside and not that you literally stood outside the building.
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If I get it right "в школу" is abbout attending school as an institution, and "К школе" is about the act of walking towards the school building. Can anybody confirm, please?
I believe you are correct. I don't know specifically about "schools" but IIRC it was that way for the phrase "went into the military."
What about "People are walking up to the school." or "People are approaching the school." I understood K+dative to have this connotation--the sense of approaching but not entering.
