"I want an apple."

Translation: Я хочу яблоко.

[inseut]

Why not "яблоку"?

[rabdan3]

I also don't see the answer to this in the comments anywhere.

[ErikKaufma2]

яблоку is for singular dative according to this link

[abhijeet157547]

When should we write "яблоко" and when to write "яблока"? What is the difference?

[Tomer522659]

Яблоко is nominative and accusative and яблока is genitive. So if, for example, you have an apple you can say у меня есть яблоко. But if you don't have an apple you can say у меня нет яблока.

Also яблока can be plural when talking about 2,3 or 4. For example: один (1) яблоко but четыре (4) яблока

[IvanAssolant]

The nominative (common) is яблоко.

Nominative ending in -о/-е is neutral.

Accusative for neutral is the same as the nominative (the same applies to feminines in -ь and "inanimate" masculines ending in consonant).

[cduston]

Is apple not the direct object? Shouldn't we be saying яблоку?

[Alex193451]

Is it wrong to just say "хочу яблоко"? If so, why?

[Tomer522659]

It's not wrong. It's merely a shortened version of the sentence. People definitely use those shortened versions when speaking.

[Langmut]

Only in speaking? Would it be wrong to use it here in the course? (I'll report it, just in case...)

[DevilInThe]

Why is Хочу яблоко marked as incorrect?

[Y4M91]

why can't i just write хочу яблоко?

[dunmeris]

Good question. You will certainly be understood, but I suggest you only use it in colloquial speech.

[MrHavre]

When typing phonetically, why does h need a k in front of it?
You still don't pronounce k in "хочу"
The correct answers given:
• Ya khochu yabloko.
• Я хочу яблоко

[Dav7nn]

You should use Russian Alphabet...

[MarkCurtis9]

Agreed. I installed a Russian keyboard at the start of the course, and used it right from the beginning. It took a while to get used to the Cyrillic letters and their positions on the keyboard, but it was well worth the effort.

[Dav7nn]

Yes, the same here.

[freymuth]

It's because the Russian phoneme х is transliterated as kh. Kh is not a k followed by an h; it forms a single unit.

Edit: I'm not sure which transliteration system Duo's mods settled on, but I'll bet it's the BGN/PCGN romanization.

[SierraMcbr]

Can someone please write out хочу phoenetically(in english)? Thanks!

[inseut]

"ha-choo". The transliteration is "khochu"

[Langmut]

Bless you! ;-)

[Ludwig317224]

Is it not being "яблоку" just one of those language oddities we have to learn, or is it part of а broader rule I'm not noticing?

[BenCostell3]

The nominative singular is яблоко. It's a neuter nouns, so the accusative being яблоко fits with the normal pattern.

[frogman1370]

Is хочу also accusative matching яблоко? I'm having a hard time understanding the difference using хочу and хочет.

[Tomer522659]

Cases such as accusative and nominative are for nouns and adjectives.
Verbs are conjugated based on tense, object and subject.
In the case of хочу vs хочет. They are both in present tense. Я хочу is "i want". Он хочет is "he wants".

[frogman1370]

Thank you.

[freedemocracy]

Why not "хочешь"? ;_;

[Langmut]

That woud be "you want" wouldn't it?

[klovn.dk]

When you say " I want "(1st p.sg.) it's ending is -у. Я хочу, люблу, говору etc.

(p.sg is not a link, I can't change it)

[Trevox3008]

Why shouldn't we use яблоку in this sentence?

[Langmut]

яблоку would be the dative case but direct objects are usually translated by the accusative case.