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- Topic: Russian >
- "Тим, что это за рыба?"
15 Comments
Can someone elaborate on why "Tim, what fish is that?" Is incorrect? ^^ thank you.
It's not technically incorrect since you could say "fish" to mean "type of fish"; however if they accepted that answer people would be marked correct for misinterpreting it to mean "what (individual) fish".
Perhaps someone can explain this sentence? My understanding is that за usually means "for". So is "что это за" simply a common idiom meaning "what kind of ... is this"?
793
Like "потому что" meaning "because" (porque), while потому by itself is "therefore" (por lo tanto). They are related, but the combination works quite differently like a whole new expression.
My answer of Tim, what kind of a fish is this? was rejected. Both should be correct but my answer is more likely in the USA. The meaning is slightly different. If you are holding a fish you just caught my question would be used 99% of the time. If there is a cooked fish on your plate, the given question is better.
While not strictly wrong, it's an unnatural sentence structure. "What kind of fish is this" and "what kind is this fish" are the only two I can think of offhand that "should" work, and pardon the expression, but even the second is a bit fishy...
I've heard it. I think that's perfectly acceptable. It's uncommon, but not incorrect.
