"He can eat with a fork already."
Translation:Он уже умеет есть вилкой.
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Вилкой means using a fork; с вилкой means along with a fork. I don't think that's mentioned anywhere in the course, except in comment sections, like this one.
Ok, but you also say "Cтул стоит рядом с дверью" so you need 'c' to express proximity but not to indicate the instrument being used?
Well, proximity is really expressed by "рядом", an adverb meaning "close (by)". "C" in your example simply converts the advreb into a compound proposition "рядом с" = "close to" (note how "to" is used for the same purpose here).
Why should it be correct? Just because English is using "with" here despite the fact that "by" would be a far more logical choice, why should other languages make the same (questionable) choice?
Еating "с вилкой" could only mean one of the two things in Russian: (i) eating in a company of a fork or (ii), if you also specify what is being eaten, the implication would be that you eat that and a fork. I am not certain which of the two options you fancy.
chill out man, it's natural to assume that a preposition meaning multiple things in you native language will mean the same in other languages (im not English but we use 'with' the same way and i didn't even think about its 2 meanings until now), especially if duolingo never explicitly states the difference
stop being so condescending
I believe using Mожет creates the possibility of reading with a fork. He may eat with a fork already, (but he may not) is what is implied.
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Without умеет, the sentence would mean that he IS eating with a fork. The sentance actually says that he CAN use a fork (but might not be using one right now.)
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Just a quick note: Duo has put "already" at the end of the sentence. It should be between "can" and "eat". At the end of the sentence, it sounds defensive or argumentative.
The placement of "yже" is unnatural, otherwise it's OK.
"Он уже может есть вилкой" should work.
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So, instead of the concept of Yes, he knows how how to eat with a fork already, how would one say (using "can") He is already permitted to eat with a fork. (it might be some weird sort of religious cult who only let certain "levels" of nuttedness use forks). I see 2 different "cans" that could be used here so just wondering if the answer to this exercise would be different.
"He can eat with a fork already" means he has learned how / has the ability to eat with a fork. "He may eat with a fork already" means he has the cult leader's permission to do so, or that he might choose to use a fork.
Better is "Он уже может есть вилкой." Their solution says "He already knows how to eat with a fork."