"Those men and this woman are eating dinner."
Translation:Tamci mężczyźni i ta kobieta jedzą kolację.
28 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
In English, we do have the same overlaps and confusions discussed. This is noticeable, for example, in farming areas in Canada or the North of England. We might have breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the city; breakfast, dinner, and supper in the country; and on celebration days (like New Year's Eve) in some places we might have breakfast, lunch, dinner, and supper. Polish has the same kinds of variation.
No. It refers to both, as the matter is complicated between the natives of different dialects. But the default version is the American one, as Duolingo is an American company. Therefore the first interpretation will be 'the evening meal', but everyone has the possibility to use the British interpretation.
Here in the UK, the word 'Dinner' is used differently in different areas. So, say, here in the North it means lunch, but further South it means the evening meal. 'Supper' can mean the main evening meal (in the South) or, here in the North, it can mean a light meal eaten later in the evening sometime after the main meal. Often the main evening meal is called 'Tea'. Now you would think that tea is something you drink, yes, but it is also a meal. So you can drink tea while you eat your tea. If that sounds confusing, just try to understand the game of cricket and you will have mastered how the British think. And you thought that Polish was difficult? (Don't, just don't ask how our political system works, OK! That's even more confusing.)
"ten" is a masculine singular variant of this determiner, "ta" is feminine singular. The determiner needs to match the noun it describes, so "ten kobieta" makes no sense, grammatically.
It's similar in Spanish actually, although it has one gender less (doesn't have neuter singular). "ten mężczyzna" = "este hombre", "ta kobieta" = "esta mujer", "ci mężczyźni" = "estos hombres", "te kobiety" = "estas mujeres". Only neuter "to dziecko" (this child) doesn't have its equivalent.
No, kolacja is nominative (marks the subject of the sentence) and kolację is accusative (marks the object of the sentence).
Here's a declension table: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kolacja#Declension
If you're having difficulty telling subject and object apart, then I suggest you read this comment:
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/18266751?comment_id=36188190