"Nie mamy wąskich biurek."
Translation:We do not have narrow desks.
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Yes (the nominative of plural is "biurka", "biurek" is the genitive of plural), in singular it would be "Nie mamy wąskiego biurka" = "We don't have a narrow desk".
Why was 'desks' also given as a translation for 'wąskich'? Is 'wąska' so commonly used to refer to a biurka that you can use it on its own in Polish as an abbreviation of 'wąska biurka', or was this just a technical glitch?
Definitely a mistake ;) Fixed now.
"biurko" is neuter. It's "wąskie biurko". in singular and "wąskie biurka" in plural.
As a native English speaker, I consider that the more natural translations "We haven't any narrow desks." and "We have no narrow desks." should be accepted as correct.
Duolingo rejects both, insisting on "got": "We haven't got narrow desks." (OK as colloquial English) and "We have not got narrow desks." (unnaturally stilted).
The narrator doesn't appear to pronounce the "ch" in "wąskich" for this sentence. Does that happen in natural speaking here as well?
That should never happen and even here I can hear the /ch/ very clearly in both voices.
Okay! I thought it possible the sound is more subtle than my English-addled brain expects.
Now that I listen again a few times and compare it to the google translate pronunciation (https://translate.google.com/?sl=pl&tl=en&text=nie%20mamy%20w%C4%85skich%20biurek&op=translate) I believe I can hear it.
Thanks for helping me sharpen my listening skills.