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- "Do kogo idziemy na obiad?"
38 Comments
129
"To whom are we going for lunch?" is very awkward, I don't think anyone would realistically every use this sentence. Where I am from nobody uses "to whom" or "with whom." This seems like very formal old English if anything. Whenever I approach this question I feel like it's just trying to confuse me. Personally I think a more accurate translation would be something like: "Whose place are we going to for lunch?" I just have a problem with the word "whom" because it's really only found in books imo. English is much more casual than it used to be.
Well, that's still the closest equivalent and it's correct, even if not that common. Sure, I can add your answer, we can be more lenient with accepted translations if the sentence doesn't translate that easily.
I have no issue with "to whom" or "for whom". The problem with this English sentence is that you don't go to a person (whom), you go to a place. That's where I agree with Monica from above: "Whose place are we going to for lunch?" Duolingo's translation is bad English. You need a possessive + a location.
it is grammatically correct which Americans are no longer taught to speak English with grammatical correctness. It is a shame. "To whom" is accurate!!!
Human languages have existed for tens of thousands of years before prescriptivists came along and decided to preach "correct" grammar. Think about that for a moment.
Btw, "to whom" is an accepted answer.
- 165
Just because we, as a society, have gotten lazy in our speech patterns doesn't mean the rest of the world has.
The use of "whom" in English is grammatically correct when the sentence would be grammatically correct (gender of the subject aside) if "him" or "them" were to replace it or in the case of a question, "him" or "them" would fit the answer. (I purposely left out mentioning "her" because I find it most useful to associate the "m" at the end of each word "theM" "hiM" "whoM" as a mnemonic type device)
An example:
To whom is the letter addressed? It is addressed to him.
Maybe this sentence would make sense in British English but as an American i don't get it. Is this like "who are we going to lunch with?" Or "who's house are we going to eat lunch at?" Or "where are we going for lunch?"
- 1442
Yuk.
The official answer is a bit formal, but certainly correct, and preferable to this one.
"Whose place/house are we going to for lunch?" is much better.
"Where are we going for lunch?" would maybe be the most likely thing to say, but of course that's not a translation for this polish sentence.
As you point out below, some sentences just don't translate easily. :-)
In which case is "obiad"? I thought nouns following the preposition "na" were in the Locative case and therefore "obiad" would have an "e" at the end.
But it's not like something is literally on the lunch, right?
Eating something for some meal needs the meal to be in Accusative. I mean "na + Acc."
(Locative of "obiad" is "obiedzie", by the way).
That's a little bit too much, it assumes that they live in a house and not an apartment, right?
Why is lunch not acceptable as a translation for obiad in this exercise?
Nobody in England says this in all seriousness, although you might say it as a kind of humorous affectation.
- 1442
Yes. "To whom" sounds like you are probably going to someone's home, so you would be going "for dinner".
The only scenario I can think of where you might say "the dinner" is if you are talking about a specific dinner, like a Christmas dinner, an Awards dinner, a Farewell dinner, something like that. Then you might say "Where will the dinner be held?"
Looking at this discussion it seems weird that I got everything right apart from "going to lunch" instead of "going for lunch". However I'm pretty sure "going to lunch" should be ok too.
Have to agree that no native english speaker would ever utter this sentence, except an English teacher as a joke. I put "whose house are we having lunch at" and was marked incorrect. Yes, there is a distinction between house and apartment, but this is the most likely to be used.
Kind of a native speaker but kind of not here, but I have always seen obiad as dinner not lunch, so.....
Should it be a valid answer? Do kogo idziemy na obiad? - "Who are we going to dinner at?"
I don't believe "at" works here. We used to have the same answer but with "dinner to" at the end, but apparently that doesn't make much sense to native speakers as well.
- 165
This question is: A. the one to use if I wanted to know who will be hosting our meal at their residence B. the one to use if I want to know what commercial eating establishment (ie restaurant) we will be eating at C. the one to use in both scenarios/interchangeable D. None of the above, just translate it for vocab practice & move on, already
?
A. We're going to my girlfriend's friends for dinner, but I forgot which friends.
You do not go to a person; you go to a place. The English translation is not correct. To indicate the person, you must use the possessive "whose" + a noun to indicate the location.
- 1313
I hate to pile on, but this sentence makes absolutely no sense in English. It may make sense in Polish, and I am sure it does, but NOT in English.
