10 Comments
Perhaps, "Is there soup inside the pot?" I have no idea what to make of "The pot, is there soup inside it?" Are you asking the pot? It is just very poor English.
762
It's topicalization! It sounds perfectly fine to me, though it's a little funny out of context. I'm not a native speaker of Hebrew but I believe the Hebrew is also topicalized, so if you were saying "Is there soup inside the pot?" it would be a bit different.
I didn't think that way, but it can be indeed undestood as a vocative. It is still unatural though.
I grew up speaking Hebrew, and whilst "The pot, is there inside soup?" Is not as bizzar as it is in English, I would always have asked "Is there soup inside the pot" or "Is there in pot soup?" יש מרק בסיר?/ יש בסיר מרק? Though that could be quick/shorthand Hebrew
"The pot, is there soup inside?" should also be accepted I think. (Without "it" at the end.)
- 440
I understand that the sentence is idiomatic Hebrew but you'd never structure it that way in English
- 152
English speakers would be unlikely to speak of soup being 'inside' a pot. Soup is usually IN the pot, not inside it (it's not exactly wrong, just uncolloquial).
- 443
This is bad. This is the equivalent of using those fridge magnet kits to make sentences. Like fun with Yiddish.
ACTUALLY, This reminds me of the way Yiddish speakers used to speak English. The trash, you want I should take it out?....
(Understandable, but not for English to Hebrew).
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-linguists-are-fascinated-by-the-american-jewish-accent
it is bizarre in english, I would simply ask; Is there any soup? no mentioning the pot whatsoever, if anything I would ask what's in the pot?
