"ריבות או מסטיקים?"
Translation:Jams or pieces of chewing gum?
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2061
Is "jam" not an acceptable translation? "Jams" sounds really weird in English, even if the Hebrew is plural.
I think jam is both countable and uncountable. The countable phrase "jams and jellies" is pretty well established. The uncountable "I have jam..." or "Is there any jam?" is common and correct.
from http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/jam_1
jam (noun) sweet food [uncountable, countable] a thick sweet substance made by boiling fruit with sugar, often sold in jars and spread on bread -strawberry jam -recipes for jams and preserves (British English) a jam doughnut
Sidenote: duolingo Hebrew is an amazing setup. Thank you.
I would usually say "kinds of jam"; I think in this instance (where you're referring to different types of jam), jams might be acceptable, but it sounds a little odd, IMO. In regular usage, I'd say kinds of jam, jars of jam, or maybe just that I have lots of different jam!
Usually I'd only say jams if I was using it as a verb - "he jams the gum into his mouth" seems like a relevant example for this sentence ;)
... I've now written jam so many times that it's stopped looking like a real word at all...
(Native speaker, UK, FWIW :))
I would usually say "kinds of jam" but, I wouldn't think twice about "jams" if someone else said it (and I think twice about most linguistic things). Interestingly, "jam" meaning really good song is totally countable (see: Smooth Jams), and I think that that is not entirely irrelevant as homophones can have a subconscious influence on each other. So, if that usage is in your vocabulary you're probably more open to 'jams' generally.
2061
I was thinking that too, but I wouldn't say it without that context already established! I just assumed the Hebrew word had different properties about when it was pluralized, and that it could be translated to an English singular. בסדר!
1076
Is jam also some kind of sweet or candy in Hebrew? I can't work out when I would ever ask someone if they wanted "Jam or chewing gum?"
39
An alternative translation of ריבות is "jellies", does the meaning of the word in Hebrew stretch to include candies like wine gums or fruit pastilles? If so then the sentence makes much more sense.
Out of interest, what actually is the difference between jam and jelly for an American? Maybe it plays into the whole jam/jams thing. To be honest, when I first saw these sentences I was going to change them all to "jelly" because I thought Americans don't know what jam is, but clearly I was mistaken. Although I still don't know how I'd cope with the plurality issue, I wouldn't say "jellies" but that's only cos it's like you saying "jellos". I would say jams.
140
I've lived in the UK and the US— in the US, jam and jelly are more or less the same thing- you can put jam or jelly on toast, and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, for example (very popular). Jam tends to be a bit more fluid and have pieces, however, and jelly tends to be smooth and more gel-like.
In the UK, both of those are called jam. A British person would call said sandwich a "peanut butter and jam" sandwich (although such a sandwich is extremely uncommon in the UK). Gelatine desserts, however—what people in the US would call Jell-O— are called "jelly" in the UK.
TL;DR: US: jam=jelly (more or less) UK: jelly=Jell-O, jam= stuff for toast, definitely not the same
Jelly tends to be more refined and not as much like the original food, where jam is less processed, more natural, and tends to have pieces of the original fruit in it. I think that is the technical definition, but I think the usage is more regional, like soda, soda pop, and pop--it depends on what you are used to saying. I use the above definition, personally, and know many people who also do. I grew up in Upstate NY and called what we put on toast jelly (especially thinking of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches), but then it was that more refined kind anyway. Now I eat the less refined kind and call it jam. I'm not sure I've ever heard someone call them jam donuts before.
1099
I think the FDA classifies jam, jelly and preserves by how much fruit is contained in them. Normal usage, though is pretty much as you say. (Though we do say "Peanut Butter and Jelly"…)
Jelly in donuts is not the same thing, it's not jam. This is really annoying, I got to say. It's not a variation among the US. You buy the same jam, jelly, fruit butters & marmalade all over the country.
They are all (fruit) preserves, in the same way mammals are all under the same category. If you bring home jelly when I asked for jam I will send you back out. This is whether it's Smucker's or imported from France.
If I make blueberry (or strawberry etc) jam I just mix the berries with a little bit of sugar and put it into the freezer ready to put on a sandwich any time or one can boil them on low temperature with ginger, cinammon and some sugar, that is jam. Some people also like to add different kinds of jam powder to make it thicker. That powder often contains gelatine, and that would make jelly, sometimes even totally clear of pieces of fruit. And if you put less water you can make sweets for kids made of sugar, gelatin and lemonade, boiled and cooled, sliced into small pieces and rolled in sugar...I am not an American, but I guess it is the same there.
786
That sounds amazing (the lemonade jelly sweets). Thank you so much for the idea. I never thought learning Hebrew would include learning exciting ideas for recipes to make with the kids! תודה רבה
735
This is a ridiculous sentence! When would anyone ever ask "jams or chewing gums?" It would be much easier to learn this vocabulary in a sentence that made some sort of logical sense.
Why 'pieces of chewing gum' even if this were a direct translation it does not make sense in the English. In English you just say 'chewing gum'. And then previous question the program insists that you use the term 'alcoholic beverages' 4 alcohol. When speaking in English we would simply say 'alcohol' and people would I know exactly what we meant. For this reason I think the program should accept the real spoken English terms
1424
It's about practicing plural. Well, since you already know how English works, the program is trying to teach us how Hebrew works and in Hebrew you can say them in plural. And English used in these exercises might be awkward at times, but it's done so, in order to get a better grasp of Hebrew.
177
The option in the Andoid app only allows "marmalades", and I've never seen that used as a plural in UK English!