"I still do not know why he says this."
Translation:אני עדיין לא יודע למה הוא אומר את זה.
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The rule in "Tips & notes" says "When using question words as conjunctions, ש is essential", yet we don't see "ש" in this sentence ("...למה הוא..."). Is "למה" somehow privileged or is there some general grammar thing exposed in this case?
I don't think so: אני עדיין לא יודע למה הוא אוכל תפוח, אני עדיין לא יודע למה הוא אוכל את התפוח. Neither can have ש.
It seems to me (off my sleeve, maybe I'm wrong) that if the question word is subordinate to a verb such as "know", "say", "think" etc., they don't take ש. For example, אני יודע איפה הכלב שוכב vs. השמיכה נמצאת איפה שהכלב שוכב. Which is confusing, because if the phrase subordinate to "know", "say", "think" does not begin with a question word, it does require ש! For example, אני יודע שהכלב נמצא שם.
Maybe easier to remember that למה and מדוע never take a ש. Indeed, it's hard for me to imagine them used subordinately to verbs that are not "know" etc.
yeah i thought the ש was necessary too. is the below not acceptable?
אני עדיין לא יודע למה שהוא אומר את זה.
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Think of it this way: ש means "that". The sentence "אני עדיין לא יודע למה שהוא אומר את זה" would be translated to "I do'nt know why that he says that"
One of the accepted answers ends with ’למה הוא אומר זאת’. Why is it acceptable to omit the את before זאת?
I saw on another discussion that it had something to do with זאת being formal. I don't know,why, but it's acceptable. You can also say את זאת, btw.
similar sentence with audio:
I wrote עדיין before אני and was marked incorrect. Is there a reason the order can't be switched?
- 1258
Well, you also don't say "Still I don't know...". Why would you switch them in Hebrew, then?
- 531
Well, how about "Still, I don't know..."? I can imagine that. And, of course, the word order in English does not imply anything for Hebrew... So, is there some better explanation, e.g. "that's simply a rule"? ;)
If one begins with: עדיין אני ... Would that be wrong? This just a slight variation in word order.
It's not wrong in itself. But it's a slightly less common order, and stresses עדיין slightly more. I believe that it's the same in English: "I still" is more common than "Still I", and the latter stresses "still" slightly more.
It's my understanding that למה is a much more casual and everyday word that מדוע, though, right? I'm not a native speaker.
It is treating writing in the masculine rather than the feminine as a 'typo' when the English does not distinguish which sex is narrating.
- 769
I am getting confused. Is זה a definite direct object in the sentence? Is this why it is אומר את זה rather than just אומר זה?
If I begin with: עדיין אני ... i.e. a slight variation in word order, would that be wrong?
I made the verb masculine and it was counted wrong. I saw no gender indication in English
- 1258
The masculine is the default answer. You must have made another mistake that you didn't notice.