"The crab is an animal."

Translation: Krab jest zwierzęciem.

[Chrimle]

"To krab jest zwierzęciem", was my answer. As I thought adding the "to" to the beginning would indicate this crab in particular...

[Yola448704]

Do not discard your sentence yet. Incidentally, it is correct, but not here. It is the little "to", which gives the sentence a totally different meaning: "To krab" means "It is the crab which...", so "to" doesn't define the crab, but indicates the crab and distinguishes it from the crowd:

To krab jest zwierzęciem - It is the crab, which is an animal (others are not)

[clintack]

I did the same thing, thinking "to krab" would be like "the crab". I guess not.

[WrzodX]

Wrong, because each gender has its own "the/this/that" word.

"Ten krab" (masculine)

"Ta kobieta" (feminine)

"To dziecko" (neuter)

[Chrimle]

Once I got further into the lessons - I understood there is a difference.

[smeagle2222]

can someone clear up for me when to use to and not jest

[Jellei]

Both are perfectly fine here: Krab to zwierzę or Krab jest zwierzęciem.

More info here: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/16373167

[PolskaMonia1234]

why not zwierzem? why zwierzeciem?

[Jellei]

The Instrumental form of "zwierzę" is "zwierzęciem".

The word "zwierz" exists and its Instrumental would indeed be "zwierzem", but that's a rather dated, a bit poetic (?) word and usually denotes some large, wild animal.

[NChasse]

The click options doesn't offer "jest" as an option, only "to"

[Jellei]

Doesn't seem to be any problem, since you can create a correct answer. "Krab to zwierzę".

[Nol288089]

I dont get this, krab to zwierze or krab jest zwierze, whats the difference

[WrzodX]

Whatever is after "to" - doesn't change. After "jest" - nouns change. A correct sentence with it is "Krab jest zwierzęciem".

This is called the instrumental case. Masculine and neuter words end with -em, feminine with -ą (including all a-ending masculine nouns such as mężczyzna).

[edonkey]

What's the difference between using zwierzę and zwierzęciem?

[Jellei]

One is Nominative (and Accusative as well), the other is Instrumental.

For example, this sentence could be translated with two versions:
"Krab to zwierzę" and "Krab jest zwierzęciem".

[TrackAttack2]

Is there a difference on how both would be perceived, or is it just preference on which is used, in this case?

[Jellei]

My personal view is that "Krab to zwierzę" is more like "A crab = an animal" and "Krab jest zwierzęciem" is more... descriptive. In most cases the Instrumental form sounds superior to me, although a moment ago I was commenting on "This animal is a tiger" and I'd use "To zwierzę to tygrys" there... because "This animal = a tiger" makes more sense there.