"המחשבים האלה משלמים את עצמם."
Translation:These computers pay for themselves.
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Is it משלמים את עצמם or משלמים על עצמם?
To my ear משלמים את עצמם sounds like the machines pay themselves, as opposed to paying for themselves
You're right, in my opinion "משלמים את עצמם" shouldn't be accepted.
1166
I wouldn't use either "משלמים את עצמם" or "משלמים על עצמם" in Hebrew. Both are direct translations of English idioms and neither has become commonly used in Hebrew. The verb לשלם is not used to mean "earn" If I wanted to express the meaning of the English sentence I might go with something like:
המחשבים האלה מחזירים את העלות שלהם
Your example, to me, looks like: These computers are getting paid.
But, you mean to say: These computers are profitable. Right, my gever?
How do I come to understand your sentence, properly, since my first inclination is to translate להשתלם as "to get paid"?
Well, but הִשְׁתַּלֵּם means to be profitable: הַמְַאֲמָץ שֶׁלָּהֶם הִשְׁתַּלֵּם their effort paid off.
I don't understand the nuances of the English translations, but I think the meaning of משלמים את עצמם and משתלמים are very close, because
מתי משהו משתלם? כשהוא מחזיר את העלות שלו
If you pay for something and it doesn't pay back your investment, so it's not profitable. Am I right? (Not a literal translation of course).
By the way, I think maybe 'get paid' is מקבל תשלום. But I am not sure how to translate: המוצר שוּלַם.
I wouldn't say משלמים את עצמם in Hebrew. As a native speaker I couldn't understand what the sentence wanted to say at first.
המחשבים הָאֵלֶּה מְשַׁלְּמִים אֶת עַצְמָם
Ha-makhshevim ha-ele meshalmim et atsmam.
I was under the impression that אלה means "these" while אלו means "those" but Duolingo seems to use them interchangeably. What's the proper use of אלה vs. אלו?
There is no difference between אלה and אלו, they are words from different phases of the language and the fashion on using them alternates from time to time. "Those" would be ההם / ההן. By the way, I would say משלמים על עצמם.
Both על and עבור are fine, there isn't a big difference in meaning, but עבור is more formal. את shouldn't be used here, it's the wrong preposition.
- 1635
It is not changed. There is משלמים את עצמם still. Can the main translation above be changed? Something as These computers pay themselves.
Ingeborg suggested, elsewhere, that the computers pay themselves so the company doesn't have to. So, in essence, the effect is the same.
How would 2 sentences differ in Hebrew: 'they pay for themselves' and 'they pay themselves'
From Oxford dictionary "(of a thing) earn or save enough money to cover the cost of its purchase."
I notice that the direct object marker את very often is placed at the end of the preceding word when pronounced. As I understand the את belongs to the object, but clings to to the end of the verb preceeding it in pronounciation as a rule. Am I right?
- 1166
I have never noticed it. It may be in sentences like this one where the next word begins with a vowel, so the speaker intentionally pauses between the את and the next word to avoid it sounding like "etatzmam".