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- "Ο πίθηκος είναι ζώο"
29 Comments
Who downvoted me? The -pithecus in Australopithecus and other species names is from this Greek word. FOH, haters.
Don't feel bad, they may have made a mistake, here's a a Lin got to show we are a pretty good bunch.D:
Hahahaha, aw thank you :) I'm gonna give you one for being awesome :)
im gonna give both of you a lingot. ill only ask for a small FAVOR in return
Why is the article corresponding to "an" ("ένας") not needed before "ζώο"?
It could be both Ο πίθηκος είναι ένα ζώο or Ο πίθηκος είναι ζώο the second though is more emphatic.
When the English 'a' is the indefinite article and does not specifically mean 'one', it is usually omitted in Greek. eg It is a dog. είναι σκίλος
But
I have a dog έχω ένα σκίλο
278
However, there are a lot of exercises that count it wrong if you leave out the indefinite article. Should I start reporting all of those?
I suggest not immediately. Wait until you have much more specific evidence. For example, you say 'a lot of exercises'. I think you should specify two or three of these at least. Are they perhaps really meaning 'one' rather than simply 'a'? In which case it is incorrect to omit it. Hope that helps.
- 278
I am familiar with the difference between "one" and "a". I am pretty competent in Latin and Ancient Greek, so it feels unnatural always using an indefinite article. "A lot" means that in most review sessions I hit at least one. They may be the same one, even. The next time it happens I'll report… It's probably just a few that were overlooked and it feels like more to me subjectively.
Nothing obvious. Wiktionary says etymology is uncertain: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CF%80%CE%AF%CE%B8%CE%B7%CE%BA%CE%BF%CF%82#Etymology
Is a πιθηκος just an ape or a monkey as well? In German we can use the same word for both.
It's ape = πίθηκος and monkey = μαϊμού so they shouldn't be used interchangeably. Although many people actually do that in Greek too.
Because "The ape is animal" is not correct in English. Yes, you need to stay as close to the original as possible but you also need to write a correct translation.
Emma, 'an' is not a number as such. When we need to focus on the quantity, then we use 'one' or '1'. The indefinite article 'a/an' is used widely before singular nouns in English. Take a quick look at any paragraph in an English book and notice how 'a/an' is used.
I am well aware, I just don't know the English verb for that as that is not my mother tongue.
And I am also aware the we should make a more english translation, but there was another one where when you wrote ".... is an...." where there was no ενα it was marked as faulty.
It is often difficult for native English speakers to understand that other languages including Greek do not use 'a/an' in the same way as English.
