"זה הספר האהוב עליי."
Translation:This is my favorite book.
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'it's my favorite book' not accepted? really? Seriously, I don't know how anyone can pass this exam, I'm fluent in Hebrew and English and I keep failing due to such bizarre errors.
Remember that the course is still beta testing, and there are plenty of mistakes... All we have to do in the meantime is reporting them.
Well, to express "favourite" it is idiomatic to say אָהוּב עַל, which here means something like the book loved by me". Instead הַסֵּ֫פֶר הָאָהוּב שֶׁלִי would be "my beloved book".
I wrote "This book is my favorite" but it was not accepted, isn't the meaning the same?
Ok so it's semantics, I got the meaning correct didn't I? It means the same thing no?
1791
I guess, the meaning is the same. But it is written differently in Hebrew and it has a different translation to English. It was learned at the beginning, not sure if in Adjectives or Determiners. This book הספר הזה, this is the book זה הספר, so also this book is my favorite הספר הזה אהוב עליי, this is my favorite book זה הספר האהוב עליי.
The Hebrew is more romantic and poetic, I like it but in English the meaning is the same no matter where we put the words, This is my favorite book, This book is my favorite, correct? Sometimes we are spending too much time trying to figure out how to best translate versus the true meaning of the sentence.
- 947
Beth, in addition to other posted info, there actually can be a difference in usage. In a discussion of various books, you are might say, "After all the books we have discussed, THIS book is my favorite. But in a discussion of things that make you happy, you may talk about a favorite food, a favorite movie, a favorite vacation, and finally get to, "This is my favorite book."
Why don't we have to say זה הספר האהוב ביותר עליי, or something similar? Is this a common construction or is it just for האהוב עליי
Well, maybe it is coined on Aramaic. I have seen Syriac ܪܚܝܡ ܥܠ ܪ̈ܡܐ ܘܥܠ ܡܟ̈ܝܟܐ Afr 187:22 beloved by high and low people and ܡܛܠ ܕܡܪܗ ܪܚܡ ܠܗ ܥܠ ܟܠܢܫ ܪܚܝܡ INB 576:15 because his Lord loves him, he is loved by all. At least it is idiomatic in Hebrew for favorite.
Well, because this book is הַסֵּ֫פֶר הַזֶּה. The demonstrative pronoun follows the noun it modifies.