"Δεν γράφω βιβλίο."
Translation:I'm not writing a book.
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I have not seen this in Greek before I would expect the article to be there and so left it out deliberately in my answer, as I have found that some fo the 'correct' answers are in slightly odd English
In some cases, the article for singular countable nouns is ommited in Greek. For you to always be sure whether or not to add the article in english, check if the english translation makes sense without the article as well (in this case, it doesn't.) One of these cases is probably when the object of the sentence is supposed to be only one (based on logic), so the article is implied instead of added.
exp. "I'm eating an apple - Τρώω ένα μήλο/Τρώω μήλο",
"I'm writing a book - Γράφω ένα βιβλίο/Γράφω βιβλίο",
"I'm watching a film - Βλέπω μία ταινία/Βλέπω ταινία". I hope this helped a bit. :)
If the article is omitted in Greek does it always equate to an indefinite article in English?
My answer is "I do not write book", as in greek there is no article. Why is this wrong?
Yes, but we need to have the English correct. In English we use "a" so we must use it in the sentence.
Wouldn't anyone say "I do not write books" here though rather than "I do not write a book"?
In English, yes. However, this is not the case in Greek. Sometimes, singular is prefered oven plural, even when the statement is general. ^.^
But in translation, we would have to use the plural in English in order for the grammar to be correct.
Not necessarily, because it carry the English meaning of progressive action: "I am not writing a book." (Imagine the response to the question, "How is your book coming along?" e.g., "No, you are thinking of my brother, the novelist. I am not writing a book!")
I understand "I'm not writing a book" is right, but shouldn't "I don't write books" be also accepted? Can't this sentence also convey this meaning? Because it seems to me that singular direct objects in greek can also mean general ideas that in english would be written in plural, like "Τρώω μήλο". Is that correct?
Perhaps "Τρώω μήλο" is not a good example because 'apple' and 'an apple' and 'apples' are all possible in English, where 'apple' is the stuff or the flavour. In other words, in 'I eat apple', 'apple' is the stuff, not the fruit, whereas in Greek, 'Τρώω μήλο' means "I am eating an apple'.
"I don't write books." would need to be plural "βιβλία" in that the Greek and the English are the same.
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"I didnt write a book" was not accepted, but I imagine thats past tense which would make the sentence different.
Instead of "I do not write book", I wrote " I don't write book" and the answer was false. It doesn't make sense
NO the problem was not he use of "I don't ...". Either "I do not.." or "I don't..." are correct and accepted.
Your mistake was in not using the article "a" which is required in English for this sentence.
Please look at the top of this page for the correct translation.
"Δεν γράφω βιβλίο."
Translation: "I'm not writing a book.""
Also, please read the other comments on this page which also explain this several times.
TIPS TO MAKE LEARNING EASIER + HOW TO REPORT A PROBLEM
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/22424028
And check out the Greek Forum here with more links.