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- "Αυτός σταμάτησε να παίζει."
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I struggle with 'Να', it has so many uses. I get that one of it's jobs is to seperate verbs, but is there a clarification for this anywhere?
I can't click the link on my phone. Is there another way to find whay you're linking to? Thank you!
I can't click the link on my phone.
Does this help?
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/24471413
Otherwise, go to the Greek forum and look for the sticky post titled A Guide for the Greek Subjunctive (Active Verbs) by Dimitra956826, it should be 4th from the top (at least it was at the time of writing).
I translated this as "he stopped to play" and it was accepted. In other words, "he stopped what he was doing in order to play", which is different from "he stopped playing" as in "he was in the act of playing but then stopped". So if "Αυτός σταμάτησε να παίζει" actually means that "he stopped (while in the act of) playing" then perhaps my answer shouldn't be accepted in the exercise?
Here are the correct ways to say these:
"Αυτός σταμάτησε να παίζει." = He stopped playing.
This is what we have as the only correct sentence for this exercise.
.
"Αυτός σταμάτησε για να παίξει." = He stopped to play.
The "για" isn't mandatory but it's better with it.
My apologies for giving the wrong information
Αυτος . He . σταματησε . stopped , να , to , παίζει , play. My answer , however the correct solution is he stopped playing , also other translation's but no matter how long I try I just don't get the 'να' bit. I have tried ' he stopped to play ' in English in other translators and came up with the solution above, in Greek that is .
In Greek to say: "He stopped playing.'" we say: (Αυτός) σταμάτησε να παίζει."
There is no benefit in trying to equate each word in one language with another language. The "να" is there because that's the way it's said.
That's why you'd do best to use the Drop Down hints which show you the exact translation. And in the end, it's easier and you'll be learning real Greek.
Yes I do sort of understand what you are saying but as I have indicated if I , on a translator enter 'he stopped to play' it comes up with 'αυτος σταματησε να παίζει ' so what would be the correct solution of ' he stopped to play ' . Also , are you suggesting that all other online translators are incorrect ?
If you look at the other comments on this page you will see there are two different ideas in both English and Greek.
One is "stop to play" ..........."σταμάτησε να παίζει"
The other is "stop playing".."σταμάτησε να παίξει'' or "σταμάτησε για να παίξει."
The online translators fail to recognize that the verb is different in each sentence.
Am I saying all online translators are incorrect? Well, the three that I tried just now were.
Online dictionaries for single words are usually correct.
However, for sentences, we can never be 100% sure.
Please read the other comments on this page to see that what you wrote is incorrect which is why it was rejected.
It's correct English for sure, but it is αυτός σταμάτησε για να παίξει in Greek.
Please note the difference between..
""παίζει"" as used in this sentence and ""παίξει"" as explained by troll1995 right below your comment.
Please look at the other comments. At the time of writing, it's the comment just above. :)
