"Μία πάπια στην βάρκα."

Translation: One duck in the boat.

[kebukebu]

How would you say "on the boat", as in, being a passenger of the boat, or standing on the deck of the boat? "In the boat" sounds like the duck is either in the cargo hold, or it is sneaking around the innards of the ship causing mayhem.

[romualdGyorgy]

I think you could say πάνω στην instead of just στην.

[jeanprendiville]

I wonder, on the table can be either πάνω στο or simply στο, so I think Kebukebu'S question is still open. I can't see why "on the boat" is not given as an alternative. A βάρκα being a small open boat The image of a cargo hold is a little imaginary.

[JacobPast177]

Yes, there is some overlap between βάρκα and πλοίο, but do keep in mind that generally speaking the first thing that comes to mind with the word βάρκα is a small boat or dinghy with no deck, powered by oars, sails or an outboard engine. Also, I've personally never heard βάρκα used for a passenger ship/ferry. Of course, there are also βάρκες with decks and regular inboard engines (as there is also good Charon and his βάρκα ferrying people over the rivers Styx or Acheron) but when I hear Μία πάπια στη βάρκα the picture that comes to mind is this:

Oops, that would be Δύο πάπιες στη βάρκα... Well, you can't have it all.

[JustinNewall]

I was expecting it to be part of a Greek proverb: 'One duck in the boat... is worth two in the water!'

[jaye16]

Yes, good idea, that does sound possible.

[Stergi3]

It cannot be defined with στην. Στην is the Modern Greek compound of εις ( preposition, in) + την (article). Also in Ancient Greek it could be used the preposition εν (in) +dative, but dative is not used anymore. The context can define exactly where .

[Christos12]

The correct Greek is "στη βάρκα" , not "στην βάρκα". "Στον" and "στην" maintain the "ν" in their end only if they are followed by words that start with κ,τ,π,ξ,ψ

[troll1995]

Στον always mantains the -ν and the removal of -ν in στην is practically optional, although recommended.

[LadyMac1000]

And....I definitely shouldn't be being marked wrong for correctly writing it without the ν, which I just have been. I wrote "μία πάπια στη βάρκα" and got red-screened and corrected to "Μία πάπια στην βάρκα." I've reported it!

[jaye16]

We have both 'στη" & "στην" as correct so if your translation was rejected that would imply that there was some other problem. Could you get a screenshot if ithappens again.

Here are the sentences we accept:

Μία πάπια στη βάρκα.
Μία πάπια στην βάρκα.
Μία πάπια μέσα στο καράβι.
Μία πάπια μέσα στη βάρκα.
Μία πάπια μέσα στην βάρκα.
Μία πάπια στο καράβι.

[helmad]

more normal for anywhere 'in' to say 'on' in English

[Michael880308]

The proposition is wrong: one is on a boat, not in it, even if it's a submarine. English is bizarre.

[Dimitra956826]

I see your point. As far as I can see, this sentence is not included in the second tree, which means that we figure it was indeed problematic. Thank you and helmad for your comments ^.^

[Michael880308]

You're welcome! Thank you for all your hard work.

[Jiggawhy]

I am sitting in the boat, rowing gently down the stream.

[Fylakas]

Μιὰ χαρὰ γιὰ μένα, ὡς μετέχω ἐν τῷ δημοτικῷ κινήματι νὰ διαφυλάξῃ τούτη τὴν μαγικὴ γλῶσσα, ἐπειδὴ δὲν ἀφαιρέθηκε τὸ νὶ ποτὲ ἀπὸ τὸ ἄρθρο ἀρχικῶς...

[Lng52-._]

Instead of "μία", can you use "ένα"?

[mizinamo]

As in ένα πάπια? No, because πάπια is a feminine noun, not a neuter noun, so you can't use the neuter ένα but have to use the feminine μία.

[Taniathasta]

Κύριε Fylaka, με χαρά και συγκίνηση είδα την γραφήν σας όπου υμνείτε την υπέροχη ελληνική γλώσσα! Σας ευχαριστώ από καρδιάς!

[jaye16]

We have both 'στη" & "στην" as correct so if your translation was rejected that would imply that there was some other problem. Could you get a screenshot if ithappens again.

Here are the sentences we accept:

Μία πάπια στη βάρκα.
Μία πάπια στην βάρκα.
Μία πάπια μέσα στο καράβι.
Μία πάπια μέσα στη βάρκα.
Μία πάπια μέσα στην βάρκα.
Μία πάπια στο καράβι.