"The chocolates are sweets."

Translation: Οι σοκολάτες είναι γλυκά.

[MonyWand]

Would 'Οι σοκολάτες είναι καραμέλες' be acceptable?

[jaye16]

No, "καραμέλες" are another kind of sweets. They are mostly sugar and flavors but never chocolcate.

here

[Sninguistics]

I got completely fooled by the use of the plural 'sweets', I thought this said '...are sweet' and translated it as such. > This is why I shouldn't Duolingo on half-sleep...

[Vivliothykarios]

If it makes you feel any better, I fell into the same misunderstanding -- and I'd had a good night's sleep!
Paul

[mel.x000]

Οι σοκολάτες είναι γλυκές. (correct translation)

[mizinamo]

No, because the English sentence is not "The chocolates are sweet" but "The chocolates are sweets".

That is, it is not telling you what the chocolates are like (are they sweet, sour, big, small, expensive....); it is telling you something about the category they are in (are they vegetables, fruit, sweets, ...).

So the translation should have a noun at the end, not an adjective.

[mel.x000]

you are right. sorry :)

[JayDizzleDawg]

Why is it οι and not η? This is the most confusing concept for me.

[mizinamo]

In the singular (when there is just one thing), the definite article ("the" in English) is ο for masculine nouns, η for feminine nouns, and το for neuter nouns. (The gender of a noun can usually be guessed from ending, but it may be helpful simply to remember the gender for every noun.)

In the plural, the definite articles are οι for masculine or feminine, and τα for neuter.

Here, you have σοκολάτες which is plural (and feminine), so the definite article is οι. (Which sounds the same as η in modern Greek.)

Note that all these forms are for the nominative case, e.g. as the subject of a verb. In other cases, the articles can change.

[KeithMcKay3]

Τις σοκολάτες είναι γλύκα was not accepted. Should it have been?

[Vivliothykarios]

Hi, K. - Since σοκολάτες is feminine plural, you'd start with the possibility of one of two forms. (1) Τις works when the chocolates function as the object, as in "Τρώω τις σοκολάτες," (and lucky you -- enjoy 'em!). (2) When "chocolates" are the subject of the sentence (as in this instance), the "the" you're looking for is "οι," just as it would be with a masculine plural noun -- so "οι άντρες είναι...," "οι γυναίκες ειναι...," or "οι σοκολάτες είναι..." Hope this helps. Best, Paul

[KeithMcKay3]

Thanks for your reply. It helps as I sometimes struggle to get my head around what is the subject/object in some of these sentences.