"Πονάει η αδελφή μου."
Translation:My sister is in pain.
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So, "πονάω" doesn't mean "to hurt", but "to be in pain", right? I mean, this sentence means that the sister is the one who is suffering pain and not the once that is inflicting, doesn't it? Because I still can't get this right.
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There are several meanings according to the context ex. με πονάς=you hurt me, τον πονάει=he cares of him. It has both physical and mental meaning and also transitive and intransitive use,
"My sister is hurt" means she is wounded and it could also be used when someone is calling for help. In this case "My sister is in pain" or "My sister hurts" would be a better statement.
Only in English that second formulation sounds peculiar and wholly unidiomatic. 'Hurt' is almost always a transitive verb, at least in spoken British English.
I disagree. It's as common in English to say 'I hurt my leg' (transitive) as it is to say 'it hurts' (reflexive)
"It hurts my sister" becomes "Πονάει την αδελφή μου." "My sister hurts" works well!
In a listening exercise, you have to type what the voice says. You cannot use a synonym with a different pronunciation.
And why on earth is wrong "My sister is suffering" (or suffers)?? The meaning is the same.
That would be "Η αδερφή/αδελφή μου χτύπησε" and she's in pain as a result.
I wrote "my sister is sore" which was not accepted. How would this be written in Greek?
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On the listening exercise it sounds like "Πονά η αδελφή μου" (unless you select the slow speech option, where the ήτα is articulated separately), but this was rejected by DL. Is it correct that πονά is an acceptable alternative to πονάει ?
Listening exercises only accept a single correct answer. If the text reads Πονάει η... then Πονά η is not going to be accepted. I agree, it's difficult to hear both ee sounds it in normal speed, but it's a good audio file nonetheless.
The audio in this exercise https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/17483751 is better for hearing all the vowels; it's still difficult for someone who's learning, but as a native speaker I hear them clearly. Here, not so much.
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I translated as it hurts my sister and lost a heart because you translate as my sister is in pain. πονάει translates as it hurts or is in pain. I find that a bit mean.
No one's being mean. You are wrong though to assume that the subject of the verb is 'it': if something was hurting my sister ('her'), then 'my sister' would be in the accusative, as verb objects go in the accusative: (κάτι) πονάει την αδελφή μου. In the exercise, η αδελφή μου is the subject of the verb, therefore the phrase means 'my sister hurts'. Remember, Greek syntax is more flexible than English syntax and you cannot rely solely on word order. Making mistakes is OK, it's part of the learning process. ;)