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- "The duck drinks the milk."
"The duck drinks the milk."
Translation:Η πάπια πίνει το γάλα.
12 Comments
Aren't "το παπι" and "Η παπια", given as both correct, different gender? How does that work?
Yes, "η πάπια" is the feminine gender noun and "το παπί" is the neutral gender. There isn't a masculine gender greek word for ducks (well, as far as I know...) and you can use them pretty much interchangeably (they don't have to match the duck's gender), though I believe you would most often find the neutral gender word to refer to younger ducks, or even ducklings.
Can you explain why "to" and no "η" γάλα ? Thank you (better in French if you can)
Il y a trois genres: le masculin, le féminin et le neutre. Πάπια est un mot féminin mais γάλα est neutre - il faut utiliser leurs propres articles. Pouvez-vous accéder aux Tips and notes? (I hope that makes sense..!)
Why isn't it η γάλα? I thought that nouns ending in -α, -η, and -ω indicated feminine gender. Thanks in advance.
Not always. Η γάτα (the cat) is female, το γάλα (the milk) is neutral genre, τα ποτά (the drinks) is the plural form of το ποτό (the drink) which is neutral genre. Not sure if I used the right explanation terms. You probably never see a male genre word and ending in -α unless it is a name/surname or in other grammar & syntax cases like when you use the third person. I am afraid in cases like that you have to learn if something if male, female or neutral genre by practice like you do when learning French or Italian...
Πίνει γάλα=il boit du lait/he drinks milk, πίνει το γάλα=Il boit le lait/he drinks the milk.
Hi! Why we use "πίνει το γάλα" with "το", but sometimes I met "πίνει νερό" and it was without "το"?
Because, as in English, some times you specify that it's a known quantity of drink/food that's consumed and sometimes it's 'some':
Πίνει γάλα = drinks (some) milk
Πίνει το γάλα (που είναι στο ψυγείο) = drinks the milk that's in the fridge
Τρώει φωμί = he eats (some) bread
Τρώει το ψωμί που αγόρασε = She eats the bread that she bought
This lesson reminds me of the children's song in English, "The Farmer in the Dell".
