"No, this is not my name."
Translation:Όχι αυτό δεν είναι το όνομά μου.
38 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
It has to do with the pronunciation. When you say "name" it is "όνομα" and you stress only the first syllable. When you say "my/your/his/her/its/our/your/their name" it is "το όνομά μου/σου/του/της/του/μας/σας/τους" and when you pronounce it you stress both the first and last syllable. Another example: the donkey = o γάιδαρος, my donkey = ο γάιδαρός μου.
100
Hi! Can we omit "αυτό" in this sentence? I tried "Όχι δεν είναι το όνομά μου" and it was marked incorrect. Thanks!
100
Ok, thanks! Do you mean that without the 'αυτό', the sentence would mean "No, it is not my name" rather than "No, this is not my name"?
το όνομά μου - Yes this happens when the word is long with an accent on the first syllable, and is followed by a possessive that has no accent and needs to be pronounced together, then a second accent on the last syllable is "necessary" to balance the ryhtm / breathing, otherwise it"s considered that it is too long without any accent. This rule comes from the ancient grec. see explanation "It occurs when a word is stressed on the antepenult (3rd syllable from the end), and an enclitic word follows it (see here for enclitic words). Examples with nouns: το πουκάμισό μου : my shirt (http://www.foundalis.com/lan/grstress.htm)
Generally in Greek we tend to omit the personal pronouns, because the person is obvious by the verb's ending. When we do actually use them, it's because we want to emphasize, and that's translated as "this" or "that" in English.
So, if I say Αυτός είναι άντρας it means "This (one) is a man", and if I say Είναι άντρας it means "He is a man".
BUT, if I want to use "this" or "that" as a demonstrative pronoun I have to say αυτός ο/αυτή η/ αυτό το. So "this man is beautiful"="αυτός ο άντρας είναι όμορφος", "this woman is tall"="αυτή η γυναίκα είναι ψηλή" etc.
And that's mostly it about the αυτός/αυτή/αυτό
Now, the possessives in Greek are generally not expressed with one word. I think it will be more clear using examples:
My cat= Η γάτα μου
Your dog= Ο σκύλος σου
His hat= Το καπέλο του etc.
Of course there are cases where the definite article ο, η, το is not used before the possesive, when we want to talk about something in general. For example Είναι αδερφός μου is better translated as "He is a brother of mine" (that is, he is one of my brothers, not the particular brother I was talking about or that you know).
So, in the sentence above we have αυτό=this and το όνομά μου=my name. Here of course you have to use the definite article αυτό before the possessive, because your name is something very particular.
I think what you are trying to say is why isn't "Όχι, το όνομά μου δεν είναι αυτό." should be a correct translation.
Well, it is correct and accepted. Now if you wrote that and it wasn't accepted you should have left a REPORT so we could see your sentence so we know what the problem was.
Use this to make a report anytime your sentence is rejected and you don't understand or don't agree with the reason. Also check out the other hints to learning on Duolingo.
TIPS TO HELP YOU LEARN + HOW TO REPORT A PROBLEM
- The accent is very easy to get on the Greek keyboard. See here for how to and a lot more information
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/17564761?from_email=comment&comment_id=40552078
- If your answer was not accepted it was not due to the accent. See the link above to REPORT it.
We, moderators, are unable to see the answers learners write. So, of course, neither why your sentences were rejected. What you should have done both times was:
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Make a Report. Just read the other comments on this page (there is a lot of useful information)
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**Send us a copy-paste of your sentence along with the rejection reply...which contains the correct answer.
or
- **Sent a screenshot with the whole rejection page..your answer and the reply from Duolingo.
Then we might be able to see the problem.