"She is sleeping without her cat."

Translation: Sie schläft ohne ihre Katze.

[Will709432]

I prefer it to be precise, that way if I make minor mistakes I get corrected. I don't want to learn bad habits. The system is good as it is imo

[NF6FxQcs]

I agree. And on Duolingo there is (usually) no time limit so plenty of time to rethink. Better to get the exact right answer here, and be allowed a few minor mistakes when we talk and have no such time to think it over and over...

[AlexanderT889011]

These multiple choice questions really are far too easy. The topic is the accusative, but all I need to know is which one of schläft, fliegt and geht means sleeps. I don't even need to see the rest of the text, which contains the accusative.

[Brian515045]

Why is it not 'sie Katze'? Isn't it accusativ ?

[mizinamo]

Why is it not 'sie Katze'? Isn't it accusativ ?

You wouldn't say "without him cat", would you? You don't need the accusative case personal pronoun "him" here, you need the possessive "his".

And similarly in German: you don't need the personal pronoun sie, you need the possessive ihr -- in this case in the form ihre for feminine accusative.

Confusingly, English uses "her" for both the personal pronoun and the possessive determiner. "I buy her flowers" can be the female version of both "I buy his flowers" and "I buy him flowers".

[Brian515045]

I don't quite understand. Why is "I am against her." = "Ich bin gegen sie"?

[mizinamo]

Why is "I am against her." = "Ich bin gegen sie"?

Because this is personal pronoun "her", not possessive "her". The male version would be "I am against him", not "I am against his".

Compare:

I am against her. = Ich bin gegen sie.

I am against her book. = Ich bin gegen ihr Buch.

(Male versions: "I am against him" but "I am against his book".)

[Brian515045]

Danke!