"I do not eat bread."
Translation:パンは食べません。
49 Comments
It should be をafter bread not は because bread is an object right? It gets は correct and there si no を as option
を is often replaced by は in negative sentences, especially if it comes after a string of positive sentences. For example, if you were to say, "I eat rice. I also eat udon. I don't eat bread," it would translate as, "ごはんを食べます。うどんも食べます。パンは食べません。” (I don't know if the Duolingo course has already taught も as a particle at this point but hopefully the meaning is still clear)
When it comes down to food をis used to indicate you won't have it right now whereas は would indicate you won't have it at all.
To break it down: (ごはんはたべません。) This means you don't eat rice in general. (ごはんをたべません。) This means you won't eat rice right now. (Because maybe because you're just hungry for it.)
を also refers to the object before the noun in the sentence.
Hope this helps.
Many other people have said that, in the positive form, は vs. を would be the difference between eating bread (in this case) in general, and eating a specific instance of bread.
How is this same distinction made in the negative form?
That's helpful, but would you also be able to explain why this is the case, or is it just a special rule to memorize?
But is it only when you don't want it right now or is it also when you dont eat it in a permanent way (because you're vegan, because you dont like the taste of it, etc)?
198
It can be both. Context will usually give you enough to decide which is meant. I think generally speaking the former would be the more common interpretation; you're probably more likely to give reasons or extra information if you fall into the latter category.
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The sentence is right, indeed. The word は marks the topic of a sentence. When the topic is the object of the verb (e.g. 'I eat bread'), the object を is omitted. That may differ from many European languages with declensions, where one must always use accusative for objects.
Right. I flew through everything up until the last lesson.. Now I'm struggling through
I noticed that! Easy to remember since i also speak Spanish. Bread is pan in Spanish, easy to remember! :D
From what got from comments in another question. は is to say this object and only this object. を is to say this object among other things. を is mainly used for positive phrases. パンを食べます I eat bread (I may also eat other things.) パンは食べます I eat bread (and only bread.) So パンは食べません is like; I don't eat bread (but other things I may eat.) I don't know if a を version of ません would work.
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Well, that's a reasonably good way to think about it, but "only" has a specific Japanese word too, だけ.
So if you really wanted to say you eat only bread, it would be パンだけを食べます.
You would normally use を as an object marker when describing what the verb is being done to.
The sentence here is "I do not eat bread." Since the correct answer is "ぱんはたべません" does that mean "bread" is not the object of the sentence? That doesn't make sense.
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Why can't I have: "パンが食べません。", because surely the complete sentence is: "私はパンが食べません。"?
I wrote パンを食べません with the ませ and ん as two different cards and it came up as wrong....
Particule may be omitted but never seen it replaced like this. Got to know
I'm just a beginner, but according to the "Genki" textbook I'm also studying from that symbol can make an 'n' sound, 'm' sound, or 'ng' sound depending on the word and what follows it.
ん's sound experiences a lot of something called assimilation. That's when one sound takes on the qualities of other nearby sounds. ん's sound does it approximately like this:
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'n' in normal circumstances - tongue touching toward the front of your mouth roof, with air coming out of your nose (air coming out of your nose = a "nasal" sound)
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'm' before b, p, and m sounds - because these sounds use your lips, and a nasal using the lips is an m sound
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'ng' before g and k - because these sounds have the back of the tongue up touching the roof of your mouth, and a nasal in this position is the ng sound!
the ん sound is n. Japanese is pronounced just like its written, like Spanish.
- 198
Close, but not quite. As @asiaspyro previously mentioned, it comes from the Portuguese word for bread, pão.
That is because ません is a polite negative and ん in the context of this sentence is nothing.
- 198
That's correct. In standard Japanese, which is ostensibly what this course is teaching.
However, 食べん is a colloquial negative which should be used with caution (as it is a fairly crass/curt way of speaking). Alternatively, it could be interpreted as a spoken form of the Kansai dialect (食べへん), where the へ gets shortened to imperceptibility.
I agree that it shouldn't be accepted though, because it isn't standard Japanese, but just in case anyone was curious :)
Can someone let me know how to change this to an imperative "I can not eat something", or is it the same thing. I'm thinking in the context of a severe food allergy.
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"I can not eat something" isn't an imperative; an imperative is a command to someone to do or not do something, e.g. "Eat the bread".
In the context of a food allergy, you could use a few different forms (some of which you'll learn later in this course).
- パンは食べてはいけません。The -てはいけません structure means "not allowed to verb", so you're saying "bread isn't something (you) are allowed to eat".
- パンは食べられません。The polite potential form of the verb 食べる is 食べられます, so using the negative form implies an inability to eat bread.
- パンのアレルギーです。This simply says "I have a bread allergy" (context can make things pretty clear).
Side note: you could use パンは食べません, but that doesn't necessarily imply a food allergy. The connotation of this sentence is that you are making a choice/decision to not eat bread.
Your definition of imperative is flawed.
im·per·a·tive Dictionary result for imperative /əmˈperədiv/ adjective adjective: imperative
<pre>1.
of vital importance; crucial.
"immediate action was imperative"
synonyms: vitally important, of vital importance, all-important, vital, crucial, critical, essential, of the essence, a matter of life and death, of great consequence, necessary, indispensable, exigent, pressing, urgent; More
</pre>
I appreciate the rest of the info, thanks.
- 198
Nope, your understanding of grammatical terminology is incomplete.
From the Merriam-Webster dictionary, imperative (im.per.a.tive | \im--'per-ə-tiv, -ˈpe-rə-)
1 a: of, relating to, or constituting the grammatical mood that
expresses the will to influence the behavior of anotherb: expressive of a
command, entreaty, or exhortation
From Wikipedia,
The imperative mood is a grammatical mood that forms a command or request.
An example of a verb used on the imperative mood is the English sentence "Please be quiet".
Okay my current dummies take on this whole を vs は business is simply this:
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use をif you're talking about something you do or don't want to do AT THE MOMENT
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use は when talking about something you do or don't want to do IN GENERAL
ご飯を食べません I don't want to eat rice right now.
ご飯は食べません I don't eat rice.
