"The spaceship is flying through space."
Translation:Das Raumschiff fliegt durch den Weltraum.
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The German doesn't omit the article? Is there a general rule for this difference in convention?
Yes, German uses der Weltraum with article.
Perhaps the question is why English omits the article... we say "the air" and "the environment" but we say "space" and "nature".
Probably not either I'm afraid :)
The rules are mostly the same between the languages but not completely, and I'm not sure whether it's always possible to explain logically why the article is / is not used in certain cases.
I'm confused about the difference between "durch" and "durchs". When I use "All" to mean "space", DL insists that I use "durchs", but when using "den Raum" or "den Weltraum", it wants "durch". What's going on?
Durch is the preposition. Durchs is a compound of this preposition and the article das. Das All but den Weltraum. There is no compound for the article den. So you can always say durch. Ich fliege durch das All, ich fliege durch den Weltraum, ich fliege durch die Küche.
Depending on regional circumstances, people might even mark your "durchs" as a complete mistake and want you to use durch + article das. Its a rare used word but is "more alive" in some regions/dialects.
As comparision: in das and ins. Ich gehe ins Haus, ich gehe in das Haus. Both those sentence mean the same and have the same type of construction like durch/durchs. Only that ins is a far more common word.
Help!!!! I am stuck in a loop of Duo misprogramming in this lesson and I cannot get past it. The prompt is in English, asking for German, but when I put in German it says it is wrong and gives the English as the correct answer. But when I put in English, it also says that is wrong. I would just go ahead to the next set of lessons but I cannot proceed without getting these "right" which is impossible. This entire section needs to be rewritten. Can anyone help?
Can anyone help?
It would be extremely helpful if you showed us screenshots of what is happening; just from your description, it's hard to say what might have happened.
When this happened, please take a screenshot showing the question, your answer, and Duo's reaction; upload the screenshot to a website somewhere such as imgur and then include the URL of the image in your comment.
Also, are you using any automatic translation features of plugins such as the one offered by the Google Chrome browser?
The problem with screenshots is that it is a dynamic situation. For example, the prompt shows up in English, asking for the German. I enter the German and it says wrong and for an instant shows the German "right answer" but immediately switches to the English. If I enter the English as an answer, it says wrong, shows the German, and immediately switches to the English. If the prompt is in German, the "dictionary" clues show up in English, not German. Etc. My main problem is that I cannot get out of this loop because of course one must submit correct answers to complete the lesson and I simply cannot do that given this situation. I am using a PC, I do not use any other programs when I am working on Duo. I have been using Duo for two years and have never seen this problem before. Almost all of the lesson has these problems.
The problem with screenshots is that it is a dynamic situation. For example, the prompt shows up in English, asking for the German. I enter the German and it says wrong and for an instant shows the German "right answer" but immediately switches to the English. If I enter the English as an answer, it says wrong, shows the German, and immediately switches to the English. If the prompt is in German, the "dictionary" clues show up in English, not German.
Then I suggest taking multiple screenshots, one for each step along the way.
I also tried a practice on a different lesson and it worked normally, so it is not google translate sneaking in.
I've run into the same problem, but I'm pretty sure that it WAS Google Translate sneaking in. Closing DL and starting it up again fixed everything.
For example, I worked through the V Cond. 2 with no problems at all. This is a Duo problem, not mine, although alas it is my problem unless I skip the rest of the Fantasy segment.
I did try doing that. I closed Duo and when I reopened it the section on Fantasy seemed to be working correctly. I have no idea if/how Google translate sneaked it. I even checked my apps and I don't have it installed. However, Google rules..... Thanks.
Weltraum is feminine, right?
No. der Raum is masculine and therefore so is der Weltraum.
durch requires the accusative case and thus you have durch den Weltraum with masculine accusative den.