175 Comments
hey yall know just because youre a.r.m.y it doesnt mean you have to comment that you are on, like, every single korean forum duolingo has, right? dont get me wrong, im an a.r.m.y, but man it really gets obnoxious. we are here to learn an amazing langauge not fangirl over our biases
Yes, korean grammar is different than english grammar, they have it backwards from us
Keep in mind that the verb "is" is like an equal sign. In English the subject is placed before the verb and a predicate nominative that refers to the subject is placed after the verb. In some languages, both nouns may be considered as if they were both subjects. In Chinese, one of these will be marked as the topic.
Subject(subject or topic marker) Predicate Nominative(subject or topic marker) (negative,if needed) verb
고양이는 음식이 아닙니다.
So the word order is as if they wrote: cat food not is
Yet there is an extra syllable attached to the end of each noun that marks which is the topic and which is just another subject (or in my mind I think of it as equal to the subject). Also, keep in mind that in another sentence you may find that an object is marked as the topic.
고양이 (cat) 는 (topic marker for words that end in a vowel)
음식 (food) 이 (subject marker for words that end in a consonant)
아 (this is what is negating the verb)
It is from 아니 which means "no".
닙니다 (this is the verb, here "is"; remember the verb doesn't conjugate as it does in English, so it looks the same for "am" and "are")
Here is the link for the skill set Basics1 which explains in more detail this Korean grammar, just scroll down to read the tips and notes with an internet browser.) https://www.duolingo.com/skill/ko/basics-1
Now you would click on the skill and click on the lightbulb icon for the tips and notes.
Serious question here lol. Why do we put 는 after cats, and 이 after food? I am not quite understanding the grammar here yet sorry
는 marks a subject (that has been mentioned before); 이 - see above - is a particle (food being the topic).
Sorry, you have that backwards 는 is the topic marker for nouns that end in a vowel and 이 is the subject marker for nouns that end in a consonant. (Both nouns are considered to be equal to subjects since the verb is "to be" or "is" in this case. One of them is marked as the topic.) The most important thing to me is 아 just before the verb which makes it negative.
Scroll down at this link through an internet browser for tips and notes. https://www.duolingo.com/skill/ko/basics-1
Do you think that they could add that to the tips and notes? "Subject marker or complement particle"
on a different subject, i wish the "pronouncing lady" would speak much more slowly
cat was the topic and the subject was food, food 음식 ends with a consonant so 이 is added to finish it... hope that made sense
every duolingo course ever throws out these questionable phrases and i just cannot deal. keep being spicy duo, keep being spicy.
The plural marker may or may not be used. The general statement "Cats are not food." is equivalent to "A cat is not food." It all depends on whether they are trying to teach you the plural marker. When you do see that plural marker, you won't have the choice any more to translate it as singular.
Wow its just a phrase guys u dont have to only refer it to chinese people and china thats just messed up and if u think its a joke its really not aka racism -.-
Actually, it sounds like something you would say to a child that bit the cat. Or maybe that's just my kids.
Food is not countable in English, so we must say "A cat is not food." or "Cats are not food." You could say "a bit of food" or "a piece of food" or " a food item" if you really needed to specify one item, but it is not done often.
입니다 is a state of being. So "am/is" in the most formal way. You would speak like this to someone you want to be very polite to. You will learn the 이에요/예요 version later.
Scroll down at this link past the lessons for the tips and notes on an internet browser https://www.duolingo.com/skill/ko/basics-1
Scroll up here as it has also been explained on this page.
Why do we have to use subject marker? Also how can we change a singular noun to plural?
What is the difference between "i/ga" and "neun/eun" ? When should w use it?
So i got this sentence turned around but when duolingo corrected me. I busted out loling
Can someone explain me why the meaning isn't "The cat doesn't have food"?
THIS QUESTION IS SAYING THAT I HAVE IT WRONG WHEN I TYPED IN "A cat is not food., Cats are not food." THAT MAKES NO SENSE -_- PLEASE TRY TO FIX IT IF YOU CAN I need to learn Korean I have a nac for Korean It's easy for me to learn it :P
You only need to type one of the possible answers, not both (or all) of them.
Lol nevermind about my last comment I had to use the translator for that question Anyways, I'm going to go now and continue learning korean :P
Cats are not foods. Please consider this. It is more appropriate than "Cats are not food."
Not in English, food is considered uncountable. "A cat is not food." or "Cats are not food." Scroll up for more information.
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LMFAO DUOLINGO BETTER CHILLLL PEOPLE AT THE COMPANY HAVE ZEROOO CHILL :(
Are korean words sometimes not in the exact order as you would say it in english? Because I put what it said in english according to the korean and it didn't came out right.
Korean word order is absolutely different from English word order. In Korean the verb is at the end of the sentence. English word order is Subject-Verb-Object and Korean word order appears to be Subject-Object-Verb at least for this sentence.
