"I cannot see the dog."
Translation:Já toho psa nevidím.
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I got this one right but I'm still a little confused on when the demonstrative adjectives need to be used in cases of "the."
I wrote "Nevidím psa" and was correct, even though the English says "I don't see THE dog." In other places where I've omitted the "ten/toho/to/whatever," I've been told I was wrong because the English sentence included "the" and the demonstrative should be used whenever a specific noun is named: "the dog" vs. "a dog." But then in other places my translations are marked as correct.
Is there a hard-and-fast rule of when you can omit the demonstrative adjective and when you have to use it? I know you need it if you say "that/this/these/those noun(s)." All my confusion is centered on "the."
I was a little bit confused by this one. Nevidim should be 'I do not see', right? Does this imply that I cannot see it? I know it's very close in English, just wondering about czech.
It can mean both. You may not be able to see, because it is dark or you cannot see something because you are blind or have a poor vision. We cannot tell why the speaker does not see the dog in this sentence.
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It can mean several different things. However what the Czech sentence given in the exercise actually states is " I do not see the dog" NOT "I can't [am unable] to see the dog." "I can't" is "Nemohu" in Czech, I believe. This Czech sentence in the exercise translates to "I do not see the dog," NOT "I can't see the dog" "won't see the dog" "don't want to see the dog" etc.
Czech does not use the modal verb where English does it for the sensing verbs. Notably, Czech almost never uses "nemůže vidět". Even if one is blind, it is just "on nevidí". Even if there is something obstructing the view, it is just "nevidí".
The normal translation to "can see" in English is Czech "vidí".
One only uses "můžete vidět" when you are showing stuff to guests or tourists at an exhibition or a tour. "Here you can see the picture of Dorian Gray." "Over there you can see the Charles bridge."
Help me see why "Nevidím toho psa" doesn't fit? It can't just be because the "Já" was missing.
See the Tips and notes about the accusative case. Or any other grammatical resource of your choice.
"ta" is feminine nominative, "psa" is masculine animate accusative. They don't match. It's kinda like saying "He are my grandmother."
- Ta kočka (feminine)
- Vidím tu kočku.
- Ten pes (masculine animate)
- Vidím toho psa.
- Ten strom (masculine inanimate)
- Vidím ten strom.
- To pivo (neuter)
- Vidím to pivo.
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Why is "nevidím ten pes" not acceptable? Doesn't it literally mean "I cannot see the dog?"
Can I just ask how you managed to get 13 points in Czech without encountering the accusative case at all? Are you using someone else's account?
Also, read my previous comment (answer to Saralrene14) to see an easy overview how nouns change when they become the object of a verb. Only neuter and masculine inanimate keep the same form.