"Máme málo mléka."
Translation:We do not have enough milk.
31 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
I'm coming late to this party, but -- for what it's worth -- I don't think that "We do not have enough milk" is a good "main" translation for this exercise, unless it's the only thing that's really "right" from the Czech side.
As others have suggested, I would read "Máme málo mléka" as "We have LITTLE milk," and would expect to see "Nemáme dost mléka" for "We do not have ENOUGH milk."
The fact we have "little" milk doesn't necessarily mean that we don't have "enough." While it might not be much milk, it could be "enough" for the two cups of tea that we're making, for example.
Maybe one of the contributors/volunteers will explain...?
458
After reading the posts, literally, 1.Máme málo mléka > we have little milk. 2. Máme trochu mléka > we have some/a little milk. 3.Nemáme dost mléka > we don't have enough milk. What do you think, am I right here??
- 488
Re dsarkarati's question, the DL Czech sentence here means: We have little milk = We do not have much milk.
It does NOT mean: We have a little milk = We have some milk
You have an extra article there. Milk is uncountable noun, thus no indefinite article
I think for English "We have a little milk" would be OK, it sounds completely natural to me. But either way, how would you actually indicate having some milk, but just a small amount? (edit: removing comment about genitive)
- 488
You are right that "we have a little milk" is a perfectly good and natural English sentence. However, it is NOT what the Czech we are given here is saying. See my other comments on this page.
- 1747
"a little" though is correct when referring to noncount nouns, such as money, food, time and many others. For example: I have a little time now to help you. (This is a positive statement, meaning I have some time.) I have little time now to help you. (This is a negative statement, meaning I don't have much time.) How would you say, "I have a little milk in the refrigerator," meaning some but not much? Thank you for your very quick and thoughtful comments.
'I have a little time to help you now' is a positive statement. It means that the help provider has time now and is willing to give up that time. 'I have little time to help you now' is more of a negative statement and suggests that the help giver does not have or is unwilling to give up what little time he may have in order to assist
- 1747
I agree with ion1122. For a positive meaning ("We have a little milk".), "Máme trochu mléka" would be needed.
I just looked back and saw that the translation for we dont have enough wine is nemame dost vina so how is that sentence different from this one?
For this sentence, "Nemáme dost mléka" is one of the acceptable translations.
- 1117
Ion should look up the proper use of "little" vs "a little" for uncountable nouns like water or milk. Both are correct and mean (slightly) different things. Which one corresponds to the meaning that the author of the Czech sentence had in mind I cannot tell.
- 488
If you read this page more carefully, you will see that ion is well aware of the distinction between "little" and "a little", and that both can be correctly used with uncountable nouns.
After looking at the discussion again. As a native speaker I must say that I would not say I have little milk. That isn't correct. I have a little milk is the correct thing to say and it means I have some milk but not much= I have a little milk.
- 488
"I have little X" is perfectly good English. It is a bit more formal/dated than, but means the same as, "I don't have much X."
For example, "I have little time for fools".
An English speaker can certainly say both "I have little milk" AND "I have a little milk; ion1122 has explained the difference between them above.
What's most important here, though, is that the meaning of the Czech sentence -- whether we understand why or not -- is closest to "We do not have enough milk," the translation now (7 Nov 2018) shown at the top of the page. We need to accept it.
Which is not what the Czech sentence means and why the official translation has "not enough".
But I do not want to re-ignite the unfortunate discussion in the reverse translation (https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/25031552) so I will not continue if any attempt to reignite it appears.
- 1387
I'm asking for "We have too little milk" to be accepted as a translation. It means we haven't got enough milk - and it is a far closer translation of the Czech words which are here to be translated.
- 1387
Yes, I understand that the two sentences mean the same in Czech - but in the English version "too little" = "not enough", it's not an intensifying "too" in this case in this case - it's saying there isn't enough milk to spare. So it seems to me that "We have too little milk" is as good a translation of the Czech as "We do not have enough milk" and in fact adds fewer "extra" English words than the latter - and keeps the sense of malo.
- 1387
Because you've also given us, in this section, the words to make a direct Czech translation of "we do not have enough milk" - that would be Nemame dost mleka (plus diacritics), right?
Nemáme dost mléka. and Máme málo mléka. has the same meaning in Czech and both are accepted here.
Nemáme dost mléka. and Máme málo mléka. have slightly different meaning in Czech.
The first one says you do not have enough to cover the needs, while the latter says you have a low volume of milk (eg. in comparison to what you normally have, but it can still be enough for your needs).
Yes, late to the party, too. But I am finding it very difficult to learn these adverbs, because of the careless translations. Even if a translation is acceptable, it is not necessarily the one that will help the student learn. Adverbs are confusing enough without this kind of thing. "We have little milk." Even if one might not say that (and one might not say "one," nevertheless it is correct), it is the translation that would cement the meaning of the adverb!!!
- 862
It shouldn't be correct,there isn't any expression for enough. We have a little, or few, or something like it would be better as a good answer. Just because the english language has limitation and very different frim slavics it is not acceptable.
This has been discussed over and over on this page. "We have little milk" IS accepted as a translation of the Czech sentence. And "Nemáme dost mléka" IS accepted in the exercise where you translate from English.
The primary sentence is the Czech one. We are teaching you the sentence "Máme málo mléka". (therefore, this won't be changed, it's the primary sentence, and it's also a very natural thing to say in Czech).
The MAIN (given on this page) translation CANNOT be "We have little milk", because that can also mean (aparently, for some native speakers) that we have a small amount of milk, but it's not a shortage (even though this should technically be "a little milk) - also, "we have little milk" doesn't sound as natural in English as "we don't have enough. In a case where we have a small amount (not necessarily "not enough"), we would say "Máme trochu mléka". Saying "Máme málo mléka" implies there is not ENOUGH of it - hence the main translation being "We don't have enough milk." Saying (instead) "Nemáme dost mléka" in Czech is possible but not as natural/common as saying "Máme málo mléka" - but in the end they mean the same thing.
You are all so patient with us - thank you so much! I think it's wonderful to have a forum where people care so passionately about the language! :D When all is said and done, some ways of saying things and translating them are simply more correct that others - that is the magic of every language! <3