"Ich trage eine Hose."
Translation:I am wearing pants.
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1019
In english the word "pants" is plural, while the word used in German is "Hose" which is singular
I answered "I am wearing a pair of pants", which was considered correct.
In English if you feel the need to specify it is singular "pants", then "a pair of pants" is correct, but NEVER "a pant" - that isn't correct even in colloquial English dialects.
However, simply "pants" in English can mean either "a single pair of pants" or "many pairs of pants", so "I am wearing pants" is also a valid translation for this german phrase.
I hope this helps anyone who is confused about this exercise!
822
In the UK pants means underwear. The correct translation is I am wearing trousers. I keep getting the answer wrong!
"I am wearing trousers" is accepted as a translation.
And that is indeed a correct translation, but it's not "the correct translation" (as in: the only correct translation) in English.
As you may know, the English that is taught in Duolingo is American English, and related to this, the English that is used to teach other languages on Duolingo is (almost always) American English. (The main exception I can think of is the Welsh course, which uses British English to teach Welsh.)
The question should perhaps rather be why English uses the plural "pants" even for one item of clothing.
If you need something new to put on your upper body, you can buy one shirt or two shirts.
And in Germany, if you need something new to put on your legs, you can buy eine Hose or zwei Hosen.
So you would use the singular Hose when it's one item (one pair of pants) and the plural Hosen when there are multiple items (multiple pairs of pants).
Back in the day, pants were two items. You would put on one pant at a time, different than combined version we have today, this was never the case for shirt or hat because it was always one piece. German seems to just refer to it as a single item like "a shirt"... 20 minutes of research on pants because Ich lerne Deutsch.
This courses uses American English to teach German. For the purposes of this course, US English is "the correct English" (though UK English alternatives are often accepted as well).
If you would rather learn German from British English or Australian English or Indian English or any other non-US variety, then this Duolingo course may not be right for you.
FWIW, in the fashion world, you will indeed occasionally hear someone refer to a singular pant, meaning a pair of pants/trousers. I've never heard it outside a fashion context, and never without some additional description - "the grey pinstriped pant looks better with that blouse", etc.
Note, I am an engineer, so if I'm familiar with a fashion term...
In German, Hose is singular -- it's a regular countable noun, and as in English, countable nouns in the singular usually need some kind of determiner in front of them.
Much as you wouldn't say "I am wearing shirt" or "I am wearing hat" or indeed "I am wearing pair of pants", you wouldn't say Ich trage Hose in German, but instead say Ich trage eine Hose "I am wearing a pair of pants".
1496
Is "Ich trage Hose " acceptable in everyday conversation? It is less confusing. Also, why "I am wearing a pant" is not the correct translation?
Is "Ich trage Hose " acceptable in everyday conversation?
No.
Just as one wouldn't say "I wear shirt" in English.
Hose and "shirt" are countable nouns, so in the singular they almost always need a determiner of some kind in front of them, such as an article.
Also, why "I am wearing a pant" is not the correct translation?
Because "pants" is always in the plural in English. (Unlike in German.)