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- "Kdo tady má svého psa?"
16 Comments
I put in "Who here has their dog", but it was marked incorrect. I thought about it and I guess that is more like "Who here has their dog (with them)", whereas the correct answer is more like "Who left their dog here?", but I don't see how you would know that from the sentence itself. Please help!
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I think the difference is whether the word "here" refers to where the dog is, or to where the people (who) are.
OK, I know, in this case the people and the dog are in the same place; but from the point of view of grammar, is the "here" associated with the one or the other?
In the English that DL is using here, they are associating "here" with the dog. I'm no expert, but I have to assume that in the Czech "tady" is also being associated with the location of the dog, not the people.
By the way, in the English note that "their" is plural but "dog" is singular. In English this could mean that there are several people here who together own just one dog. But that is not what the Czech says.
Rather, the construction "their dog" is popular nowadays instead of "his dog", because, they say, it is less sexist. But 50 years ago in English class you would have written "his dog", and 25 years ago "his/her dog". Those constructions are actually more literal translations of the Czech we are given here.
a good example of the adaptability of the English language to social evolution :)
The English sentences "Who here has their dog" and "Who has their dog here" are of course different, as pointed out by several other comments, but I am still not sure how I would say the former succinctly in Czech. Can someone enlighten me?
I find this ambiguous - could it also mean "who here, has their own dog" or who has their own dog here?" [ as opposed to someone else's dog] ??
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snikta, it does indeed mean "who has his or her own dog here". In English we can say it with or without the word "own"; that word just adds emphasis.
In the Czech, the word "svého" itself automatically means that you are talking about the dog(s) that belong to the subject of the sentence. Indeed, one way to literally translate the Czech Is "Who has own dog here".
For my comment on the use of "their" in this sentence, see above.
Since I REALLY don't like the use of "their" in this kind of construction -- although I realize it's used a lot, and may actually be turning into "real" English (pity, that...) -- I decided to try something else.
Happily, "Who has his dog here" was accepted, and I'd guess that a version with "her" would also work. YAY!!!
I wrote who has got his dog here and then it marked i correct and translated as who has got her dog here
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Do us all a favor, and get rid of the word "got" when you write sentences like these in English. The word "has" by itself is all you need to indicate possession.
Yes, I know, many people say "has got"; but for those of us who don't, hearing it is like hearing fingernails being scraped across a chalkboard.
Just curious...
Are you a native speaker of UK English, or did you learn English from someone who is? I'm a native speaker or US English, but I think that the "has got" construction is widely used (and may be perfectly acceptable) "across the pond."
'has got' is a perfectly acceptable construction in both UK and US English. 'has' and 'has got' are interchangeable e.g. 'have you got a dog?' = 'do you have a dog?' 'who has got their dog here?' = 'who has their dog here?' From a native English speaker who has lived on both sides of the pond :))
Jejich would be someone else's. You should always use svůj,svá,své when it belongs to the subject. Often you can use a non-reflexive pronoun and still stay acceptable (but suboptimal - it is acceptable Czech, but not good Czech) but here it is plain impossible, it changes the meaning. As a rule, always use the reflexive ones if it belongs to the subject of the sentence and you will be fine.
Example where you can use the non-reflexive one:
Do you have your dog here? Máte tu svého psa? Máte tu vašeho psa?
Again, svého is much better, but vašeho is acceptable.
I was wondering what made "sveho" in this case "their" instead of "hers or his". And wondering if "their" is what they wanted wouldn't "Jejich" be a better possessive to use?
IMO, the reason that "their" is used in the main translation shown at the top of the page is that it has become so widely used, at least in the US. It is not better than "his," "her," or "his or her," and all of those are also accepted. Regarding jejich, see VladaFu's reply, which is (as I write this) directly above your post.
