"Oktober ist schön."
Translation:October is beautiful.
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I'm also confused. See wiki: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oktober The "Oktober" do have article before it. O_O
Is it any rule to add "der" before months in German? I've seen a very similar example with another month and with "der"... Help please?
1224
Yes, here should stand a definite article in front of "Oktober" - that is the typical kind of expression in German! There are differences in the usage of definite articles in German and in English.
"Oh, suns and skies and clouds of June,
And flowers of June together,
You cannot rival for one hour
October's bright blue weather."
"When comrades seek sweet country haunts, By twos and twos together, And count like misers, hour by hour, October's bright blue weather."
(Helen Hunt Jackson) ❤
How do you know if schön is supposed to mean pretty or beautiful?
Actually, now that I think about it, I'm not sure what the differences are between the two in English!
Correct, but can't schön also mean pretty? (although, I'll most likely just use 'hübsch' anyway)
Yes, it can :) Both are quite interchangeable in that regard, but you would, for example, not describe October as "hübsch" because that... sounds weird. I don't really know how to explain this. I think hübsch is mainly for concrete things, eg people, buildings etc... but for abstract things, like the weather or the time of the year, schön is more appropriate. I hope that helps to clarify a bit :D
- 1224
The article before the month is again missing. It should be "Der Oktober ist schön". In difference to English, it is obligatory in the German language to place an article before the months. Unfortunately, Duolingo has forgotten that. I have reported it. )-:
Again, how do we when to put the article? It did not talk about it at all in the TIPS.
Not quite that good. Even that is called "Oktoberfest", it is celebrated in September, with only a few days taking place in October. For example, this year Oktoberfest is celebrated from the 19th of September until the 4th of October.
you'd better say: "Das ist richtig, das ist mein Geburtsmonat." or "Das ist richtig, das ist mein Geburtstagsmonat."
why I can't use October is pretty good? Why does it have to be October is pretty? Can't it be a pretty good month?
It can be a pretty good month. Thing is that's not what the phrase in German says. In your phrase, the word 'pretty' is functioning as an adverb modifying the adjective 'good'. In the phrase given in German, the adjective is 'schön' (pretty, or beautiful), so you have to translate it into an adjective in English. And there's no adverb in the example in German.
One more little detail: The meaning is not the same :)
I use duolingo on my tablet but I can't use any umlauts so my answers are often wrong. How can I overcome this?
- 984
You put an "e" after the letter with the umlaut you want to type.
For example:
ä = ae
ö = oe
ü = ue
Also, the "sharp s" (ß) can be written as a double s, i.e. -
ß = ss