"Sousedova okna jsou špinavější než naše."

Translation: The neighbor's windows are dirtier than ours.

[dsarkarati]

Would it be acceptable to assume that this person with the dirty windows is "my" neighbor or "our" neighbor? I can't think of a situation when one would refer to a neighbor as "the" neighbor.

[LukasBlech]

"Neighbor's windows are dirtier than ours." without the "THE" is not possible in this sentence?

[BoneheadBass]

You need "the" for specificity on the English side, because we're talking about some particular neighbor's windows and there's no possessive is the Czech sentence.

[Lange.cz]

I'm confused again. Could you please explain the difference between "The neighbor's windows are dirtier than ours." and "Frantisek's dogs are smarter.". Why must be "THE neighbor's windows" but just "Frantisek's dogs" (without THE)?

[BoneheadBass]

Since we're talking about some neighbor's windows, we need the article because "neighbor" is a noun. In the other sentence that you mention, "the" is not needed, because "František" is not a noun but someone's name. "The František's dogs" would make no sense in English.

[Lange.cz]

Thanks explanation, i really appreciate so quick answer. So, another example: "The wife's t-shirts are too small for me." .. this is also wrong, even if "wife" is a noun.

[BoneheadBass]

There is (as I write...) no Reply button for your last comment, so I'm replying here.

In the new examples that you give -- "mother's beer" and "father's car" --
"mother" and "father" are being used as proper names rather than simply as nouns, even though they are not capitalized.

In such cases, the possessive pronouns are not needed. Those sentences are treated just like the one about "František's dogs," where the article is not needed. I hope this helps, at least a little.

[BoneheadBass]

Just to add to the confusion... At least in the US many people actually do say, "The wife's...etc." But in this case, "the" really means "my"; it's quite a colloquial usage. :-)

Apart from that specific case, "the" would be incorrect. Normally a possessive pronoun is used: commonly "my," "your," or "his."

[VladaFu]

I would also note that, unlike articles, demonstratives can be used. "those František's dogs" or even "those dogs of yours". Of course, the "those" relates to the dogs while "my" in "my wife's dogs" refers to the wife. We can also have "those dogs of my wife".

[Lange.cz]

@BoneheadBass, @VladaFu .. lingot for both of you for trying to help. But still ...

There is a fly in mother's beer => could be without possessive;
I like everything from MY mother's kitchen => MUST be MY

or

What would you do without father's car => could be without possessive;
I am afraid of MY father's cousin => MUST be MY

Why is it like this?

[LetitiateT]

Please... "The neighbor's window..." znamená "Okna toho souseda", nebo "Ta sousedova okna"?
Thank you! :)

[pandulicka]

Prosím o přidání i britského spellingu "neighbour" - díky podtrhnutému apostrofu + přebytečnému "u" mi to vždy vyhodnotí jako chybu a neuzná odpověď.

[JanLyko]

Klikněte v takových případech na "Ohlásit problém - Moje odpověď měla být přijata". Překladatelům se pak věta dostane na stůl mnohem dřív než z diskuze. Díky.

[SBURNILL]

Another request for the British spelling òf neighbour to be accepted as well as the American, please. The British spelling is labelled as a typo, so the option to report it isn't available.

[VladaFu]

British spellings are normally treated by Duolingo centrally. If they miss it for neighbour, it is good to complain to them in the main forum.

We can add it to our sentences manually, but it is not what we are normally supposed to do.

It seems there is something more going on and we will try to investigate.

[Pollyhs]

Is this the same when referring to a male neighbour and a female neighbour ?
Sousedova okna jsou špinavější než naše.

[LetitiateT]

Male: Soused - sousedova okna

Female: Sousedka - sousedčina okna.. jsou špinavější než naše.

(jestli se nemýlím)