"I bought a new phone."

Translation: 我买了一个新手机。

[cazort]

I tried saying this without the 一个, and it was marked wrong. I am a bit confused as to when it is necessary to say 一个 (or whatever other counting word is used) in front of something. My understanding was that it was okay to omit this in Chinese if the context makes clear (like it would here) that you're probably talking about a single object...but am I wrong, and it's actually required here?

[TaylorLSho]

Also, curious as to why 一个 is necessary. It's not like a person normally buys more than one cellphone at a time. I would think the cellphone in the singular would be the implied default and an amount is only specified when referring to more than one.

[Comitatensis]

I'd like an explanation too.

[GracedelaV]

Yes, based on experience with reading some books, 一个 is required.

[NathanRasm]

It's accepted now, seems you were right.

[AaronCiagh]

Why is 电话 not accepted? The English sentence says "phone", not "mobile phone" or "cell phone"

[cazort]

Report it, they probably didn't think of this possibility when entering it, the course is still very fresh and new, and we need suggestions like this to help it reach maturity!

[JairoCaste19]

It's the current use

[conan06]

"一部新手机", not "一个新手机"

[Jahyun.CN]

一台新手机 也可以噢~~

[xiaohua194225]

As far as I know 一个 is always correct, and 一部 just more precise, right?

[cpflames]

Why does this have "le"?

[Comitatensis]

Because the action of buying is completed. That's its neaning here

[BasiaNowak3]

Why don't we need a "de" character linking the adjective "new" to "cellphone"?

[alanxoc3]

Can 了 go at the end of the sentence?

[Jahyun.CN]

No because it is a transitive verb

[la.passoni]

我买了新手机 应该也行。

[ktdeauna]

What is the Pinyin for this sentence?

[ktdeauna]

Hi Folks! Sorry if I keep on overasking about the Pinyin for each of the sentences. Duolingo ignored the Pinyin part. When I hear the Chinese dude speaking, I mishear what he says, causing me so much in errors.

[ktdeauna]

What does this 一个 translate to in English?

[Phill858962]

one (thing). Although they really should be using a more specific measure word than ge4, some of the commentors above were bandying about some alternatives.