"I want to eat healthy things."
Translation:我想吃健康的东西。
10 Comments
Yes, why is the possessive particle needed? I tried without and it was rejected by duo. Could someone please explain?
to connect the term "healthy" with "things" to mean "things that are healthy". it can be understood without it but since it is a grammar rule in Chinese (I guess) it does not mean you can make an exseption (?) that is my guess
555
See if my thread has an answer for you: https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/25480888
Thanks for a great link. But what I got from that was that with 2-SYLLABLE AA + 2-SYLLABLE N the 的 is largely optional. I left it out and was marked wrong. What do you think?
- 555
The link has somewhat a simple classification but when it says "optional" it actually mean "both ways exist".
In this particular sentence I think we better use 的, as there is no close association between Health and Thing in meaning.
If we change the noun to "food" 食品 then we can see better the difference. 健康的食品 would be close to "healthy food", whilst 健康食品 would sound like "health food".
- 555
It would be acceptable if food or a particular type of food is mentioned in the preceding context, or the situation is so specific that the listener must understand which thing you are referring to.
e.g. in front of an ice cream stand which only ice cream is sold.
