"Singa bukan hewan yang tercepat."
Translation:Lions are not the fastest animals.
8 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Meaning: Lions are not the fastest animal.
The English translation sounds strange to me.
I think that in this sentence, the word "animal" should be in plural form "animals".
This is a fun one! Both are correct, with different nuances.
"Lions are not the fastest animals" sounds like you're implying that lions are not only not the fastest, but are also relatively slow animals compared to many others. "They're just not very fast"
"Lions are not the fastest animal" sounds like lions might be among the fastest animals as a general statement, but they're not at the very top of the list. "They're fast, but not the fastest"
"The lion is not the fastest animal" might be the best compromise for matching singular/plural forms, but it sounds a bit too formal to my native ears. General statements usually use the plural like "lions", but "the fastest animals" doesn't give the right kind of highlight to the intended meaning.
I would either stick to "Lions...animal", or I would re-construct the sentence completely, like "The fastest animal is not the lion"
Oddly, both sound correct, yet both sound incorrect to me. Think I must be having a brain fart. I think both should continue to be accepted.
1102
there is no reason why this sentence should be considered wrong: 'a lion is not the fastest animal'
I agree. If they want us to know they mean "lions" then they should have put it in plural (singa-singa) surely?
Not exactly. We're not talking about a group of lions, which is when you would use a plural, we're talking about lions in the abstract, categorical sense. It would be strange to use a plural there in Indonesian.
"Lions are not the fastest animals" or "the lion is not the fastest animal" would be better, at least for my dialect.
- 1443
That actually is a true fact. Cheetahs are the fastest animals they can run at 60 miles per hour for a short distance.