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- "Matěj je špatný, ale Františ…
"Matěj je špatný, ale František je jiný."
Translation:Matěj is bad, but František is different.
17 Comments
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"Wrong" was not accepted as a translation of "špatný" even if it shows up as a hint. Is this just because of the context, or is there a bug?
špatný can indeed mean wrong, but not in this sentence.
We are in a wrong street. Jsme ve špatné ulici.
So then, is "špatný" only translated as "wrong" when altering an inanimate object?
Wrong means more or less incorrect, a different one than the right one.
Or do you mean he is wrong as he said something incorrect? That is correct in English, but is not špatný in Czech. That would be "nemá pravdu", "mýlí se" or similar.
I was translating it here as "incorrect", however the excercise does not accept my answer as being correct.
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Most common example is talking about exam answers or questions in school. The teacher asks the class: " Was Matěj right or wrong?"
Could DL have its IT experts challenge us with some comparisons for Matthew and Francis that really make sense, such as: malý versus velký; mladý versus starý; dobrý versus špatný; vysoký versus kratký. Grazie.
Helpful Hint: "Translated' proper names, like "Matthew" and "Francis," are not accepted, if you haven't already discovered that...
Those words were used in earlier skills, now we need exercises for words from this skill.
In the English grammar I learned at school "however" is not used to connect two clauses.
I don't doubt that you learned such a rule; I probably did, too, and just don't recall learning it, since I've been speaking English since forever. But this discussion is interesting.
Neither the Cambridge Dictionary (UK) nor the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (US) offers a definition of "however" as a conjunction meaning "but."
And that surprised me, because I have heard it quite often (mainly in the US) used in this way -- by which I mean NOT in the semi-colon-separation-of-clauses way, but as a substitute for the simple "but." But (However,) I wouldn't argue with the dictionaries.
So I have a question. If the Czech sentence were written with a semi-colon, would "however" be acceptable? Or is the semi-colon used differently in Czech? Thanks!
The semi-colon is used pretty rarely in Czech but I can't comment too much about English.
For : "However, František is different." or "František is, however, different." I would use just "František je [ale/ovšem] jiný." in Czech.
"Ale František je jiný." is possible, but in this case I would rather connect that to the preceding clause into a compound sentence. As a stand-alone sentence it can be an answer to someone ("But František is different!").
Hmm...I'm doing some research on this grammatical point, as I know I've seen it used as such....Certain resources claim it's fine, though a semicolon seems the prefered seperator preceding the second clause and conjunctive adverb "however"; whereas other resources say, this at best a literary faux pas. Do you have a good reference source? Thanks for your time!
I'm not sure about the validity of this source or the content within, but I did find this short resource on quora, insightful and generally more explanatory to commonly accepted usage distinctions between "but" and "however". https://www.quora.com/Diction-and-Word-Usage-What-is-the-difference-between-but-and-however
