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- Topic: Czech >
- "Žofiin pavouk přišel o nohu."
12 Comments
176
To me it seemed that in English one has to use 'its', not 'his', for all animals. But I looked it up right now and it turns out that when there is a personal relationship, as in 'Zofie's spider', one can indeed use he or she: https://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/questions-and-quandaries/grammar/how-to-handle-animal-pronouns-he-she-or-it.
lost a leg! (otherwise, a spider with one leg...lost her, lost the leg???)
When asking a question, please be clear about what it is. "...lost A leg" is also accepted.
I think he was trying to say that "The spider lost his leg" sounds like he only had one leg.
Ah. In that case: Poor spider, to have lost the only one left of the ... EIGHT... he/she/it (probably) started out with. :-( But Žofie was very kind to provide a loving home.
- 167
"Žofie's spider lost his leg” implies that the spider had only one leg. The English would have to read “lost one of his/its legs” or “lost a leg”.
I agree with you on this one. It's already been debated, however without conclusion.
BoneheadBass, do you second this? Or is it a matter of opinion?
Okay, so...
Yes, "lost HIS leg" can be interpreted as losing the only leg he had (left), but I wouldn't say it can mean ONLY that. Given that there are so many of them, it can certainly mean he lost any one.
That said, I tend to favor "lost A leg" for the main translation.
Spoiler Alert: That may open up the potentially two-fer worm can of "It should be HIS leg, because who else's leg could HE possibly lose?!?!?" and/or "We keep hearing that if no possessive is used, the whatever-it-is belongs to the subject, so why is it A leg and not HIS leg?!?!?"
(And this is just one more reason why some people don't like spiders.)
