"Black bear."

Translation: Shash łizhin.

[Will4042]

How come "Dibe ligai" means "the sheep is white" (and when I put "white sheep" it was incorrect) but Shash łizhin is "black bear" and not "the bear is black." ??

[Judorange123]

Yes, this is an error of Duolingo.

Łizhin and other color words are verbs, meaning "to be + color". So Shash łizhin means "bear is black".

To say "the black bear" in Navajo, one needs to turn the verb to a relative: "the bear that is black". To do so, one can add -í, -ii, or -ígíí to the end of the verb: Shash łizhinígíí.

That is also how "orange" the fruit is constructed: ch'il łitsxooí, is actually "the plant that is orange", with łitsxo meaning "to be orange" and -í the relativizer.

[reedbook36]

"white sheep" was accepted (maybe unfortunately) on 5/15/20

[Judorange123]

Shash łizhin means 'bear is black'. Black bear should be shash łizhinii or łizhinígíí.

[DiegoJaviUnlam]

Yáʼátʼééh! So, I think the English sentence needs to be fixed here. Thanks a lot for clarifying this. Please, remember always to send the report. :)