- Forum >
- Topic: German >
- "Eine Frau isst den Käse."
105 Comments
The thing acting out the verb in a (simple) sentence is the subject. The thing being acted on is the object.
The girl (subject - nominative case) pets the dog (object - accusative case).
When the verb is doing something to it, as in this sentence, the cheese is being eaten, so it is the object.
Ask "Who?" or "What?" after the verb. (Eats what? Cheese- so cheese is the direct object)
That's how my teacher taught me for English. I still use that to this day. :)
Der - den Das - das Die - die Plural: Die - die
These are the 1st (subject, nominative case) and 4th (object, accusative case) case. Wait for the 2nd (genitive case) and 3rd (dative case). ;)
Because it is accusative.
Nominativ= der Käse Genitiv= des Käses Dativ= dem Käse Akkusativ= den Käse
I thought "Kase" meant cat. Therefore, I thought it was going to say "A woman is eating a cat". I was disappointed =(
Yeah but remember the umlaut (the 2 dots) ontop of the a. That makes it totally different. The german word for cat is katze. They are also different genders, kaese being male and katze being female.
Sorry just saw your message. To be honest I do no recall the exact answer, so it may not be discussable anymore, but I think it was: "A woman eats the cheese."
169
I put 'a woman is eating cheese' and it marked it wrong! - it said I had used the plural form of woman. I don't understand!
There's a definite article in the German ("den"), so you need "the" in the English translation.
Eine Frau isst den Kase. Eine Frau --> Substantive Isst --> Verb Den Kase --> Object
- why "kase" is the object?
-
because its the target of the phrase. ex: if it was "the cheese is good"/"DER Kase is gut.", Kase could be the subject.
-
why "Den" and not "Der"?
- because it is following a object.
I put woman and it said I got it wrong. It aays Frau so i put that but its lady??
You use it when a masculine noun is the object of the sentence, as in the verb is doing something to it.
It said I needed to say One woman instead of A woman. How am I to know when to translate it differently?
Because you do not learn the numbers lesson until later and they want you to focus on what the current lesson is.
Feminine, neuter, and plural nouns are the same in the accusative as in the nominative.
die Katze sieht die Maus (feminine)
das Mädchen sieht das Messer (neuter)
die Männer essen die Äpfel (plural)
Not sure what you are asking. Ä / ä is just a letter in the alphabet; it's not a word by itself.
I think he means how it's pronounced, which i am wondering too. It's kEEse right, not the /æ/ sound that's used in scandinavian languages?
Short "ä" is easy: it's the same as German "short e", pretty much like English "short e" as in "pet".
German "long ä" is properly pronounced like "short ä" but longer -- i.e. the same vowel quality but a different vowel quantity.
Colloquially, many people pronounce "long ä" like "long e" (i.e. like French é), so Käse may sound like Keese or Räder (wheels) like Reeder (ship owners) or Bären (bears) like Beeren (berries). But that's not quite standard pronunciation.
I put "A women eats the cheese" and it marked me for "women" and replaced it with "lady", is there a difference between them?
- 733
You combined the indefinite article [for non-specific singular nouns] 'a' with the plural 'women'. 'Eine Frau' is singular: 'a woman'. This is the reason your answer wasn't accepted, though Duo's preference for 'lady' is odd.
'Woman' is the primary meaning of 'Frau', but it can also be translated as 'female', 'Mrs./Ms./Miss' or 'lady'. However, 'Dame' is the more appropriate -- and far more polite -- word for 'lady'.
How is there a distinction between "A woman eats the cheese" and "A woman is eating the cheese" in this German sequence of words. Aren't they interchangeable?
Is it glitching for anyone else? I am writing "a woman is eating the cheese" but it keeps telling me i am wrong but correct at the same time.
it keeps telling me i am wrong but correct at the same time.
Is it telling you something about "another correct answer: [exactly what you wrote]"? If so, try to ignore that and just consider it a kind of "well done, you got it correct."
Why I can't translate that sentence - the woman eats the cheese?
Because the German sentence to translate has eine Frau "a woman" and not die Frau "the woman".
Why doesn't "eats" work in this case?
It does.
What was your entire sentence?
Are you sure you had a translation exercise rather than a listening ("type what you hear") exercise?
Did you report your sentence as "my translation should be accepted"?
If you have a screenshot showing the question and your answer, it would be helpful if you upload it to a website somewhere (e.g. imgur) and told us the URL to the image.
Is eating or eats It looks as though you use it radomly in the answers. That is very confusing!
Why it can't be 'A woman eats the cheese'.
"A woman eats the cheese" is one of the accepted translations.
Do you have a screenshot showing that answer being rejected for a translation exercise?
Why this sentense is continuous ?
Both present simple and present continuous translations are accepted.
Without context, neither is more or less appropriate than the other -- German present tense is used for both things that happen now and for things that happen repeatedly.
If so.. why is it "Der Mann ist das Brot" instead of "Der Mann ist den Brot"!!
First: it is "isst" (eats), not "ist" (is). ;) Second: the accusative (4th) case of "das" is "das", not "den".
So: der - den das - das die - die die - die (plural)
Technically yes, I think so. But I don't think you would say "a wife" in English, it would always be "my wife" / "your wife" / "his wife" etc.
I reckon it's uncommon but still grammatically correct (for example, "I'm looking for a wife").
- 598
Frau was woman in earlier lessons. But now frau became lady. I belive better to leave from this app. Expecting others response as well.
Frau is still translated both as lady and woman. But you have to be careful about typing womAn and not womEn.
In this sentence, you DO need the definite article the. Den Käse = 'the cheese', not just cheese generally.
why can't it be THE woman is eating the cheese instead of A woman is eatinv the cheese? What's the difference?
Roughly: "the woman" is a woman who is known to the listener -- perhaps because you had spoken about her already.
"a woman" is a woman who has not been spoken about before. She is new to the conversation. Her identity is perhaps not important.
The distinction between eine Frau and die Frau in German is similar to that between "a woman" and "the woman" in English.
- 103
I didn't see this question anywhere below, but why is it "one" woman instead of "a" woman? I got it wrong for writing "a woman".
There are accepted sentences that use "a woman" and others that use "one woman".
Both are reasonable translations of eine Frau.
isst can mean "eats" or "is eating" -- German doesn't make that difference.
So you can translate Die Frau isst einen Apfel as "the woman eats an apple" (every day) or "the woman is eating an apple" (right now).
It has nothing to do with the subject, Mann or Frau. Rather, use of the indefinite article (in the English translation) depends on what they’re eating. “Apple” is a countable singular noun that starts with a vowel, and takes the article “an”. “Cheese” is an uncountable noun that starts with a consonant, and takes no indefinite article at all.
Why can't it be the woman is eating cheese!?
Because eine Frau is "a woman", not "the woman", and den Käse is "the cheese", not just "cheese".
Really if i left out the you would still know what I'm saying.
No; you would be saying something different. "the cheese" is definite and is not the same as indefinite "cheese".
"A women is eating the cheese" Why is it not correct?
eine Frau is "a woman" -- just one "woman" (-an) and not many "women" (-en).
"a women" is not correct English ("a" with plural noun).
it marked it wrong
Then it was probably wrong.
If you have a screenshot showing your answer, please upload it to a website somewhere (e.g. imgur) and tell us the URL to the image, then someone may be able to point out what went wrong.
Show us a screenshot, please -- upload it to a website somewhere and tell us the URL.
this
Nobody can see what you wrote, unless you show us, so references such as "this" or "my answer" is not helpful.
Show us your entire answer, please -- either by uploading your screenshot to a website somewhere and telling us the URL, or copy-and-pasting your entire answer into your comment.
I am getting it right, but it wont accept the answer, even though its word for word.
it wont accept the answer
Then you probably made a mistake.
Do you have a screenshot showing the question and your answer? Please upload it to a website somewhere (e.g. imgur) and tell us the URL.
What was your entire answer?
Did you have a listening exercise, a translation exercise, a multiple-choice exercise, ...?
Do you have a screenshot?
Why is the translation "is eating " not "eats" ??
Both translations are possible.
my answer seems correct.
If you would like anyone to look at it, you will have to show it to us -- upload your screenshot to a website such as imgur and tell us the URL of the image.
Without a screenshot, there's not really anything anyone can do to guess what might have happened to you.
How do I know the difference between "eats the cheese" and "is eating the cheese"
How do I know the difference between "eats the cheese" and "is eating the cheese"
Without context, isst den Käse can mean either of those.
Just pick a translation; both will be accepted.
