"Das sind Computer ohne Monitore."
Translation:These are computers without monitors.
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115
"Das sind" is the key; "These computers are without monitors" would be "Diese Computer sind ohne Monitore".
In English "these computers are without monitors " has the same meaning of "these are computers without monitors " Dosen't it?!
In English "these computers are without monitors " has the same meaning of "these are computers without monitors " Dosen't it?
It does not.
One starts off knowing that you're talking about computers, the other does not.
The audio sounds like "computer (singular)" but it says the correct answer is computers. I put computers since the sentence begins with "Das sind..." but just thought the audio sounded wrong.
It's like "der Lehrer, die Lehrer" and a lot of other German nouns ending in "-er".
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It's for the same reason that you can't say "These computers are without monitors." "Das sind" is the key. If you wanted to say "those computers", you would not be able to use "das", since das is singular. You can only use "das" for a plural meaning if using it alone with "sind".
Because that means something else than "These are computers without monitors".
In your sentence, there are some computers, and you are pointing to a particular group of them and talking about "these computers". And what you say about them is that they are without monitors.
In Duo's sentence, there are some objects which haven't been the focus of conversation yet. You are pointing to them and talking about "these" -- a bit like "these things or these objects". And what you say about them is that they are computers without monitors.
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I have rarely heard the word Monitor/e in Germany. I usually hear and read Bildschirm/e.
But it could be regional :-)
Possibly :) I hear both, and probably Monitor more frequently. Hamburg, in the north.
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The audio doesn't pronounce the word "Monitor" right. (I'm native german and do this for fun)
There are some weird phrases here that confuses me and kinda hinder the learning, cause i need to think if that even makes sense and sometimes it kinda doesnt (its better now than when i first started using the app but its still annoying)
How do you know if it is "these computers" as apposed to "those computers" I'm really struggling to see how you can tell and perhaps more importantly, if there is a real difference
Thanks
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In this case, it is neither "these computers" nor "those computers"; it is "these are computers without monitors". "Das sind" can be translated "these are" or "those are", but "these computers" would be "diese Computer". You cannot say "das Computer sind" because "das" is singular when modifying a noun directly and "sind" is plural. That would be like saying "that computer are" in English. However, "das" can be used as plural when alone with "sind", so "das sind Computer" meaning "these/those are computers" is acceptable.
I am under the impression that there is not a major distinction in German between whether you translate "das sind" as "these are" or "those are", because it seems to be used when the relative location to the speaker is not very important. You just cannot translate "das sind" literally as "that are", because English does not permit you to do so. German uses other words if relative location does matter in context.
For more information about "das sind" and similarly used phrases, I recommend reading through this older discussion thread: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/2399665
I wrote "those are" and it was wrong.
Yes, of course it is wrong.
If you had a listening exercise, you have to type what you hear, i.e. das sind Computer ohne Monitore and not "those are".
If you had a translation exercise, you have to translate the entire sentence, for example, to "those are computers without monitors" but not merely "those are".
Do you have a screenshot showing the kind of exercise that you had and exactly what you wrote in response? If so, please share it with us -- upload the image to a website somewhere such as imgur and post the URL of the image in a comment here.
Thank you!
No, I wrote the entire sentence. Those are computers without monitors" and it eas marked wrong. Sorry, I didn't take a screenshot. I will if it apearse again.
Sorry, I didn't take a screenshot. I will if it apearse again.
Thank you! That will be extremely helpful.
Because "that are" is not correct English -- you have to use the plural pronoun "those" instead.
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Das sind computer ohne monitore. My question is, why 'monitore', If 'monitor' is both singular and plural?
Das sind computer ohne monitore.
No, that's not what it says. It says Das sind Computer ohne Monitore. The capitalisation of nouns is part of their correct spelling.
My question is, why 'monitore', If 'monitor' is both singular and plural?
- monitor is not a German word
- Monitor is not the same in singular and plural -- the plural of der Monitor is die Monitore.
Why can't i say "there are computers without monitors" instead of "these are computers without monitors?"
Why can't i say "there are computers without monitors" instead of "these are computers without monitors?"
Because those two sentences mean different things, and the German sentence means the second of those.
