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- "I am a rat."
"I am a rat."
Translation:Eu sou um rato.
22 Comments
"Mom, I'm a rat!" mom sighs and turns around to face timmy "No you're not a rat, Timmy. We've talked about this before. Don't say that. You're not a rat." Timmy is depressed now.
Giving a lingot to anyone who gets this reference: Which means life is hard. And second: I have a highly developed sense of taste and smell.
Now that is a very interesting question, because these concepts are not clear in English (nor German).
Both mean different things, but in english they match the verb to be.
"Sou" means "I am", but it's somewhat permanent. "Eu sou alto" = "I am tall". I cannot change that, that's in my nature, I am tall.
"Estou" is a transitory state of the verb to be. Also means "I am", but it's not permanent. Imagine I put high heels on, I would get taller. Then I'd say: "Eu estou alto" = "I am tall (at this moment, but it can change)"
Then, "Sou" is "I am (in essence)". And "Estou" is "I am (in this transitory state)"
Eu sou bonito = I am handsome (by nature, no matter what I wear)
Eu estou bonito = I am handsome (in these clothes).
When you ask "Where am I?", you can only translate to "Onde estou?", because you location is transitory, can change. If you said "Onde sou?" It would be odd.
If you say "Estou doente" (I am sick), you caught some illnes that may be gone.
If you say "Sou doente", then you've got some disease you carry for your entire life (or long enough to be a quality, not a state)
All that being said then shouldn't estou be correct as well? Maybe she/he has dressed up for a party.
one is permant and one is temporary, just like estoy and soy in spanish. i am tired would use estou bc its a temporary state. i am a woman would be sou bc its a permanent state.
Well, Dan in this case ' estou uma rata' might be right considering what you've written. That is, this person is temporarily a rat, and can become something else. Strangely, the DL's built in CNN considered it right anyway due to a processing error. The CNN saw 'estou uma rata' as a spelling error..... ha!!!
Yea, I assume that is the feminine version. While the masculine version is "rato"
406
If it is a rat speaking, as in cartoons, then "eu estou um rato' should be acceptable
No, it would be 'sou' because they are permanently a rat. 'Estou' is the permanent version of the Eu form of 'To-Be' but because it is a rat saying that , they will forever be a rat, so 'Sou' is used. If you know any Spanish, think of it this way. 'Ser' is To-Be, Permanent. 'Estar' is To-Be, Temporary
Oi Is there no difference between a rat and a mouse. On a previous round , the animal introduction round, RATO was a Mouse!! and now it is also a Rat???. i have searched on google translate and others. both in danish and in english, Rato seems to mean both A rat and A mouse? . I am a bit confused- help is much appreciated. Obrigado
- 406
My dictionary give "rato" for "rat" and "camundongo" for "mouse". However, a computer mouse is still "mouse" and, if the rat is a person, it is "tratante".
sorry for the late reply. Yes i hear you and i have just bought a Portuguese/ Danish dictionary and a mouse is a camundongo and a rat is a Rato, but on many question rounds i Duolingo, the word Rato has been shown to have a duo meaning, sometimes they say RATO means Rat and other times they say RATO means Mouse, hence the confusion. but from what i can understand it can come to this Rato ( Mouse) is pronounced RATO, but rat is pronounced as HARTO with an H sound.
