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- Topic: Swedish >
- "Det är våra kockars knivar."
59 Comments
The English translation should be 'cooks' knives' (with the apostrophe) as it is plural
It actually is, but Duolingo has an annoying bug where the system doesn't consider the apostrophe as part of the word, which screws up the parsing of what you write.
I feel that sentence is awkward in both translations...wouldn't ''de är'' be more appropriate?
It would seem so for a non-native speaker but a native will say "det är" unless they are more or less pointing at the knives in question.
It is really beyond me. 3 practise-sentenses back I used 'They', and it is wrong. 'These' was another correct response. So now I use 'these', and it is supposed to be 'those'? Not really consequent behavior.
Konsekvent in swedish isn't the same as consequent in english, just so you know! I had the same surprise when I found out.
1448
It's really hard (not to say impossible) to answer questions like this without knowing exactly what other question you are talking about. These is either de här or dessa in Swedish though, so it doesn't fit here.
Im more confused because it is our cooks knives doesnt seem like proper english due to it being singular and knives plural. Rather they are our cooks knives?
Ermagerd. Its right on top but I swear on the correct part it was "it is" I've been staring it too long. Tack.
- 1448
Oh, sorry, I thought you were talking about the cooks' part of it. The main answer is they are but we also accept it is in this case, among other things.
Unable to make an error report on this one because there is no box to type in. The hint correctly shows cooks', however, when checking my answer, Duo marks it as having a typo for using the apostrophe and the suggested answer has no apostrophe.
The answer is actually correct in the admin interface, but Duolingo has an annoying bug where the system doesn't consider the apostrophe as part of the word, which screws up the parsing of what you write.
Why "Those" and not "These"? Similarly, in questions with singular Duolingo translates "det ar" as "that is" or "it is", but not "this is". Why? "It is" is much closer to "this is" than "that is". What is going on here?
- den här = denna = this, singular en-word
- det här = detta = this, singular ett-word
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de här = dessa = these, plurals
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den där = den (with emphasis) = that, singular en-word
- det där = det (with emphasis) = that, singular ett-word
- de där = de (with emphasis) = that, plurals
Note also that den/det/de här always take the definite, while denna/detta/dessa always take the indefinite.
Is it always okay to use "it" (singular) with a plural? In English or Swedish?
It is always ok but there's a small subtle difference.
In this sentence, we only express that "the knives we are talking about are the cooks'". If let's say we are in the kitchen, pointing at the knives, we would say "De är våra kockars knivar". We are being much more specific when using "den". "Det" refers more to the "state of things" while "de" would refer to the knives themselves.
This is one of those things that us native speakers don't even think about and you will probably understand this a lot more with practice.
My answer 'Those are our cooks' kinives' turned out to be wrong, and the translation says 'they are our cooks' knives'. I don't understand why are knives reffered to as living beings.
Duolingo has a bug that shows answers with plural apostrophes as incorrect or typos. When that happens, it shows the default translation regardless of what you entered. We do accept "Those are our cooks' knives" as well. I'm guessing either that's what happened, or your typo "kinives" caused the sentence to be marked incorrect.
I wrote "That are our cooks' knives." But it told me to use "they" instead of "that". Where is my mistake there?
"that" doesn't work for plurals here in the way that Swedish det does.
Either det or det där, but English doesn't like using "that" with plurals.
In english my answer looks wrong, but I stand corrected...DET ar seems to interchamge between it and they, which is the same to me
I responded "they are our cook's knives" and got it wrong.
What exactly is it that makes it "cooks'" with the apostrophe outside of the "s" and not "cook's"?
(one) cook = kock = kokki
(one) cook's = kocks = kokin
(more) cooks = kockar = kokkeja
(more) cooks' = kockars = kokkien
(I added the Finnish based on your profile name)
I live in Finland, but I speak very little Finnish and English is my first. Either way, I still can't seem to understand the aforementioned problem. It's frustrating.
Situation 1: There is one cook and he has some knives -> they are "cook's knives" = "kocks knivar".
Situation 2: There are at least two cooks and they have knives -> they are "cooks' knives" = "kockars knivar"
I'm confused by the English translation of this sentence as is kockars plural or singular... the English translation suggest that the kockars is plural as the apostrophe is in the wrong place for a singular object in the English translation e.g....
"They are our cook's knives" = "They are the knives belonging to our cook" where as "They are our cooks' knives" = "They are the knives belonging to our cooks" (cooks being more than one cook) - also if it is supposed to mean more than one cook then in the clicking text options that adds to the confusion as the words available to clicking text doesn't include the ' just cooks.
kockars is possessive plural: cooks' with the apostrophe at the end. Unfortunately, Duolingo has bugs with plural apostrophes, which causes problems with word tiles, the correction system, and hints. Please refer to the other comments on this.
The KLF99: Justified, but I'm old enough now to not be too happy with 'ancient' :)
If there is no way to get the right answer with the tiles, make sure to report it as a bug the next time you come across it so that the right people can see what's going on.
i don't understand how an object can both belong to two different parties? is that even morphologically sound?
"They are our cooks knives" makes no sense. It should be "They are our cook's knives" or "They are our cooks' knives"
- 398
Can "det" be used for either "it" or "they"? I think this is the first time I've seen it used as "they".
det can be used as the general "it" in constructions like "it is...", before the actual noun it refers to has been introduced. Swedish does this very, very extensively.
I would assume it's for cooks since the sentence could fully function without it. 'We' own the cooks, not the knives.
That is correct. It's a legitimate question, though, since "cook's knife" is an uncommon but in-use alternative term for "chef's knife"...
It's a known bug, unfortunately. Please refer to the many other comments on this.
- 48
The object "knives" is in direct interrelation with the subject "it or they". Since the knives is plural then the subject "pronoun" must be third person plural hence "They" and not "it" which it would have been if it were knife.
