88 Comments
Does he know where my watch's? -> and this is? It's being given to me as a correct answer... (this is an honest question... not being a native speaker I was tripped by the grammar on this one, but I've never seen a sentence constructed like this one before in english)
This is typical structure used in German, so called W-sentences...and put verb on the end (or at the end, I'm lost currently) of the sentance.
With when to use 'on the end' or 'at the end', generally 'at' is used when the thing is contained within whatever it's at the end of. So the sentences you're talking about, the verb would be at the end of the sentence, because it is contained within the sentence.
In English in reported questions the word order is direct. For instance, "have you seen where that girl went (after the party, after she got off the train etc)?" Hope it helped :)
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This is a question divided into 2 parts: does he know (part 1) where my watch is (part 2). "He knows where my watch is" is rather an expression of surprise, not really a question (you would add "?!?!" at the end) :-)
Upvote for the 'add ?!?!'. That should make this incredibly clear to anyone I suppose. Wish my English teacher in high school was this clear on the subject of questions ;)
I'm getting a bit confused about the synonyms...so e.g. is there a difference between conoscere and sapere or may I use both words for everything? It would be nice if this was written into the explanation...
The following is only from my understanding of spanish: sapere means 'to know a fact'. Conoscere is 'to know a person'. They are not interchangeable.
You are right. sapere is used when one has knowledge of facts of skills, while conoscere is used when one has knowledge of people, places, or things.
The grammatically correct answer for this Italian sentence translated into English is "Does he know where my watch/my clock is?". :)
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Most native english speakers, including myself, speak english poorly, at least with respect to the correct use of grammar. The answer
"....where my watch is?"is indeed the way it would be stated by many u.s. english speakers, as opposed to what would be more correctly stated but awkward sounding to most grammatically challenged americans than the more correct .."where is my watch?"
one shouldnt end a sentence with linking verb.."is." It would be more appropriate to say "does he know the location of my watch?" But saying that would SOUND as weird as "....where is my watch?"....both of which are more correct gramatically than the typically grammaticly lazy "does he know where my watch is?"
But when you hover over "sa", it says (you) know, not (he/she/it) knows...can you use sa for lui?
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the conjugation of "sapere" is: (io) so, (tu) sai, (lui/lei) sa, (noi) sappiamo, (voi) sapete, (essi/loro/esse) sanno. As you can see, "sa" is 3rd person singular. "You know" translates as "(tu) sai" :-)
Hey Muttley....actually (tu) sai is you (informal) know. (lei) sa is she knows as well as you (formal) know. (Lui) sa is he knows.
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You're right. But in this case we have the pronoun "lui" therefore it is the 3rd person singular :-)
14.02.2014
Why not ""Does he know where is my watch?"
Solicitado ao Duolingo, nesta data, que passe a aceitar quando menos como solução alternativa.
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That would not be correct. This is an indirect question (ie a question introduced by something else. In this case, another question) and therefore the verb goes at the end (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode46/languagepoint.shtml).
15.05.2014
Thank you.
I think that both have the same meaning! Or not?
I respect your opinion, it is clear.
But is it my sentence less polite, less formal, more confrontational? Why? Would you tell me?
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None of the above :-) it's just that the English grammar requires this kind of construction with indirect questions introduced by "do" :-)
Can any one give me the grammar rules of this ?? ... and how "Lui sa" is "Does he" ??
"Lui sa" means "he knows". The "does" is implied in the question. Without the question mark, the question becomes the statement: he knows where my watch is.
I think.
You are right. In Italian, you do not change the sentence to make it a question. You just say the sentence with a question mark at the end.
"Lui sa." = He knows. "Lui sa?" = Does he know?
It's way easier than you think, don't confuse yourself :) Another example is:
"Tu mangi il cibo." =You eat the food. Ma, "Tu mangi il cibo?" is "Do you eat the food?"
Sometimes in Italy we use that change of voice to make clear we have a question, but a lot of times, it is hard for foreigners because the change is suddle or barely there. It takes close attention to context, and you will be fine :) xx
If this were completely literal would the "il" make it "he knows where the watch of mine is"?
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Not really. This is a possessive adjective, not a p. pronoun. In Italian you put the article in front of the p. adjective, so translating this sentence with "of mine" would not be correct.
When you use "clock's" is to say that the clock is him, and when you use "clocks" is to say that has more than one clock (plural).
If you say 'clock's', the clock is the owner of something. Like 'the clock's hands show the time'.
I'm not sure what arobleto10's question is exactly in this context... Can you elaborate?
ah yes, my mistake. "clocks" means it owns something. i think arobleto10 just simply wants everybody to check the grammar of this sentence, or if the translation is right
I think my answer is cirrect , because there are 2sentens .the firs one is questionally and the second is not a question
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You are correct when saying that there are 2 sentences, but they are both questions: 1) do you know? 2) Where is my watch?
I get the she said "dov'è" now that I missed it but you'll still think you would accept "dove è" ya know?
Is there actually anything wrong with, "He knows where my watch is?" That's a legitimate English question!
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This has already been answered in a previous comment. Please make a habit of reading previous comments before submitting a new one. Reading other people's comments is a great way to learn :-)
I did read the other comments. I wasn't really satisfied with the answer you gave above, frankly. It seems to me that "Lui sa dov'è il mio orologio?" could be translated to "Does he know where my watch is?" or "He knows where my watch is?" just as easily, basically because in Italian, there doesn't seem to be a distinction made between these two questions where there is one in English. I was kind of hoping that someone would either have a more grammatically through explanation for why my answer is wrong, or confirm that I'm not crazy and there's nothing wrong with "He knows where my watch is?" because as I said before, it's a legitimate English question.
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Again, read the other comments. The answer has already been given (hint: it's an indirect question, ie 2 questions in English as well, you are favouring "street" English (the same as "ain't" and "I is" )) :-)
You know, putting a little smile after insulting my English isn't really going to make you seem less condescending. You are the only commenter who specifically said why you think "He knows where my watch is?" isn't a correct English question, and again, I'm not satisfied with your answer. It's true that it doesn't mean exactly the same thing as "Does he know where my watch is?", but if you translated "He knows where my watch is?" to Italian, you would still come up with "Lui sa dov'è il mio orologio?" It's perfectly legitimate to use a question to express surprise in English, and I imagine you can do it in Italian as well.
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I'm sorry you felt insulted by my comment: I didn't mean to.
If you want to convey the surprise then you would add "Davvero" (or something similar) to the sentence to mark that it is not a "normal" indirect question. But then you would need to mark it somehow in the English version as well.
I put the same answer as you and after thinking about it, yes it is wrong. However, "He know where my watch is?" is actually correct. 'Does' is implied. If you had already asked about your watch and new person walked into the room, it would be natural to drop the 'does'.
I had the same question a few weeks ago.
"He knows where my watch is?" Why is this not an acceptable translation?
You can try using ctrl-f to search to make sure you're not duplicating a post to keep the sentence threads orderly.
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How do we distinguish questions from usual sentences in Italian? Is it only through question mark or tone? I ask this because this sentence can also be translated to 'He knows where my watch is', which is not a question.
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dove stai = 'where are you'. I think you mean dove sta.
Well, it is not wrong but stare is a tricky verb as it is mainly used by Southern dialects and from there 'abused' in Italian .
My advice: avoid it unless you're 100% sure it's needed (ex. stare per, stare -ndo, stare bene/male)
I meant "dove sta" but thanks to being distracted I wrote it wrong. Thanks for the tip, here's your lingot.
We all should know where the watch is: L'orologio è nel portafoglio.
Of course, another Duo sentence says that l'orologio è nel vino, so I guess there are a couple of likely possibilities.
Luis sa dove'e il mio orologio? Does Luis know where my watch is? My answer is exactly the same as duo but it keeps telling me it is incorrect!
How would one know this were a question? She didn't say it in a particularly fashion that indicated a question and in real life that would surely be more obvious, but in this case, how would I have known it were a question? Would the construction of the sentence have been different had this not been a question?
In Italian, the only distinction between a normal sentence (stating a fact) and a question, is the question mark at the end (and the tone were it not a computer generated voice). So: Lui sa dov'è il mio orologio? = Does he know where my watch is? Lui sa dov'è il mio orologio. = He knows where my watch is.
See also julia_rosexo's earlier comment.
I see so many people putting "Does he know where is my watch?" And "He knows where my watch is?" "He knows where my watch is?" Is really just a sentence but we tend to put a question mark at the end because when we say it, it sounds like a question. We fix this little conflict in our head by making it a question in writing too. But, its really not a question. And the first sentence is just awkwardly worded.
He knows where is my watch. The English weakness is often lack of flexibility, one of the most mysterious part of English.
This is what happens when computers not humans decide. Clearly any human would agree that "Does he know where my watch is?" and "Does he know where is my watch?" are the same and maybe we could ask a human from Duolingo to comment and perhaps accept both for future users.
The meaning of 'Does he know where is my watch?' may be the same, but this sentence in English is grammatically incorrect. It is an indirect sentence (using 'do + verb'), which means that the verb will be at the end of the sentence: Does he know where my watch is?
Duolingo needs help with English flexibility. Try Oxford, Stanford, Harvard, etc.
It's just difficult to imagine ever uttering those words in the form of a question. It's grammatical, of course, but so is "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously."
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The point of these exercises is not that of giving you ready-made sentences that you can repeat mechanically when needed. It is instead to train your brain to break down structures and grab the grammar :-)
