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- Topic: Portuguese >
- "O macaco delas bebe leite."
15 Comments
Wouldn't it be easier to say "seu macaco bebe leite"? Which sounds more natural? Can a native speaker help please
"Seu" is not really easier, because it can mean "Your/His/Her/Their" all at once - without context, you don't know which one is the correct, and that's precisely why "dele" (his), "dela" (her), "deles"/"delas" (their) exist - to provide you with ways to unlock the tangle of meanings created by the regular 3rd person possessive.
for the phrase " Their monkey drinks milk." it would better: "O macaco delas bebe leite" or "O macaco deles bebe leite"
Delas is when it is 'their monkey' and the owners are female Deles is when the people who own the monkey has one male in or more (e.g. 1 guy, 4 girls would still be deles).
1173
Why is "bebe" = "is drinking"?
My (wrong) answer: "Their monkeys drink milk".
Shown corrected translation: "Their monkey is drinking milk".
I am still that weak on grammar, but maybe someone could link the related skill or forum discussion so I could review that specifically (or point to Memrise course/level for more practice).
"beber": that is sometimes the "to drink" basic forum, right?
It's just one monkey. Singular subject, singular verb (bebe) = singular verb (drinks). That's the best answer.
Duo also accepts / suggests "is drinking."
But duo does not accept plural monkeys with plural verb.
I am thinking about the same thing. Delas is feminine, o macaco is masculine. It just doesn't fit. What am I missing grammatically?
O macaco (the monkey, masculine) delas (de+elas, of them, feminine, e.g., as mulheres, as pessoas) bebe leite. Portuguese doesn't have an equivalent to "their" in English; "O seu macaco bebe leite" could be translated as your monkey, his monkey, her monkey, their monkey. In order to be specific, you use the construction "the ____ of him, of her, of them". So, "o macaco dele" is his monkey. "O macaco dela" is her monkey. "O macaco deles" is their monkey, either a group of guys or a mixed group, and "O macaco delas" is their monkey, they being a group of solely girls.
Well, duh on me! Now that you explained it it makes perfect sense. Thanks!
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You said "Portuguese doesnt have an equivalent to 'their' in english," but isn't thats what 'delas' is? I cant figure out why delas is even in this sentence considering the translation
...for the translation from English, but not for the write what you hear exercise since “delas” and “deles” do not sound the same.
- 214
Scrolling thru all these comments and seeing just how much confusion there is over this sentence, it would be so nice if Duolingo would use this sentence as an example along with a clear explanation in one of lighbulb mini-lesson.
