37 Comments
The real question is what does "fonte de água" in a kitchen mean to a Portuguese speaker. Is it commonly used to refer to something found in a kitchen? If not, then fountain or source would be all right, but it is hard to believe that a kitchen would be built around a spring. If someone says there is a "fountain" in the kitchen, I would think maybe a decorative fountain, jeux d'eau. If I meant a fountain for drinking (where you bend over, turn the knob and slurp the water that spurts up), I would say "water fountain." BUT if it means the thing in the kitchen sink that you get water from, the word is "faucet" (marked wrong) or "tap." So, Portuguese speakers, what do you think of when you read this sentence?
Your question is totally valid. It doesn't make sense in Portuguese too. Years ago most of the kitchens had a little reservatory (with or without a filtering device) called "talha" or "filtro (de água)". Nowadays is more common to use a "purificador (de água)" (an equipment to filter the water, generally located in the kitchen). In Brazil we don't drink the water we get directly from the plumbing (we would call it "água da torneira") even though it is perfectly potable (like in most cities). If is of interest: water fountain (where you bend over etc) is called "bebedouro". A spring can be "fonte" or "mina". Spring water is "água mineral".
I want to know if it's the standard source of water that any speaker of English would call a tap. I have never seen or heard of a kitchen with anything that might reasonably be called a fountain. For which reason I answered "the tap is in the kitchen" which was wrong. Now I'm wondering what the hell a Brazilian kitchen looks like lol
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A tap is called "torneira", and we would use that word if we wanted to say "the tap is in the kitchen" or "I drink water from the tap". Fonte is source (in more ways than one, meaning it is used in journalism as well), and this duo sentence is unusual in Portuguese too! As I explained to another user, it could be a fountain, since it is possible that someone has one of those small zen fountains in the kitchen. I hope that helped. =]
vivisaurus is a native speaker I think because of the blue circle and star around her profile photo
So maybe they just mean "source." So we might say, "You can get water from the kitchen." Maybe the exterminator is there and needs to connect his equipment to a water source. That would make sense. He asks "where is the nearest water source?" and you say, "The water source is in the kitchen." But this sentence "The water fountain etc." can only mean a drinking fountain, where you bend over to slurp the water that spurts up.
I agree. So, just to remember, a drinking fountain (where you bend over ...) is called "bebedouro".
Great, thank you for the word. Now to get Duo to revise or drop the sentence!
There are small fountains that you could put in the kitchen. Scroll up to vivisaurus above.
Hi all! :) Imagine that you are doing a renovation of the flat and want to say, that source of the water stays in the kitchen (=it is not moved to the bathroom). How would you change the sentence above? I wrote "The source of water stays in the kitchen." and it was marked wrong.
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Hey, Jamie08MD! In that context you'd say it the same way. You can suggest it to duolingo, and I would add a comment in the little box at the bottom of the report pop-up explaining what you just told us... In speech, we would probably clarify in some way; either by pointing or by saying:
"A fonte de água fica aqui na cozinha." -- The source of water stays here in the kitchen.
"A fonte de água fica lá na cozinha." -- The source of water stays there, in the kitchen.
"A fonte de água permanece aqui na cozinha." -- The source of water remains here in the kitchen.
"A fonte de água continuará aqui na cozinha." -- The source of water will continue to stay here in the kitchen.
"A fonte de água fica aqui na cozinha... e não no banheiro." -- The source of water stays here in the kitchen... not in the bathroom.
But mostly you'd know what people are saying (or vice-versa) because of the situation you're in, or the context at that time. I hope it helps! =]
The spring water is in the kitchen - is wrong. The spring of water is in the kitchen is correct.
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Hi, DaleWheatley! I'm not sure if your comment is a question, or rant, or clarification, but either way, I'll go ahead and try to respond/add to it. The closest translation is actually "the water source is in the kitchen"... so the sentence is referring to the source of the water (or it could be the spring), and not the water itself, like the first sentence in your comment. Or an actual fountain. =]
However, the correct answer is given as "The water fountain is in the kitchen", but in English it is implied that a fountain has to do with water and therefore "water" is unnecessary to specify, which Duolingo failed to acknowledge in my answer.
Yes, you are right! But then you have to specify that it is something other than a water fountain :) Fountain is, by definition, a source of water, similar to how saying "red blood" is superfluous because blood is implied to be red. Is it anything else than red (which exists for certain species), then you specify that it is an exception. But I can see the confusion on Duolingo, as I understand that "fonte" can be more than just a fountain, which is not the case in English, unless you add a modifier of some kind (e.g. fountain of youth).
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True. I think in this case they want the word "water" because it is mentioned in Portuguese too (and it could be omitted there, although "fonte" means "source" too). They usually require all words to be translated, but you could always make the suggestion directly to them and see if they add your answer. =)
I used the contraction "fountain's" in place of 'fountain is'. My answer should not be wrong...
In English we do not usually contract "is" with a noun, just because a noun with an " 's " is in its possessive form. We do contract pronouns with "is"
I do that all the time! I'm a native English speaker, and ‘The water fountain's in the kitchen.’ is a totally normal thing for me to say (well, except for the part about having a water fountain in a kitchen).
I love these comments. I'm learning so much in addition to the languages I'm studying via Duolingo. What a lovely lot of people you all are! Obridaga
also means "is found", where something "lives" -- this lamp lives in my room: fica no meu quarto.
I think someone mistranslated "tap"? Because in the UK a tap is a fosset but in the US a tap is a source of water like a spring? Right?
sounds correct as I said a water tap and while water tap has some implied tautology it was very common in the past to use both terms together.
In the U.S., you can also call a faucet a ‘tap’, although ‘faucet’ (note spelling) is more common.
Could someone explain the difference between saying "fica na cozinha" and "e/esta na cozinha"? It seems that sometimes fica is appropriate but I haven't figured out why
