30 Comments
- 24
- 12
- 10
It's incorrect English. General activities with no specific object usually put the direct object in the plural. (I paint walls, I seduce men, I cook bagels, I collect doilies, etc.)
- 15
- 13
- 13
- 12
- 12
- 12
- 11
- 10
- 10
- 8
- 8
- 8
- 7
- 6
- 6
- 6
- 3
- 778
Ok, but for many people there English is not their first language. I think there should be more tolerance for errors in English.
- 23
- 11
- 10
- 7
- 7
- 6
- 2
that's not possible, in general not a good idea but especially because some of these sentences are shared with the reverse course; for people who are trying to learn English.
- 17
- 12
- 10
- 9
- 9
- 8
- 6
- 6
- 6
- 6
- 4
- 3
- 3
- 2
Why do you mean by "some of these sentences are shared with the [reverse course] " ?
- 15
- 13
- 13
- 12
- 12
- 12
- 11
- 10
- 10
- 8
- 8
- 8
- 7
- 6
- 6
- 6
- 3
- 778
For me more hindering is the frustration, when you work with a really hard lesson and you loose points because you have missed "the" or added "the" in the wrong place.
I know that it's hard for English natives to believe, but there are some people in the world that use other languages which don't have articles and for them fully understanding the difference between "the" and "a/an" is next to impossible.
- 19
- 11
- 11
- 6
Well, I had the same problem in the late stages of my Portuguese course (German native speaker here). Especially in cases when a grammatical concept does not really exist in English or German or both.
Sometimes I understood a portuguese sentence well, but how would I say that in really correct English without mixing up things like "if I had" with "if I were having" and so on.
Just think of it as a possibility to improve your English.
- 8
- 6
- 6
- 5
- 5
- 2
- 2
I,m confused. Kitap=book and kitablar=books but here say kitap = books.
- 12
- 9
- 6
- 5
I have a Turkish language book that begins with the verb form "-yor" ("okuyorum" instead of "okurum"). It will probably come up later, but can someone briefly explain the difference? Is it something like the difference between the present continuous and the simple present in English?
- 21
- 13
- 11
- 10
- 8
- 7
- 6
- 6
- 6
- 5
- 4
- 4
- 2
- 2
- 2
- 274
Yes, it's so.
I'm reading - Ben okuyorum
I read - Ben okurum
- 16
- 11
- 10
- 6
- 2
-yorum is the "Present Continuous Simple Tense" (singular, first person) -rum is the "Simple (Aorist) Tense" (singular, first person)
this might clear things up:
http://bit.ly/1GS3drx (link goes to: http://www.verbix.com/webverbix/go.php?D1=31[ampersand]T1=okumak which gets cut up here)
- 17
- 16
- 15
- 15
- 14
- 14
- 14
- 14
- 13
- 12
- 12
- 11
- 11
- 11
- 11
- 11
- 11
- 10
- 9
- 8
- 8
- 7
- 7
- 7
- 6
- 5
- 3
- 2
why isn't this in the accusative form?
- 12
- 9
- 6
- 5
The accusative marks a specific direct object (i.e. "the book"), but this sentence is a general statement about reading "books".
Evet. You can see this explanation here for more information: https://www.duolingo.com/skill/tr/Accusative
- 19
- 9
So unless it has the ending which means "the" it could either mean a book or books (plural)? How do you know which way to translate it?
- 7
- 4
- 2
- 4
I think when one word doesn't become accusative is because it's in plural. E.g.: "Ben kitapı okurum" is "I read the book."; "Ben kitap okurum" is "I read books". (Brazilian Portuguese native speaker here)