20 Comments
What is the problem with "have you got" instead of "do you have"? It is the same!
Frustrating I know, but just hit the "report problem" button in future and suggest your sentence; eventually everyone will benefit, including you when you meet the sentence again in a refresh session.
Well, I think, "have you got a watch?" is more British English than American, and seeing as how the site uses and teaches American English, I'm guessing that's why it wasn't accepted.
Actually, the site does teach English, for Portuguese speakers for instance. Don't take my word for it, but I'm guessing we (People doing Portuguese from English) share the same database as people doing English from Portuguese. And the English the site promises to teach to non-native speakers is American English, thus why it's only accepting American English into the program. The same reason why duolingo doesn't accept European Portuguese translations from native Portuguese Speakers learning English, because they promise to teach us Brazilian Portuguese. Do you get what I mean? Anyway, I'm not saying your English is incorrect, I'm just pointing out why things are probably the way they are right now.
I do think they must be using the same database for the two languages. Sometimes I just misspell something in English by accident and the site won't accept it, although it is clear that I got the meaning of the Portuguese sentence, which is actually the aim of the exercise. I'm sometimes astonished why they correct my English so meticulously when I'm learning Portuguese and not English. :) I just didn't know that they were teaching American English but now I understand why "have you got" wasn't accepted.
It's not so terrible in American English is it?
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/have-got-acceptable-english?page=all
Have you got does not sound as good, even if it is technically correct.
The duolingo pronunciation of relógio (and many other words that start with "r") seems to have more of an "h" sound than an "r" sound. Is this correct? Does it differ much by region?
"You have a watch?" was counted wrong. However, depending on the context of the situation that this sentence is used in, couldn't it be right? I don't want to hit the report question button just in case, since I might be wrong in saying that I'm right. I'm not sure... reply only if you have a very good reason why it was counted as wrong OR why I'M wrong, since I have no clue. I don't want any clutter all over this comment, please. It gets annoying, and no offense intended. :) Thanks.
Personally I like the conversations, but given that you are deactivated, it no longer matters. :)
I too was marked wrong for this, but it is similar to when the Portuguese drops off the pronouns based on verb conjugation. Dropping the pronoun when it conjugates to the 3rd person is ambiguous (for instance, "é could be for s/he, you, it). So it is with written English for not putting the sentence into a question form. It is probably fine when spoken (at least in some cases, not all) as it has the verbal inflection; but it is not considered proper written English (though it works just fine this way for written Portuguese, which I think adds to the confusion). However, no matter what, Duo does not notice most punctuation and cannot discern our inflection, so it has be like Jeopardy and put in the form of a question.
You could also say "Have you a watch?", although this appears as an incorrect translation
This sounds quite quaint nowadays. You may be interested in this breakdown of the different ways of saying something similar:
http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/do-you-havehave-youhave-you-got.html
Thanks for the comment. It actually doesn't sound quaint in Ireland or the UK, regardless of what the author of that article says. "Gotten" is frowned upon over here (I'm in Ireland),as an american expression. We use both "have you", and "have you got" in normal everyday use over here. What does "got" actually add to the sentence? It's a redundant word really.
This is what I call the First Rule of Duolingo: even if your sentence is rejected, it doesn't mean it's wrong. :-)
The "Report a Problem" button is right next to the "Discuss sentence" button that you must have pressed to make your original comment. It usually brings up several options including a "My sentence should be accepted" option, but even if it doesn't you can always describe the problem in the text box provided. Don't forget to hit the "Submit" button.
What is the difference between tem and têm? Knowing the English/Spanish translation helps me remember how to use the word. Thanks.
They are both third person versions of "ter" in the present tense, "tem" is singular and "têm" is plural: "ele/ela/você tem", but "eles/elas/vocês têm".
Why "you have a watch?" instead of "Have you got a watch?"? Its not gramatically correct
