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- "Так, кіт там."
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It occurred to me that кит is Russian for whale as well, and так means so/thus/in that way in Russian, so someone who didn't know that Russian о often changes to і in Ukrainian could easily misinterpret this sentence as "So, there's a whale there."
Okay, I'll stop being confusing now.
But Ukrainian кит sounds like Russian "кыт," which doesn't exist in Russian. Ukrainian кіт does sound exactly as the Russian word for "whale."
I see your report. Probable misunderstood for possessive form. Stick to noncontracted forms, I guess.
I think "The cat's there" should really be a correct translation of this. The cat is there is also correct but I think most English speakers would more usually write the contraction, so it should be accepted.
And why did it call me out for leaving out an article in my English translation (even though it marked my answer "almost correct")? There are no articles in Ukrainian!
I expect this will be rough for a lot of people. The two forms have different pragmatic force. "The cat's there." is more a general statement of reality or a response to "Where's the cat?". "The cat is there." is usually either for writing or as a way to emphasize that the cat IS there, kind of like Кіт є там.
'Yes, the cat is there' is what I answer, but it is considered wrong. What's going on?
Yes, they're different.
In 'There is a cat, the 'there' is a pronoun and part of the verb 'is'. It means 'A cat exists' but doesn't say where. It could be 'There is a cat here' or 'There is a cat there'.
In 'The cat is there', the 'there' is an adverb and explains where the cat is. The 'there' refers to the location.
"Nope."
Only if "there is" is indicating a location. If "there is" is indicating existence, then "there" is not an adverb.
кіт, кішка, sounds funny to Russian ears, "whale," "intestines." And Ukrainian кит and кишка sound strange because there is no "ки" (Russian: кы) sound at all
