The silver is cheaper than the gold

[MomESL]

This is from Duolingo. The English that is supposed to be translated to Greek is: The silver is cheaper than the gold. Duolingo translates that as ------>Το ασήμι είναι φθηνότερο από ό,τι ο χρυσός. Why can't I write: Το ασημι ειναι φθηνοτερο απο τον χρυσος ??

My question: WHY is απο τον χρυσος a wrong translation for "than the gold." ?

 

[velisarius]

I think they have the translation quite wrong. The English is obviously talking about some silver (object) being cheaper than the gold (object). It isn't "silver is cheaper than gold".

 

[Perseas]

My question: WHY is απο τον χρυσος a wrong translation for "than the gold." ?

It should be "από τον χρυσό" (my first choice) or "απ' ό,τι ο χρυσός".

The English is obviously talking about some silver (object) being cheaper than the gold (object).

How does that affect the meaning? What would be the correct translation?

 

[velisarius]

Το ασήμι is "gold", the metal. In English, "the silver" and "the gold" can only mean "the silver article" and the "gold article". You need adjectives for silver and gold if you are translating from the English.

Το ασημένιο είναι πιο φθηνό/φθηνότερο από το χρυσό.

Admittedly, the English is a bit ambiguous, as it could also mean "the (quantity of) silver is cheaper than the (quantity of) gold", but that wouldn't be my first interpretation.

 

[MomESL]

This variety of information is very helpful and it looks like this partiular Duolingo exercise is just not a great one. Thank you for your help.

 

[Konstantinos]

I think they have the translation quite wrong. The English is obviously talking about some silver (object) being cheaper than the gold (object). It isn't "silver is cheaper than gold".

This is a strict anglosaxonic grammatical rule (about the "the"), that tends to be ignored in International English. The same happens with -ly in International English: You put it anywhere you want to construct an adverb. For example detailedly is not accepted in British or American English but it is fully accepted in International English.

So, as a British speaker does not say to an American to write analyze as "analyse", I think a British or American speaker should also not say to an International English speaker to use "the" only to specific or particular nouns.

It looks like that International English needs an officialization that somehow should be taught in English-speaking countries.

 

[LiniM]

This variety of information is very helpful and it looks like this partiular Duolingo exercise is just not a great one. Thank you for your help.

I think the original translation of the Duolingo is omitting (on purpose as it can be implied) the verb of the second part of the sentence "To ασήμι είναι φθηνότερο από ότι είναι ο χρυσός". This is not grammatically incorrect, however it is a bit uncommon.

Note that ό,τι is short for οτιδήποτε and is technically a pronoun for anything (e.g. Θα κάνω ό,τι θέλεις) , while ότι is a conjunction that connects sentences - similar to "that". Duolingo got that quite wrong.

 

[διαφορετικός]

Note that ό,τι is short for οτιδήποτε and is technically a pronoun for anything (e.g. Θα κάνω ό,τι θέλεις)

Ό,τι has other meanings beside "οτιδήποτε": "αυτό που" and "όποιος". See ό,τι - Βικιλεξικό or Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής

"To ασήμι είναι φθηνότερο από ότι είναι ο χρυσός".

Τhis sentence would be correct with "ό,τι" instead of "ότι".