Rules

Language


(marks a definite direct object)	Grammar	Biblical Hebrew
Compare aveva, era and piallava (background/ongoing action) with capitò, prese and sentì (completed narrative events). Retell the chapter using both roles.	Grammar	Italian
Appena ebbe visto quel pezzo di legno, si rallegrò: after he had seen it, he became pleased. Ebbe + past participle is trapassato remoto, common in literary temporal clauses.	Grammar	Italian
Non so come andasse; Che sia ... che abbia imparato ...?; per sentire se ... si lamentasse. Notice the speaker's uncertainty rather than assuming every se requires a subjunctive.	Grammar	Italian
Di dove sarà uscita questa vocina? means Where can this little voice have come from? Sarà + participle expresses a supposition about a completed event.	Grammar	Italian
Servirmene = servire + mi + ne, to make use of it. Dandosi, grattandosi and rammaricandosi attach si to a gerund. Me la son figurata refers back to the feminine vocina.	Grammar	Italian
Non mi picchiar tanto forte! means Don't hit me so hard! Picchiar is a shortened picchiare. The attached form non picchiarmi is also possible.	Grammar	Italian
Disse ridendo e grattandosi la parrucca: he spoke while laughing and scratching his wig. Keep the implied subject aligned with the person doing the main action.	Grammar	Italian
Perchè → perché; colla/cogli → con la/con gli; son → sono; picchiar → picchiare; si messe → si mise; trasfigurito → modern trasfigurato. The source preserves its historical forms.	Usage	Italian
Pendant que je réparais mon vélo, une enfant m'a posé une question. Literary narrative may use passé simple where a spoken retelling uses passé composé. This is a starting distinction, not a rule about long versus short actions.	Grammar	French
Explique-moi ton idée. Montre-le à ton amie. In a negative command, place the pronoun before the verb: Ne me montre pas la réponse.	Grammar	French
Se souvenir de quelque chose, renoncer à quelque chose, s'éloigner de quelque chose. Invent a personal example of each; don't translate the English preposition word for word.	Grammar	French
Ce qui me surprend, c'est sa patience. Je comprends ce que tu veux dire. Identify the role inside the following clause.	Grammar	French
Je n'ai que deux outils = I only have two tools. Compare Je n'ai pas d'outils = I have no tools.	Grammar	French
French sensible means sensitive; actuellement means currently; assister à means attend. Similar Spanish or Italian words are useful clues, not proof of identical meaning.	Usage	French
Encontrei, fechei and acabou describe completed events; era and estava describe background or ongoing states. Notice the contrast between pretérito perfeito and imperfeito without translating every Spanish or French past tense mechanically.	Grammar	Portuguese
Comprimentou-me means greeted me; dando-lhe means giving it the same appearance, with lhe referring to the house. Older fil-a construir corresponds to modern fi-la construir, I had it built. In everyday Brazilian phrasing, mandei construir a casa is often easier to use.	Grammar	Portuguese
A casa em que moro = the house in which I live. A casa em que me criei = the house where I grew up. The preposition em carries meaning, so keep it when explaining or rewriting the relative clause.	Grammar	Portuguese
Se não tiver outro ... uses tiver, future subjunctive of ter: if I do not find/have another title. Compare tenho (present indicative) and tivesse (imperfect subjunctive). The form is useful in ordinary Portuguese too: se tiver tempo, if I have time.	Grammar	Portuguese
Forms such as וַיֹּאמֶר, וַיַּרְא and וַיִּיצֶר advance a narrative sequence. Identify the root, stem and subject separately; the prefix is not simply an English word and.	Grammar	Biblical Hebrew
יְהִי אוֹר in Genesis 1:3 means let there be light. Compare with וַיְהִי־אוֹר, and there was light: the first expresses a directive, the second a narrative event.	Grammar	Biblical Hebrew
נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים (breath of life), עֵץ הַדַּעַת (the tree of knowledge) and פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה (the face of the ground) link nouns. English often supplies of; Hebrew does not need a separate of-word.	Grammar	Biblical Hebrew
בְּצַלְמֵנוּ is in our image; לְמִינוֹ is according to its kind. In לְעָבְדָהּ וּלְשָׁמְרָהּ, to work it and keep it, הּ is an object suffix.	Grammar	Biblical Hebrew
אָכֹל תֹּאכֵל in Genesis 2:16 and מוֹת תָּמוּת in 2:17 combine an infinitive absolute with a finite verb of the same root. The KJV renders freely eat and surely die; the exact English emphasis depends on context.	Grammar	Biblical Hebrew
לֹא־טוֹב in Genesis 2:18 says not good; לֹא תֹאכַל in 2:17 prohibits eating. Read the clause and addressee rather than equating לֹא only with a standalone no.	Grammar	Biblical Hebrew
וַיְכֻלּוּ in Genesis 2:1 says were completed; בְּהִבָּרְאָם in 2:4 means when they were created. Notice who or what undergoes the action before trying to identify Pual or Niphal.	Grammar	Biblical Hebrew
אֱלֹהִים has a plural-looking ending but refers to God with singular verbs in Genesis 1:1 and 1:3. נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה has feminine singular adjective agreement. Check actual agreement in the clause.	Grammar	Biblical Hebrew
Subject + 想 + verb states what someone would like to do: 我想喝茶 = I'd like to drink tea. 想 can also mean think, so use the sentence to choose the sense.	Grammar	Chinese
Use 一杯茶 for one cup of tea. 杯 measures a cupful; it does not replace the noun. 一 is written yī but normally pronounced yì before first-tone 杯.	Grammar	Chinese
书店在这里 means the bookshop is here. 书店在哪里 asks where it is. The question word stays in the position where the answer would go.	Grammar	Chinese
请说慢一点儿 asks someone to speak a little more slowly. 请再说一遍 asks for one more repetition. These are useful repair requests when conversation moves too fast.	Grammar	Chinese