LLearn Japanese

Why would Duolingo insist that I ask the question, “Is the sky clear or cloudy today?” with two separate masu forms and not combine clear and cloudy with the appropriate “or” particle? Duolingo’s translation. 空は晴れでいますか雲でいますか

Why would Duolingo insist that I ask the question, “Is the sky clear or cloudy today?” with two separate masu forms and not combine clear and cloudy with the appropriate “or” particle? It’s the first time I’ve seen ます in the same sentence since studying. Is this going to be a norm from here on out? It kind of makes it sound like I’m asking two separate questions, right?

Duolingo’s translation. 空は晴れでいますか雲でいますか

And how would I say this combining clear and cloudy with a Japanese version of “or”?

Thanks!

2 comments

  1. It’s a bit unnatural to have a ます in the middle of the sentence and at the end.

    Better sentence that you can actually use in real life without sounding funny:

    今日は晴れますか？
    Or
    今日は空が曇りですか？

    Because the sky has many forms not just sunny or cloudy, it could be rainy etc so I wouldn’t suggest using か which means OR and that restricts it to only 2 possibilities

  2. 空は 晴れて いますか 曇って いますか

    空は 晴れ ですか それとも 曇り ですか

    The first is when clear and cloudy are used as verbs, and the second is when they are used as nouns.

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