Use of shiru

[letslearn]

こんにちはみんなさん、
If I wanted to say, "do you know the city of Manchester ?" Would "Manchesterの市を知っていますか" be ok?

よろしくお願いします

 

[Jake Sams]

Hi,

Yes that's correct.
Except it should be Manchester市 without の

This is how I first thought to translate it:
Could someone explain to me why this would be wrong?

- Manchester市が知りますか？

 

[Toritoribe]

が indicates the subject (except when used with some specific verbs/adjectives).
知る is a punctual verb (瞬間動詞), so ～ている form expresses the current state that results from prior movements (got knowledge about the city in the past, and as a result know it now).
知りますか is future tense.
In conclusion, マンチェスター市が知りますか？ means "Will the city of Manchester know it?".

FYI, マンチェスターの市を知っていますか is usually interpreted as マンチェスターの市[いち], thus, this sentence means "Do you know a market in the city of Manchester?"

 

[Jake Sams]

Thanks a lot!

 

[letslearn]

Thanks for your explanations.