кошки пьют апилсиновый сок

Пьют ли кошки апельсиновый сок?

у тебя так написано

почему "а разве"?
Это из-за present continuous?

The form CATS with no article refers to cats as a class and not to a specific group of cats, such as in a picture, for instance. The progressive form makes it sound like a generality that started recently and is now in effect.

The form CATS with no article refers to cats as a class and not to a specific group of cats, such as in a picture, for instance.

I don't see how this justifies "а разве".

The progressive form makes it sound like a generality that started recently and is now in effect.

"cats as a class" started drinking it recently? IMO, this is a very odd question and again, I don't understand why "а разве"

Ignoring the oddity, why not simply "кошки пьют апельсиновый сок?"/"пьют ли кошки апельсиновый сок?"?

"а разве" - ты узнал, что (якобы) пьют и удивляешься.

Хотя, действительно, это, пожалуй, единственный контекст в котором можно представить этот странный вопрос.

Ignoring the oddity, why not simply "кошки пьют апельсиновый сок?"/"пьют ли кошки апельсиновый сок?"?

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Because those correspond to DO CATS DRINK, not ARE CATS DRINKING, which expresses a change in former behavior to a new one, hence the surprise on the part of the speaker.

(А) разве...? = неужели/правда что...?
I think questions of this kind with разве and without it don't differ from one another very much. So why not?

Thank you, Tatiana!

Это вопрос ко мне?
Да, разницы почти нет, но мне до сих пор требуется большое усилие, чтобы почувствовтать удивление и "теперь" в оригинале.

"I recently visited The Regal Cat Café in Kensington. I had been down in Kensington not too long before it opened and saw the sign so had to make sure I got back there. As someone I mentioned it to asked (and you may as well), “so, are cats drinking coffee in Calgary now?” The answer is “no” but people are drinking coffee while hanging out with cats."

Вот с этим у меня проблем нет. И so, и now присутствуют явно, не подразумеваются.

"mentioned it to asked" - зато это мне не понять. Опечатка?

Те же яйца, только с NOW, которое можно вполне опустить, причем смысл один и тот же.

The progressive has an inherent NOW which doesn’t need to be, and is usually not, expressed in natural English. In statements of general validity with a noun in the plural to represent a class with no article, the tenor is one of surprise at something that has recently started happening and which was different before. Compare the Russian “студент ленивый пришел,” which presupposes a scenario or time where the student WASN’T lazy. The same is at play here, where young Olga meant it or not. I only translate it as I see it.

Here, студент represents a class, not a specific student, and would be rendered in English as STUDENTS (no article): “Students have gotten so lazy.”

In terms of the progressive, it refers specifically to what is happening NOW - and that can be in the comparative sense, held up against what the case was BEFORE.

So, taking all this into account, this post presents a situation seen as a novelty and questioned with due curiosity compared to what the speaker considers the norm, so there is an element of surprise in the question.

And if my Russian permitted me to express even more surprise, I would have done it and I stand by my translation.

Uly, I didn't argue. I just tried to understand (and then to explain this to Tatiana when she asked).
Thank you for your effort.

Грамблер, why not? относилось не к кому-то конкретному, а к тому, что я не вижу оснований против того, чттбы в переводе использовать «разве».
И Ваш контекст это подтверждает. Спасибо за него, кстати)

студент ленивый ПОШЁЛ

thank you, I always mix those up

At the end of the day it was an interesting question and an even more interesting discussion.

Perhaps in honor of our efforts, Olga will humor us with an explanation of where this came from.

Our cats with their orange juice had gathered more than 25 comments. My precious!)) Very kind questions)))

HAVE gathered/drummed up

Thanks!