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- "Alla ragazza non piace il po…
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Why is this 'alla'? Usually indicates 'to' of some description, otherwise wouldn't it be just 'la ragazza'?
It's literally "Chicken is not pleasing to the girl". Similarly, "Mi piace il pollo" ("I like chicken") is really "Chicken is pleasing to me", which is why it's "mi piace" not "io piaccio".
Well, literally it is "to the girl not she likes the chicken"
...this (differnces in grammar) is why word for word translations dont really work after a certain point. In any case, i agree that "alla" seems a bit awkward, in this sentence.
Oh yes! totally forgot about piacere and it's affect on sentence structure. Thanks.
isn't piacere always reflexive when we are saying "someone" likes something. There was a sentence in another lesson where it said "la ragazza piace..." I never heard that. I thought it was "la ragazza SI piace il pollo."
997
I'm not sure where you got that example.
If you find la ragazza piace then the following part must have been a [qualcuno] ('[someone] likes the girl').
Are you sure you're not confusing the construction of piacere (mi piace, ti piace, gli piace...) with the reflexive construction (it is not reflexive)?
Thanks. I've seen it enough on duo to see it coming, but this rule just seems like it will be very difficult to figure out in the moment.
This is exactly what I wrote, Chicken is not pleasing to the girl, and it was marked WRONG
Since Spanish is my mother tongue it's easier to understand the structure used in this sentence, but I guess it's kind of difficult to English native speaker!
I do really admire you. Learning Italian from English, and being an Arabic speaker? Dude, that's impressive. A lingot for ya!
I am arabic too and i learn italian from english,that make me strong in both english and italian too
Thank you....it's actually easier to learn italian if you're an arabic speaker than an english one, both structures are close and also some words are used literally in the slang arabic language
I'm Pole learning Italian in English and it's kinda difficult cuz that 3 languages are completely different. Lucky you.
respect. I'm not learning polish yet but I have a few basic words & the Lady in the polish shop forgets I don't understand hardly anything, because I always greet her ask her for what I need in Polish. Maybe one day I will understand enough to speak to her & my vet in Polish.
No wonder it was clicking in at the first or second try. Because the word 'alla is arabic for "at the" to "to the". I just realised that lol
Alla means "to the" so basically what the sentence is saying is "To the girl the chicken is not pleasing"
Honestly, it's not that hard after a bit.
Now when to use the definite article or not? THAT makes my head hurt
So I am curious if I were to translate it as, "Chicken is not pleasing to the girl", would it be accepted? I guess I am unsure of the effects of piacere. If someone could explain, I would be grateful :)
I tried that one you mentioned and it was not accepted. I too would appreciate if someone explained
I think it's because "Chicken is not pleasing to the girl." is not verbatim English, which is what you really need to translate any sentence.
Why is "il pollo" necessary here? The translation is rendered simply as "chicken," and the sense of the sentence seems to be that the girl is displeased with chicken (as a food), not that she is displeased with a particular chicken!
Haha, apparently in Italian it's the same as in Spanish. We use "the chicken" for chicken in general (as a food). You can't say "alla ragazza non piace pollo" just as you can't say it in Spanish either ("a la chica no le gusta pollo" sounds like there's something missing, it must say "a la chica no le gusta el pollo"). For a particular chicken we would say: "a la chica no le gusta ese pollo" but I don't know if it's the same in Italian.
The confusing thing for me is that there seems no way to make distinctions that are easy in English - "The girl does not like chicken" meaning, she doesn't like chicken (as a food) in general, vs. "The girl does not like the chicken" meaning she doesn't like that nasty barnyard animal that pecks her, or the specific dish she ordered. Not sure how one makes these distinctions in Italian - any thoughts?
(Portuguese) Almost, but we are direct:
the girl doesn't like the chicken
a garota não gosta da galinha
But we use interesting (interessante) to describe that something is pleasing.
Para a garota, a galinha é interessante.
To the girl, the chicken is pleasing.
I can't speak for Portuguese, but in French it's similar to English
"Je n'aime pas le poulet" can be directly translated to "I don't like (the) chicken"
In french you have the same construction and word as the Italian mi piacere : me plaire. Le poulet ne me plaît pas. But with food its more likely to use the verb aimer
The woman who speaks the audio drops her voice way too much on more and more audio clips. A bit frustrating
Why isn't the translation "the chicken"? Everywhere else the "il"would matter, it would seem?
Why is "the girl dislikes chicken" wrong? Shouldn't it be correct? (Spaniard here)
Duo keeps putting 'alla <x>' at the beginning of the sentence. Is this just to emulate the English word order, or is it the norm in Italian speech?
I think you could say "non piace il pollo alla ragazza", though there's more emphasys on the girl in the other way. Not sure 100%, though.
Hi, I am Persian speaker and I learn italian from english, italian grammar is similar to Persian but i dont understand alla
The only way I can remember how the Italians phrase this "piacere" is that : the chicken is (not) pleasing to the girl" (why must have alla for to the )and then The girl does not like il pollo. In English more commonly heard is she does not care for or she dislikes but politely "she would prefer...."
If 'piacere' makes il pollo the subject, it seems like it should be "Al ragazza non piace il pollo" which would put it out of agreement with ragazza. Hmmm...
Can an Italian native speaker, or at least an advance student, confirm that you do NOT need an oblique pronoun for "she"? As in:
- Alla ragazza non LE piace il pollo.
Because that's how you say it in Spanish, for example (as well as other languages): "a ella no LE gusta". I just want to make sure the absence of the pronoun is correct in Italian, or at the very least, that it's the way people say it in everyday life.
- 997
That is actually an error in Italian (unless you are putting emphasis on le).
If you have the noun (ragazza in this case), you don't use the pronoun (le). The function of a 'pronoun' is indeed to take the place of a noun.
This is a difference that troubles Spanish students (and Italian students learning Spanish).
Thank you, Muttley, I really appreciate the info. I'm Brazilian, and in Portuguese we don't use the pronoun either (just like in Italian). But because they do in Spanish, I wanted to make sure. Thanks again. Here's a lingot for your kindness. :-)
I wrote: girl doesn't like chicken is a better translation that the way you wrote please check this, because it sounds bad.
Do some of you feel you pronounce rather well but the app does not accept your pronunciation? Pisses me off because i lose hearts.
- 526
All questions that must be spoken are shown as wrong when spoken. Only voice questions show wrong.
- 997
The verb piacere has a structure that is built the opposite way when compared to 'like'. The subject of 'like' becomes the indirect object (a) of piacere and the object of 'like' becomes the subject of piacere:
'Like'
subject: the thing/person doing the like ('the girl')
like ('doesn't like')
object: the thing that is liked ('chicken')
piacere
subject: the thing that is liked (il pollo)
piacere (conjugated according to the subject) (non piace)
indirect object: the thing/person doing the like (alla ragazza)
Also: in Italian the structure of the sentence is not as rigid as in English so it is common to put the indirect object of piacere at the beginning of the sentence: _alla ragazza non piace il pollo. This should make it easier to understand for an English speaking person as it keeps the same order of 'like', the only difference being the use of the marker for the indirect object.
Unfortunately this is a structure that needs to be learned; there is no way around it.
Saying la ragazza non piace il pollo would make it unclear who is liking what since there is no indirect object specified and, because of the flexibility of piacere, both la ragazza and il pollo would be perceived as subject (the person/thing doing the 'like').
This translates "The chicken is not pleasing to the girl" since pleasing matches what is liked or disliked and the English subject is "to" that subject. The only way I can state this as I would in English is to rephrase how it would be said. But still the translation should be correct.
Ok, I understand this (kind of), but what about piace's effect on the sentence? Don't we have to use "a"?
I am arabic speaker and learning italian from english ... I feel that "alla at begining of statement is thing not nessessary !
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