68 Comments
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."
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.
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.
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.
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I'm trying to learn Polish. I find it fascinating that you can string together four consonants and still manage to pronounce the word! It's an interesting language because so many of the words are unlike those of either the Romance or the Germanic European languages.
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
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
Why isn't the translation "the chicken"? Everywhere else the "il"would matter, it would seem?
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Not necessarily Katri. In Italian, French, Spanish and Greek (and maybe other languages with which I'm not familiar, the definite article (the) tends to be overused from an English point of view. Therefore, depending on the context, 'il pollo' could mean either 'the chicken' or just 'chicken'. Having said that, there is a way that 'the chicken' could be correct here, and that is if the girl likes a particular chicken. Perhaps she has a pet chicken, for example. But if we are referring to chicken as food, then the article should not be translated into English.
I'm not an expert in Italian, and if my reasoning is wrong, I'm sure someone will hasten to correct me.
Nope, you are right. Chicken is a food and "the" would be wrong in this case. Just like one says, "I like fruit", one does not say "I like the fruit.". Same with food, "I like chicken.", I like spinach.", You would not say, "I like the spinach."
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I disagree! In English, you can say "I don't like the chicken" to indicate that you don't like the chicken that's on your plate, without necessarily meaning you dislike all chicken as a food. Same for spinach. "Do you like the food?" - "I don't like the chicken much, but the spinach is very good. How did you season it?"
Similarly, this phrase frustrates me because duo has the tendency to mark me wrong any other time I drop the "the" in the English translation. Just a couple exercises earlier, I translated "giving water" instead of "giving the water" and guess what? Incorrect! Just a small thing all in all, but still.
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You're quite right, of course. I suppose it must be a monumental task to program the translators. Just keep reporting it as 'My answer should have been marked 'correct'. I do this as a matter of course and often get replies from Duo that they've adopted my originally 'incorrect' answer.
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Not in French. I think it would simply be 'La fille n'aime pas le poulet.' But of course, English is quite largely derived from French.
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.
The woman who speaks the audio drops her voice way too much on more and more audio clips. A bit frustrating
Hi, I am Persian speaker and I learn italian from english, italian grammar is similar to Persian but i dont understand alla
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.
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...."
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'Il pollo' is the subject Mike. It's just the way it is expressed in Italian which is a little odd for English-speakers. Literally it translates as 'Chicken does not please the girl'.
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.
I wrote: girl doesn't like chicken is a better translation that the way you wrote please check this, because it sounds bad.
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 !
Uiiuuuand v to 76677666th 76677666th Windows and the gates are locked up with me to get some answers are you going to be playing GIANT SNAKES and she isn't the only one of its Uuuuuuu777uuiiia bit slow process and the gates are locked up with me to get to intro 87
