"My husband eats chicken."
Translation:Mio marito mangia pollo.
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The use of an article with possessives seems almost random. Can someone please explain it well?
The rule Gen130 mentions exist and it says (Source: 'Nuova grammatica pratica della lingua italiana' by Susanna Nocchi)
The article is NOT used after possessive adjectives with singular nouns which refers to members of the family: padre, madre, nonno, nonna, zio, zia, fratello, sorella, cugino, cugina...
The article IS used with:
- Plural family nouns: i mei genitori, le sue figlie...
- Definite nouns: il mio zio di Napoli, la sua nonna materna...
- Colloquial nouns: il mio papà, la nostra mamma...
- Altered family nouns: fratellina, sorellino...
- With the possesive adjective 'loro' : Il loro fratello.
Please excuse my translation, I am a spanish speaker.
Great, but DL should include it in hints or any kind of material, which enables users to LEARN the language, not to REMEMBER the sentences
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They appear to have more hints on the desktop version. But there aren't a lot there either
Agreed. It also would be helpful if DL had a chart of conjugated common verbs.
This was my question, too, answered in one of the early comments above (FrediVallina):
(Source: 'Nuova grammatica pratica della lingua italiana' by Susanna Nocchi)
The article is NOT used after possessive adjectives with singular nouns which refers to members of the family: padre, madre, nonno, nonna, zio, zia, fratello, sorella, cugino, cugina...
The article IS used with:
Plural family nouns: i mei genitori, le sue figlie... Definite nouns: il mio zio di Napoli, la sua nonna materna... Colloquial nouns: il mio papà, la nostra mamma... Altered family nouns: fratellina, sorellino... With the possesive adjective 'loro' : Il loro fratello.
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Found this to be helpful but it is still a little confusing to me. https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/18288880
When do you use definite articles with family members? ("il mio marito" vs. "mio marito") I thought there was a rule but I can't remember...
I still get confused on this one but what's the difference between when you use "mio" and "miei" ?
So great question let me explain. Mangio means I eat. Mangia means he/she eats Mangi means you eat.
So here's some examples: Io mangio il pollo means I eat the chicken. Lei mangia il pollo means she eats the chicken. Tu mangi il pollo means you eat the chicken.
Does that make sense? You use it depending whether you want to talk about yourself, about a he/she or to someone.
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I know that sometimes it's incorrect to use an article with family members, but what about when I'm referring to the family member of someone else? should it be "il suo marito" or just "suo marito"? Thanks
Why was 'Il mio nipote' correct but 'Il mio marito' wrong? Is it closeness of the relationship that makes the difference?
When referring to a thing in general, as in "My husband eats chicken," sometimes DL requires an article and sometimes not. "Mio marito mangia pollo" was marked wrong, but then how to distinguish chicken in general from this particular chicken? So confusing.
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Are you sure "Mio marito mangia pollo" was marked wrong? Given that it is Duolingo's preferred translation, that seems unlikely.
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Where there is a possessive adjective (my, your, our, his, etc) the definite article is not used for family members, as long as these are singular and not qualified by an adjective. One exception: where the possessive is "their" ie loro the definite article is always used.
So eg mio marito, mia moglie, sua figlia, nostra nonna; but i miei figli, i nostri genitori, la mia futura moglie, il loro zio