"Lei legge un libro ed io leggo il giornale."
Translation:She reads a book and I read the newspaper.
40 Comments
It sounds like "un giornale", not "il giornale" - I've got this one wrong three times now.
Yes, that switch from "un" in the first sentence to "il" in the second was mean. But we'll be dealing with much worse later on.
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I agree that it sounds like 'un'. I only got it right because I listened to it on the slow speed as well, which makes the 'il' clear.
Normally you use 'e' except when the next word starts with a vowel. In that case, 'ed' is frequently used. This is not a steadfast rule, however. It's an euphonic measure to counter ugly sounding vowel combinations. It is most frequently used if the vowel following the 'e' is also an 'e'. A counterexample would be 'ed Edmondo'. I guess most Italians would prefer 'e Edmondo' because it sounds better. The same rule applies for 'a/ad' BTW. Think about the usage of 'a/an' in English.
I had to write this to the site manager: "The diction is poor - the difference between "il" and "un" is almost undistinguishable at normal speed. I have to always listen at slow speed to hear the which one it is. I can't be having that in conversation."
Why isn't there a comma between "libro" and "ed"? Do you not separate two independent clauses with a comma in Italian?
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The "s" is the most important part of the verb in this sentence. We say: "I read, you read, he/she/it reads. It's ok now you know next time it'll be easy. Have a lingot to get started.
Thanks for the encouragement! But i'm actually fluent in English. I'm studying Italian, but somehow I had a typo in the language I'm good at. >.<
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Whoops! Sorry I was not aware of course. Well you'll see that since the robot is programmed to accept or reject standardized grammatical items such missteps are not overlooked. Guess I owe you another lingot.
"ed" is the same as "e" just that the "ed" is used if the next letter sounds similar. It's really used to break up like sounding vowels so it doesn't sound like a long vowel sound.
For example: "libro ed io leggo", "e" and "i" similar enough (eh and eeoh) that it would be hard to differentiate between them. So "ed" is used so that the listener knows that you are saying "and I"
"ed io" is highly discouraged (Accademia della Crusca), because in it sounds like "e Dio" (and God in English). In modern italian it is mandatory to use the euphonic "d" only when there are the same vowels.
Es. we write "ed eccoci", "ed era", "ed Enrico"; "e Alberto", "e io", "e aprì", "e ora", "e Umberto".
Why it's 'a book' but 'the newspaper'? I mean I understand the words (un/il), I'm just wondering why it's not both 'a' or both 'the' in that sentence...
Ok I understand the answer but why do we need the "io" in front of "leggo"? "Leggo" implies "io", does it not?
I can't give you a textbook answer to that, but it would just be and sound odd without "io". Language is redundant. Perhaps to make it clear that we're talking about a different person. I'm not Italian, but it would be the same in Portuguese, which is also a Romance language.
I would assume because there are two separate noun-subjects, "I" and "she". Also I think it's to help people distinguish between them, but I think you're right that once we get use to those agreements, we don't have to use them except as a definitive statement.
It's an euphonic rule. If the following word starts with a vowel, use "ed" instead of "e". There are some exceptions like "e Eduardo", though.
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I am typing the correct answer however it keeps redponding that it is incorrect
Something is wrong with this sentence. I've said it correctly many times but it's not recognizing it and I can't go on or get out of it without having to redo the entire module!
I put this "She read a book and I read the newspaper" and they say it was not correct. Of course it's not correct because of the read(s), but I think Duolingo should not correct this kind of error, because I'm here to learn Italian, not English. In my view, they should only warn about it.
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Yes, it can be hard especially if English is not your first language. However, if we are doing lessons we need to have correct grammar. Duo very often warns about small mistakes in our English e.g. spelling, word order. But we need to show we know what the other language said. Another note for such complaints or changes it's best to report it on the page where the exercise was.
I do not remember making this comment and have absolutely no idea what I meant hahaha. I apologise on behalf of my sixteen year old self!
lol, I can explain, one of the translations was twentieth-century writer. by the way have a lingoit
