79 Comments
- 18
- 17
- 17
- 13
- 9
What do you think to show?" is bad English. The correct way of expressing this is "What are you thinking of showing?"
- 25
- 8
- 526
Cosa pensi di . . . = What do you think about . . .
Cosa pensi di me = What do you think about me
Cosa pensi di questo = What do you think about this
Coasa penso di fare = What are you going to do
dimostrare = to demonstrate / show / prove
Cosa pensi di demonstrare = What do you think you're proving
- 25
- 22
- 10
- 3
Ahh!! Thank You! I translated it literally, and got it right, but used the bad English noted above. Was wondering what it "really" meant!!
the substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant, for example suit for business executive, or the turf for horse racing
- 25
- 8
- 585
Below are the definition and examples from the Hoepli dictionary. All of its choices suit our phrase, and to them I'd add "have in mind" to reflect the context avere in animo.
See http://dizionari.repubblica.it/Italiano-Inglese/P/pensare.php, context #5.
V+di+INF (= progettare/avere in animo) to plan, to think [of doing], to intend Pensava di partire per una lunga vacanza = he intended to leave for a long holiday. Cosa pensi di fare? = what are you planning to do? Pensi di comprarlo? = are you thinking of buying it? Stanno pensando di prendersi una vacanza il mese prossimo = they're thinking of taking a holiday next month.
Note that this only applies to pensare di +infinitivo, not to pensare a or pensare alone.
- 15
- 13
- 13
- 12
- 9
- 6
I wrote "What are you thinking to show",which I knew was bad English,buy you never know with DL. It was not accepted,so maybe it's been changed. They suggested "What are you thinking of showing", which I had written the first way round lol
Or: "What are you planning to show?". I like it even better, but it was marked as wrong.
- 19
- 3
And just a shade beautiful. Italian grammar takes with one hand, and gives with another!
- 19
- 7
- 3
I believe this one shouldn't be a literal translation but, if I'm not mistaken the meaning is like "what are trying to prove" or "what do you think you are going to demonstrate [with that]"
- 20
- 17
- 10
- 8
- 7
I also wrote "What are you trying to prove?", which I think is the correct translation, but it was knocked back.
- 14
- 14
- 10
- 7
- 7
- 7
- 6
pensare di fare qcs = to think/be thinking of doing sth, to intend to do sth
- 21
- 18
- 12
- 10
- 3
- 2
I wrote "What do you think of demonstrating" and got it right. LOL.
- 25
- 169
And I wrote "What are you thinking of demonstrating" and also got it right. Both of our answers are very close to a literal translation and not difficult to come up with. I suspect that the people who want to translate pensare as hope or plan are making this more difficult than it needs to be.
- 18
- 9
- 6
- 5
- 2
We use the same words in Swedish to express this meaning. "Vad tänker du (göra?)" means "What are you going to (do?)", but uses the word "tänker" = "think". I suspect it is the same in Italian and think therefore that the DL translation is misleading in this case. Please correct me if not.
- 25
- 23
- 30
How do you get this sentence? what do you think of to demonstrate? Isn't there a better way of saying this?
- 25
- 8
- 3
Isn't it about time this was corrected. A 'showing' in English has a meaning that is a long way from what is intended here!
For me this is not about a showing, more about the plan to demonstrate/show something. There are many ways we could look at this, but I think the useful way to look at it is the use of pensare di
- 25
- 7
- 6
Other versions of this item gave the correct answer as "What do you think of demonstrating?" which seems rather different. So now I'm confused.
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 20
- 19
- 1788
Very awkward English translation. Since this is 'near future', the most natural would be to use 'going to' - What are you going to demonstrate?
- 12
- 8
- 7
- 2
- 2
I wish these comments were not so petty and instead focused on the underlying logic and semantics of the language
- 25
- 25
I translated "What do you think to demonstrate?" and DL suggested that is should be "What do you plan to demonstrate? ". My translation may be imperfect, but is translating "pensare" as "to plan" an inprovement?
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 19
- 16
- 15
- 12
- 32
Till now, the "right" reply is "What do you plan" and any other reply (mainly "what do you think") is considered wrong. WAKE UP DUO! Are you sleeping?
- 23
- 11
'What do you think you're proving' was marked correct. I just guessed!
I'm still not sure of the intented meaning of the sentence.. I put, "What do you think of the demonstration." DL gave the meaning as "What do you think of demonstrating," which sounds like they want to go on strike with placards and the whole bit. Weird...
- 25
- 14
- 4
- 3
- 3
I wrote, "What are you thinking to demonstrate?" This was rejected and, "What are you meaning to demonstrate?" was given as a correct answer.
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 19
- 16
- 15
- 12
- 32
..the first "right" (!) translation was "what do you plan...". Difficult to enter DL thoughts! Is this the way to "teach" languages??
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 19
- 16
- 15
- 12
- 32
Again with "prove"! (Of course, if I think I prove NOTHING!
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 19
- 16
- 15
- 12
- 32
To the kind people who put "minus": Difficult to say "why" instead, isn't it?
'proving' shouldn't be used in the english example. This is poor semantics.
- 24
- 19
- 11
- 6
- 577
I put "what do you think to show" - pretty poor English but I thought that was a literal translation. It was marked as incorrect and the correct answer was "what do you plan to show". Didn't know pensi could mean plan.
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 19
- 16
- 15
- 12
- 32
Now (25.VIII.'17) "what do you think" is considered wrong: clear and distinct ideas (Cartesius)
- 25
- 8
- 585
This element is not about pensare alone. Pensare di <infinitive> means to plan to <do>, to intend to <do> or to think of <doing>. See the Hoepli dictionary examples quoted above. IMO "intend" suits dimostrare best.
So you can't really complain about "think ..." being wrong if you put anything other than "... of <verb>ing" after it. What you can complain about is that Duo's translation is junk; I suspect its author is unaware of how di modifies pensare.
There are very many special verb + preposition meanings in Italian, so make friends with a decent dictionary if you don't want to be permanently irritated.
- 25
- 9
- 7
- 6
- 5
- 4
- 2
- 36
Because it is pensare di + infinitive - read the other comments
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 19
- 16
- 15
- 12
- 32
Pensare is not to plan and to plan is not to demonstrate. I can think without having no intention to plan and I can have a plan without thinking at it. But they corrected here and in the meantime they give wrong the right reply... Ah, I understand: the course is free... to write what they want.
Berto. Perhaps the aim is not the ways english might use "to think" but rather the many ways italians might use "pensare" just a thought
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 19
- 16
- 15
- 12
- 32
I understand that we can not "judge" a language, but I think that a "plan", in any language, could be subsequent to a thought, not equal to. So the two verbs must not be interchangeable, outside any context, and in fact they changed their "right" reply, but they still accept (in the replies we have to give) only the think=plan and this after YEARS. This means that the course is not followed with the due rigour by the "teachers". Thanks, anyway.
- 25
- 8
- 585
You are right that pensare is not "to plan". To which I'd add ".... on its own". However you seem to have missed an earlier response that pensare di <infinitivo> is indeed "to plan to do" (and "to intend to do" and "to think of doing"). See http://dizionari.repubblica.it/Italiano-Inglese/P/pensare.php, context #5. Please, please use good references before making unsupported assertions as you have done.
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 19
- 16
- 15
- 12
- 32
This course is for beginners, in which the simplest things should be taught. And also in your reference, after a sheet of other exemples in which "plan" is not used, there is only ONE sentence, among four, in which "plan" appears, in "context 5", the last one: "5 V+di+INF (= progettare/avere in animo): to plan, to think, to intend: pensava di partire per una lunga vacanza he intended to leave for a long holiday; cosa pensi di fare? what are you planning to do? pensi di comprarlo? are you thinking of buying it? stanno pensando di prendersi una vacanza il mese prossimo they're thinking of taking a holiday next month". We say "Non sia più realista del Re" ( = more Catholic than the Pope). So the "good references" give three possibilities, DL permits, or knows, only one. Please, please, read completely your "good (free) references": I bought mine.
- 25
- 8
- 585
Penso di dimostrare che sia deficiente. Vedere https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/pensare-a-v-s-pensare-di.337863/ dove un italiano spiega la sottile differenza tra "penso di" e "penso a".
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 19
- 16
- 15
- 12
- 32
Chi o che cosa è il soggetto di deficiente (che così vuol dire "penso che sia un povero mentecatto")? Vede quanto italiano deve imparare lei! Chi poi ha posto la domanda cui lei mi rimanda, deduco, d'italiano ne sa veramente poco (comprensibilmente se è libanese, come il nome suggerisce). Se un verbo è seguito da preposizioni diverse deve avere significati diversi. Vale per tutte le lingue. Vedo nelle mie "references" che il verbo "to look", ad esempio, può essere seguito da ventidue (twenty-two) preposizioni differenti e il verbo "to get" da 33.. Mi pare ovvio che vi siano differenze, anche non molto "sottili", come non è sottile pensare a ("a" è usata per complementi di termine: dunque penso a qualcosa/qualcuno fuori di me) anziché pensare di (usato per specificare. Fra le tante cose a cui posso pensare, penso di fare quella). Visto però che lei non vuol imparare, continui pure da solo: non avrà da me altre risposte. Buona sera.
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 19
- 16
- 15
- 12
- 32
This sentence, in the PC version, is "what do you plan... and "think" is considered wrong. Can 3 people (the "teachers") think (or plan..) the right version?
Note for DL - how come the answer in the discussion group page is completely different from the answer on the questions page? This is shown as "what do you plan to show" This aspect of inconsistency the keeps cropping up on DL makes it more difficult to follow the thread for learning
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 22
- 19
- 1085
Any thoughts on "what do you think you can prove"? Not accepted so far, but would it be a good English equivalent?
Why isn't the di used in this translation? I was incorrect when I wrote: What do you think of to demonstrate?
I believe this translation has been altered since I last looked
