"Włoch sprzedaje wino Francuzowi."
Translation:The Italian man is selling wine to the French man.
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844
Those, I would believe, would look for ones of a kind, and thereby ignore such bagatelles as the national origin of a wine. I spoke merely about wanna-be “connoisseurs” who condescended upon an inferior wine as could either be an Italian or French.
1845
I got it wrong (not a rare event), but how would I say the Italian is selling French wine?
"French" can be used as a noun to denote the people of France or the French language (see http://www.thefreedictionary.com/french), but I'm not sure whether it can be used in the meaning "a (single!) person from France, Frenchman"... Hence I would translate "Włoch sprzedaje wino Francuzowi" = "The Italian sells wine to the Frenchman" (one French person) and "The Italian sells wine to the French" = "Włoch sprzedaje wino Francuzom" (many French people).
527
Correct. It can refer collectively to all people of France, but not to an individual. Based on the hover hints, I assumed this sentence was talking about French wine, not selling wine to a French person... I have reported it.
I agree that it should be Frenchman instead of French but also I don't think it should be "The Italian" either! I would never say "The Italian is selling wine..." It seems faintly rude to me. Like being Italian is the only important thing about this person. I would be somewhat annoyed to be referred to as "the British".
It's like you wouldn't say "The bald is selling wine" or "The deaf is selling wine"
I would say "The Italian man is selling wine" if I wanted to point it out to someone (for some reason haha).
Sounds like either this is some hidden camera documentary like Big Brother or like they're in a nature documentary. Or part of some comedy film where a German an Italian and an Australian go on a road trip and their nationality is their whole character (probably in a massive caricature).
Maybe it's just my version of English! :)
1101
It's just two different types of construction. For one person we say "the Englishman" or "the Frenchman", but "the German" or "the Italian". If we're talking about a group of people, it's "the English" or "the French", but "the Germans" or "the Italians".
181
Rosie I think you're getting a little carried away. Italian can be used as a noun and is not offensive.
487
"The/An Italian" is a person from Italy, not necessarily male or female. "The Italians" are all people from Italy. "The/A French person" refers to an individual. "The French" refers to the group of people.
Hardly anyone uses 'Frenchman' these days. It's a bit like referring to someone from China as a 'Chinaman'. Although correct, it is outdated.
Nie trzeba, ale może bezpieczniej jest dodać - po polsku wszystko jest jasne, mamy osobne rzeczowniki dla osób danej narodowości. Angielski ma takich trochę (np. "Pole" = "Polak"), ale w większości przypadków używa form, które są też przymiotnikami, np. oznaczającymi język danego kraju. No i problem w tym, że niektóre z tych słów mogą funkcjonować samodzielnie, a inne nie bardzo, i nie wiem, czy są jakiekolwiek reguły pozwalające stwierdzić, co będzie ok, a co nie. Więc dodanie "man/woman" po prostu jest najłatwiejsze.