55 Comments
I don't think so. It's literally "A fork is missing." "He misses a fork" would be "Gli manca una forchetta." ("To him a fork is missing.")
By checking the comments afterward and hoping someone explains it? Seems sub-optimal to me.
Well it worked everytime for me. But you can also check the online sources. Learning my making mistakes is optimal if you show an effort to find the truth ofcourse.
OK, but what about if he was setting a table and he missed a fork? Sorry NVM, that would be past tense. Ha mancato una forchetta
http://italian.about.com/od/grammar/fl/Indirect-Object-Pronouns-in-Italian.htm has information in indirect object pronouns. Definitely gli.
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I put in 'there is a missing fork' and got it wrong. Isn't that the same thing though?
I wrote "HE is missing a fork". I thought the "Lui"(or lei) was understood. How about "Manco una forchetta"? Is that a proper sentence?
The verb "mancare" woks like the verb "piacere". FAQ #10 http://duolingo.com/#/comment/233855
The subject is what is missing.
"Manca una forchetta" = "A fork is missing"
"He is missing a fork" = "A lui manca una forchetta"
"Manco una forchetta" doesn't make much sense. "I am missing a fork" would be "Mi manca una forchetta"
To make this a good lesson, it should state here "the verb 'macare' works like the verb 'piacere'. This lesson is like letting someone dive in to a pool and not telling them it's the shallow end.
maybe it's just me, but discovering the learning this way helps me remember it better.
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I agree that something unobtrusive would be really helpful. But I also like how I'm free to answer without being interrupted with grammar points, and then ask in the forums whenever I'm confused. But sometimes I do get quite annoyed...
My suggestion has been to use lingots to buy extra functionality, perhaps with hints when there are particularly tough grammar things. That would also make the hints optional, so others do not have to use it if they don't want them.
Have a lingot - this is a great idea! I get that this whole program is based on us learning as we go by mistakes, and I have no problem with that. It's not a competition so I don't get frustrated if I learn something by getting it wrong (the best way to learn). I feel like I'm cheating if I use lingots to erase an error (which is why I have 70 of them), but to use them for extra functionality would feel better.
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I'm a bit fuzzy on this one, but I think you would use 'Io manco' to mean 'I am missing' to someone else. For example, "Io manco a lui." This would mean "He misses me." I think. :)
"Io manco a lui" would be "I miss him". "He misses me" translates to "me gli manca". As marziotta states above "The verb "mancare" woks like the verb "piacere". FAQ #10 http://duolingo.com/#/comment/233855"
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That doesn't seem right to me. I believe 'Io manco a lui' means 'He misses me' because the verb works sort of backward to English. It literally means something along the lines of 'I am missing to him'. You could also phrase it 'Io gli manco' and have it mean the same thing, because 'gli' means 'a lui'. The subject of the verb 'mancare' (in this case Io) is the person being missed, not the person doing the missing. That's what makes it so awkward at first for speakers of English! :) So, to say 'I miss him' you would say 'Lui manca a me' or 'Lui mi manca', I think. Have I got that right, any Italians out there?
Thank you, Marziotta. This is the only really helpful explanation I've seen regarding the use of "mancare" Have a lingot.
'Mi manchi' = 'I miss you', or in other words, 'you are missed by me', or 'to me, you are missed'. You can't easily translate 'mancare' into English. You have to just memorize and accept it as is.
does "una forchetta manca" make sense as well?? or just stick to this translation??
please tell me this "gli" meaning "to him" was never covered in previous lessons, otherwise I feel like a real ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤, I only seem to remember it as a plural article
In the options on manca, it indicates he/she.... brighten my day on this subject please
The drop down explanation also says Manca means (you) die and (he/she/it) fails. Pretty different from missing. Can anyone explain when this is used. Is Mancare generally used for missing and those other translations are just used in specific situations? Can anyone aiutare una ragazza out?!
I put "We need a fork" - which while not a literal translation seems to me to be more likely to be said than "a fork is missing". I know that there are other Italian words for "need" but I suggest that sometimes when in English we say "need" the Italians would use "manca"
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I'm not sure about that. In English, I'd take "we need a fork" to mean, simply, we do not have a fork and we need one. "We are missing a fork" means more - not just that we need a fork and do not have one, but that there should be a fork here.
I agree that is frustrating not to learn the verb is like piacere before it is thrown in to translate.
I also thought the lui/lei was understood and said "he needs a fork" but that would lui ha bisogno di....... I guess
I think this is what we call in English the passive voice – the fork isn't missing anything, the speaker isn't missing anything.
If this is a passive sentence, why is there no "si" in this sentence as in "si manca"?
