"Manca una forchetta."

Translation: A fork is missing.

[Hillaria]

Can this also be read as - He misses a fork.

[naten]

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.")

[Balgair]

yes, but how am i supposed to know that?

[alexander_kramer]

you're not supposed to know anything, you're supposed to learn

[apavis]

By checking the comments afterward and hoping someone explains it? Seems sub-optimal to me.

[iAvicenna]

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.

Check: http://blogs.transparent.com/italian/mancare/

[silkwarrior]

:)

oo, miss brutal

[JIS9E]

It only works if you have tons and tons of time to do research after nearly every sentence. It would be more optimal if we had a short lesson in the notes (notes are terribly lacking for this lesson!) following exercises that allow practice for that lesson. Then introduce a bit more, and so on. Duo prefers to dump a massive amount of vocab and many new concepts at you with no explanation in the hopes that one day eventually you will figure it how. Its one approach and I suppose for some it works, but it hardly seems optimal

[AdrianaCovaci]

because there is no "gli" in the sentence

[Brett.Skinner]

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

[Mil533515]

Why gli manca...., why not a lui manca una forchetta.

[yak78]

Why would it be gli not lui

[yak78]

Please someone help

[HydraBianca]

what does "gli" mean in this sentence?

[Koolkaren]

I think it is an indirect object, meaning 'to him'.

[OllieQ]

Shouldn't it be "lui", not gli? Care to explain?

[Ariaflame]

http://italian.about.com/od/grammar/fl/Indirect-Object-Pronouns-in-Italian.htm has information in indirect object pronouns. Definitely gli.

[Elena18]

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?

[marziotta]

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"

[Montalbano]

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.

[nanotech18]

maybe it's just me, but discovering the learning this way helps me remember it better.

[tikidog]

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...

[xyphax]

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.

[cognoscenti1965]

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.

[SMAKCANADA]

A great idea! I have over 300 lingots; what will I ever use them for.

[funnyiloveitaly2]

You get a like just for the name Montalbano!

[Archangelica]

I totally agree!

[MDL421]

When would one use "io manco" as is offered in the conjugation hover?

[Koolkaren]

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. :)

[PattyinRoma]

'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.

[Dorian.Z]

Can I say : Una forchetta manca?

[th3flash23]

does "una forchetta manca" make sense as well?? or just stick to this translation??

[valdemarvascaino]

26.04.2014

Why not "It is missing a fork"?

Thanks

[WesWebb]

I think Yoda said this in one of the new Star Wars films..

[MattBurgma]

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

[missyjane_t]

Gli "to him" will be covered in the clitics group.

[clleven]

Is there a difference between lacking and missing?

[Cate899590]

Missing = lost in the English language I learned.

[Nizzy782154]

Missing a fork?