"Their dog does not eat candy."
Translation:Il loro cane non mangia caramelle.
224 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
816
Why is "il loro cane non mangia la caramella" wrong? candy can be singular or plural, both, no?
106
Surely the plural of candy is candy just as the plural of fish is fish. Candies, fishes and sheeps should be avoided! ;)
841
right. it depends on whether the bagful is the point or the individual pieces are important. plus the bag may contain different kinds of candies.
714
Fishes in the ocean. Fishes in the sea. All jump up. With a one, two, three!
A very common nursery rhyme used when playing with babies and toddlers.
"Fishes" is a perfectly acceptable, if less common, plural of fish.
841
sometimes we say fishes. biologists referencing a specific group of fish across different species do use 'fishes'. read the literature.
you can't defend usage based on poetry. especially doggerel. nor can you cite movies or adages.
and fishes is not equally acceptable generally with 'fish' (plural). don't read 'any' dictionary. read a good dictionary that includes usage, not just definitions and not abridged. fishes' (note the apostrophe) is acceptable as plural possessive--the fishes' scales.
1258
It's complicated. "Eating candy" means eating the substance that is candy, or eating candies in a general / habitual sense "Eating candies" means eating several actual candies (or possibly candies of different kinds).
From what has been said, in Italian you use the plural to indicate more than one, where English uses the singular to indicate the substance.
301
That is NOT correct! Fish= a fish ( singular ) Fish= many fish ( plural ) Fishes = many fishes if there are different kinds of fish be in question as in... a fish= one Mackerel two fish= two Mackerels two fishes = one Mackerel and one Salmon six fishes = one Mackerel and five Trouts etc.
279
Fishes Is A Perfectly Acceptable Word If You're Referring To Multiple Types Of Fish, Just Like Peoples If You're Referring To Multiple Groups Of People.
279
As far as I'm aware, "Caramella" is singular, Referring to one individual piece of Candy, While "Caramelle" is the plural, Since this sentence is talking about Candy in general, It uses "Caramelle".
Thank you arisasdf for this explanation. I also got this sentence wrong because up till now, all the lessons referred to caramella as candy and caramelle as candies. It was never explained that in Italian, candy as a food group, needs to be plural. This is why I read the comments: to learn from my mistakes.
Even though you didn't really answer the question, you made it very clear to me. I am assuming that if it is was THE CANDY is would be LA CARAMELLA or THE CANDIES would be LE CARAMELLE. But in this situation it isn't a THEY, it's just CANDY, so it is a food group, not an item, therefore always plural.
That helped. Thanks!!!
1320
It's wrong, but I have no idea why. Anyway, I'm glad the dog doesn't eat it. Mine would have.
760
I know, right? In English, "candy" has a plural. Duo Lingo shoukd correct the question to "candies".
I completely agree. There was no previous explanation about the proper singular/plural usage in a sentence like this one. It should be made clear that in Italian, candy (singular in English) is considered plural. Although, growing up, my parents used the singular for candy, with or without an "a", unless specifically referring to "candies".
1499
I understand the explanation given by arisasdf. If Italians use the plural for candy, when would they use the singular? Per favore, an example.
The best example I can think of for using singular with candy is if a mother tells her child he can have a piece of candy for behaving or doing something good. In English, we would have to specify ONE piece of candy, because "candy" is both plural and singular. In Italian, it's just "la caramella" instead of "le caramelle."
804
I think the use of "le" at least should not be considered incorrect! The article in such cases is optional....
"Caramalla" is the singular. It wouldn't make sense to say, "The dog doesn't eat a candy" (Which needs an article, so would translate to"Il loro cane non mangia UNA/LA caramella").
"Caramelle" is the plural. In this case you are saying that the dog doesn't eat candy in general, so "caramelle/le caramelle" is what you have to use.
I disagree. There has to be a consistency with sentences. In any other case you have to follow the given sentence with absolute precision (is it acqua or l'acqua, is it singular or plural etc). It is not possible to be correct if game rules just change for one sentence and then change back. Bunch of girls have eaten one caramella/vegetable rather often, why cannot one dog eat just one candy?
1035
You're right in a way. "La" or "una caramella" is singular for "The" or "a candy (US)/sweet(GB)", but "le" or "delle caramelle" is the plural for "The" or "some sweets(GB)" but US still has "The" or "some candy" as plural in this case. I think the Americans use candies when they are talking about various brands or selections.
1035
I'm English too but not aware that the plural for candy is not candies. On multiple choice questions Duolingo should have the native English words in brackets like pants (trousers), trunk (boot), elevator (lift) and math (maths).
SORRY, BUT I AM ITALIAN AND WHEN I HAVE TO TRANSLATE THIS PHRASE FROM ENGLISH TO ITALIAN IF I WRITE "THEIR DOG DOES NOT EAT CANDY", OBVIOUSLY DUOLINGO DON'T ACCEPT IT BECAUSE I WRITE CANDY AND NOT CANDIES. WHY IN THE OPPOSITE SITUATION I HAVE TO USE THE PLURAL WHEN I READ A SINGULAR WORD. IN MY OPINION THE ENGLISH VERSION IS WRONG LIKE "THEY ARE MY FISH" AS LORO SONO I MIEI PESCI. FOR AN ITALIAN LIKE ME THIS HAVE NO SENSE.
I appreciate the energy you have. However "Their dog does not eat candy" is not only correct, but it's what you would say in every day conversation. Using "candies" in that sentence would sound really weird.
HOWEVER all the native English speakers in this thread are making similar mistakes and forgetting that "candy" in English is plural and singular.
EX: "I have a bag full of candy" "Look at all this candy" "I ate too much candy"
All those sentences are correct, because they are talking about "uncountable" amounts of candy. However if we attach numbers to it, then you'd use "candies"
EX: "I have 5 candies" (normally you'd say "I have 5 pieces of candy") "There are multiple candies" (normally you'd say "There are multiple pieces of candy")
As a general rule, don't say "candies". It sounds very weird to your average native speaker. Any time you're going to say "candies" replace it with "pieces of candy"
279
"Candy" In English Can Both Be A Singular Count Noun (One Piece Of Candy, A Candy), Or A Mass Noun (Some Candy, Candy), While This Is Not The Case In Italian, "Caramella" Is One Singular Piece Of Candy, While "Caramelle" Is Multiple Pieces Of Candy, Since The Sentence Here Is Not "Their Dog Does Not Eat A Candy", It's Clearly Using It As A Mass Noun, Which Would Take The Plural Form In Italian.
That's irrelevant to this situation. In every single other sentence in which "caramella" has been the correct answer, the English translation has said "candy". In every single other sentence where "caramelle" has been the correct answer, the English translation has said "candies". In this one specific sentence, unlike all the others, the English translation says "candy", yet doesn't accept "caramella".
The problem is not with Italian vs. English. The problem is with the inconsistency in the translations that they CHOSE for this sentence, which goes against the translations they chose for all the other ones. My objective was to translate the English sentence into Italian. It said "candy". If I went by the fact that "candy" can be both plural and singular in English, which answer was correct would be random, which was why they chose to translate "caramelle" into "candies" to begin with.
Do you not see what the problem is? Cause it's not a linguistic one. It's an oversight one.
No, Candy is both Caramella and Caramelle. Candy is both singular and plural in english depending on how you use it. You can say "Look at this candy!" while holding a single snickers bar, or displaying a pile of trick or treating goodies. Whereas in Italian, you'd need to specify Caramella for the snickers, and Caramelle for the pile
279
I Believe "Il Suo" Should Be Acceptable As Well, As "Their" Could Be A Possessive For A Third-person Of Unknown Gender In English, As Well As The Third Person Plural.
804
I think the main problem here is with the duolingo program itself. Usually "caramelle" has been translated as "candies", therefore, one assumes when given the word "candy", one should translate it as caramella. The usage should be consistent!
389
Now the in the english sentence the word candy is singular it supposed to be caramella not carmelle why did you count my answer wrong
336
Candy : caramella Candies : caramelle.
Non sono d'accordo che la mia risposta non è buona
The British "sweets" would clear up the singular or plural confusion with this question. As there is nothing to indicate whether the candy/sweets is singular or plural within the context of the sentence, both singular and plural should be acceptable answers. I lived in Italy for 4 1/2 years AND took 2 years of college Italian; Duolingo is inconsistent, especially compared to life experience and formal education.
279
"Caramella" means "Candy" in the singular, Or "Piece of candy", "Caramelle" means "Candy" as a mass noun, Or "Candies".
684
Everything is American English versus British English. Other thing is who is using refri.. something in place of simple fridge?!
"Candy" in english can refer to both a single piece of candy or a pile of candy. The context here is that the dog doesn't eat any candy, e.g. all candies (plural) are off limits for the dog. So the meaning in italian would be to pluralize caramella into caramelle since that language doesn't have the same "singular/plural" double usage.
552
Когда будет итальянский для русских? Почему мы должны продираться сквозь лебри английского, чтобы учить простой и милый итальянский?
279
"Caramella" is singular, Perhaps better translated as "Piece of candy", While "Caramelle" is plural.