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- "Lei non è la mia ragazza!"
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Unfortunately this does not work since la figlia is the correct word for the daughter .
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It would not be a right translation here but would "la mia ragazza" work as "my daughter" in practice? That does work in some other languages.
so is this what an italian would actually say if they wanted to say, she is not my girlfriend
Ok so this is off topic from this sentence but I'll ask it anyway. The phrase "mama mia" translates to "my mom," with the possessive adjective "mia" coming after the noun "mama." Why is it that in other cases, like "mia ragazza," the possessive adjective comes before the noun?
Certain specific phrases occasionally fossilize and don't follow current grammar trends. Similar to English where these days, the adjective comes before the noun, but we still say "time immemorial" or "persons unknown".
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How are we to know that ragazza refers to girlfriend and not a child when in all previous references it meant a female child?
Most nouns referring to family members do not need the definite article, but this isn't a family member per se. Madre and padre are exceptions to that, along with a few others.
Here are websites that explains some exceptions: http://www.italianlanguageguide.com/grammar/possessive-adjective.asp http://italian.about.com/library/fare/blfare132a.htm
No, that just means "She is not my friend", in Italian saying "is my girl" means "is my girlfriend" so the correct translation is "She is not my girlfriend!"
Note that la mia ragazza is always your girlfriend, you can not adress your female child this way
Same way. "Ragazza" is literally "girl" but is used colloquially to mean "girlfriend". We do something similar in English.
So DL should also accept: She is not my girl, as a possible correct answer, and not say it is incorrect!
The next time that happens, flag it and report "My answer should be accepted." Because you are right. Without any clarifying context, it can legitimately be interpreted either way.
Yes, "la" is the feminine singular "the".
Italian grammar is different from English grammar. Except with singular unmodified family members, the definite article is required with the possessive adjective.
Yes, the strictly literal definition of "ragazza" is "girl", but it can be used to mean "girlfriend". We do the same thing in English.
In theory that's possible, but I don't think the volunteer course contributors included that in the answer database. They're not really teaching the formal pronouns and I think they're slowly dropping out of use in Italy.
"She is not my girl" would be an acceptable translation in American English.
No one here can do anything about that. Please post issues like this to the troubleshooting forum:
https://forum.duolingo.com/topic/647
Why is it girlfriend instead of just girl? Does it have to do with context or something?
So to sum it up "Lei non e la mia ragazza" is a reference to Chowder and means "She is not my girlfriend". But "Lei non e la mia figlia" could be a reference to The Maury Povich show and means "She is not my daughter".
"Lei non è mia figlia." Singular unmodified family members do not take the definite article with the possessive adjective.
Girl and daughter should be synonymous. She is not my girl, the context made it seem like the were referring to a daughter. Its misleading.
it's not. you could be referring to your girlfriend as well. I'd refer to my girlfriend as "my girl"
