"Mia zia sa parlare sia cinese che inglese."
Translation:My aunt can speak both Chinese and English.
46 Comments
- 11
- 10
- 8
- 5
- 5
- 3
- 3
- 2
- 2
my aunt 'speaks' both chinese and english is more correct than 'can speak' , but it was marked wrong
- 21
- 3
- 22
Well 'sa' translates as 'knows' - so the best translation I think is "my aunt knows how to speak both Chinese and English"
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 18
- 14
- 14
- 6
- 6
- 4
- 139
You can't just ignore the word "sa" though when you are translating the Italian sentence.
- 25
- 13
- 12
- 5
- 5
- 2
- 2
- 29
Hmmm ... nothing wrong with CAN speak - maybe she can, but she seldom chooses to.
It is certainly not "more" correct. It is also correct, but a less accurate translation.
- 16
- 13
- 9
- 8
- 8
I'm a little bit confused now. In the last question I was using "sia rossa sia nera", and now is "sia ... che ...". Why this difference?
- 25
- 15
- 8
- 6
Interesting that Google gives "sia ... sia" but also translates "sia ... che" correctly. So I tried experimenting. It seems a string of "sia ... sia ... sia ... sia" is possible, or perhaps ending with a "che" e.g. "Parla sia ... sia ... sia ... che" = "She speaks ... and ... and ... as well as ..." Unfortunately google still starts with the word "both" even though there are more than two. Can an Italian please confirm that such a string is possible?
- 25
- 25
- 25
- 19
Entrambi is used when you are talking about more subjects but that can be called with a word. For ex: both my parents. Sia is used when you are talking about more different things. For ex: both my aunt and my uncle
- 14
- 12
- 7
- 6
- 6
- 2
I wrote "My aunt knows both Chinese and English" which I would argue is a more accurate translation, although it does omit "to speak". Would "knows how to speak" have been marked as correct? I'm still not sure how to use 'sapere' and 'conoscere' in Italian - obviously knowing how to speak and being able to speak are more or less the same, but if they've given the verb "sa" surely it should be "knows" in the translation?
- 17
- 11
- 7
- 6
I agree 'sa' from 'sapere' is to know not to be able to. That is 'potere'.
Why is "che" used as "and" in this sentence? (I think) this is the first time I've seen this on Duolingo.
- 17
- 11
- 7
- 6
It's a wrong english translation a more accurate would be: "My aunt is able to speak chinese as well as english." - Of course to refer to "chinese" as a language is as wrong as to say that in Mexico people speak mexican, or that in America they speak american. - the proper sentence should say "mandarin" as that is the official langauge in China.
- 25
- 23
- 12
- 8
- 8
- 8
- 7
- 791
you don't have to use the article with a family member in singular
https://www.duolingo.com/comment/15517439/Possessive-adjectives-articles-and-family-members
- 25
- 18
- 16
- 4
- 3
- 927
Non usi "la" o "il" con le persone.
People just get the possessive adjective, not the article.
- 25
- 1823
I wrote "is able to" speak ... and was marked wrong? What's the difference between "can" and "able"?
It's closer to 'knows how to speak' since it's from sapere. Can is idiomatically fairly close to that, but 'is able' is just less common enough that it is linked with potere and thus not close enough for this. Since one of the things they are hoping you learn is what 'sa' (from sapere) is.
- 11
- 10
- 8
- 5
- 5
- 3
- 3
- 2
- 2
sometimes the english answers in duo lingo are debatable ( i am native) .. there is no difference in this (unspecific) context. we (english) just don't SAY: 'is able'. maybe in a more formal (written?) context such as for example a job application. but it is not wrong. p.s. i am disappointed not to find the greek for english speakers course available. are you greek? maybe you could give it a push!
- 25
- 18
- 16
- 4
- 3
- 927
Why isn't it "la cinese" and "l'inglese" when speaking about the languages? Is the article included in sia and che?
- 10
- 8
- 8
I wrote "talk" instead of "speak"... why was it marked wrong??? Is the meaning in english altered?
- 25
- 13
- 12
- 5
- 5
- 2
- 2
- 29
It isn't really wrong, but "speak" is what we would use here. You would say, "I was talking about something," or "I was talking/speaking to somebody," but ,"I can speak English."
- 25
- 25
The verb parlare means both speak and talk. Why talk is not accepted? Is there any moderator capable to reply the questions?
- 21
- 9
- 9
- 8
- 8
- 6
- 4
- 4
- 3
The word 'Chinese' refers to even more languages than just those two, but most of the time it would refer to the national language of China, which is more specifically known in english as mandarin. Since most english speakers can't differentiate between the different sinitic languages (many of which they would never have even heard of before), it makes more sense to use the term 'Chinese', meaning a language from China, rather than guessing which of the many possible languages it is, as they would most likely guess it wrong!
- 11
- 10
- 8
- 5
- 5
- 3
- 3
- 2
- 2
mi domandavo quanti livelli ci sono? non ho trovato la risposta sulla rete. visto che lei ha ottenuto il levello piu avanzato dei contributori su questa pagina, forse lei lo sapra?
- 16
- 15
- 15
- 14
- 13
- 13
- 11
- 3
I confess I can speak EITHER English or French. I could speak BOTH but ça would be très weird, n'est-ce not?
- 13
- 12
- 10
- 6
- 6
- 4
- 3
- 2
- 2
:) agreed. But still, let's assume "both" takes on the meaning of "either" in such cases
- 11
- 10
- 8
- 5
- 5
- 3
- 3
- 2
- 2
'either' is wrong. it implies that if she can speak english then she can't speak chinese, and vice versa.
- 13
- 12
- 10
- 6
- 6
- 4
- 3
- 2
- 2
no. either is RIGHT. BOTH would mean - at the same time. either - alterating between them.
- 12
- 10
As kuprostrigo said, BOTH does not mean "at the same time". It just means "all two languages" (not forcely at the same time, which I think would be VERY DIFFICULT :) ). For this type of phrase, you can equally use the two forms "both" and "either ... or ...", because they mean the same thing: "my aunt KNOWS both the languages, so she can speak ONE OR THE OTHER language with no problems"... It's not directly implied that she has to speak both at the same time...but only that she can speak Chinese and Italian, just like I can write in Italian (I'm a native guy) and English (I know I have an horrible English, but that's it) because I know both languages, despite of "when" I can write/speak one or the other.
- 17
- 14
Why is auntie not accepted? My numerous aunties will be very hurt to be dismissed with a red line!
- 9
- 9
- 2
Another valid translation (and really more proper) is: My ant can speak either chinese or english.
