"On Tuesdays I eat cheese."
Translation:I martedì mangio il formaggio.
142 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
When i had to translate Italian to English it said "I martedì" - but now when I wrote "i martedì" it corrected it to "Il martedì" - Isn't "il" only used for single?
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On Tuesday I eat cheese.....Martedi (io) mangio (il) formaggio. (Just the one Tuesday)
On TuesdayS I eat cheese.....Il martedi (io) mangio (il) formaggio.
We go to church on Sundays.......Andiamo a chiesa la domenica.
See you on Monday......A Lunedi See you tomorrow.........A domani. See you tonight...........A Stasera
We are going to Rome on Friday.......Andiamo a Roma venerdì .
Ok but it is not what he said. Before this, we had to translate "I martedì, mangio il formaggio" and we translated it in English by "On Tuesdays, we eat cheese" (since it was "I martedì"). So why when we has to translate the same thing in Italian , it is suddenly "Il martedì"?
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There would be no problem if both "Il martedi" and "I martedi" mean "on Tuesdays". Per Nikolaj who started this conversation: "... when I wrote 'i martedì' it corrected it to 'Il martedì'". Ezekiel's experience of DL's grading does not seem to match that of Nikolaj with respect to "Il martedi".
Then per German4me: "On TuesdayS I eat cheese.....Il martedi (io) mangio (il) formaggio." Noting that German4 does not refer to any evaluation by DL, my conclusion is that DL's behavior leaves it inconclusive whether these two constructs have the same meaning in English.
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PS......If you want to talk about every other day
Mangio formaggio un martedì sì e uno no I eat cheese every other Tuesday
Andiamo al supermercato un giorno sì e uno no. We go to the supermarket every other day
Andiamo al supermercato una settimana sì e una no We go to the supermarket every other week
I am Italian and I say "i martedì or di martedì". If I write "il formaggio" means that I eat only cheese and nothing else. So Duolingo's translation is incorrect
I've marked you back up one, as I see some reason in your passionate outburst.
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Yep, I noticed that. I'm guessing since all the others are 'Il' that's the correct one, but one way or another it must simply be a mistake.
Pretty sure it is just wrong. On the English to Italian.I think the Italian to English was correct "Il martedi" indicates only one Tuesday.
But in Italian I say "i martedì mangio formaggio" or "di martedì mangio formaggio" if I write "il formaggio" means that I eat olny cheese and nothing else.
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There must be simething wrong with duo programm. In Plural of days like Mondays Tuesdays etc ee only change the article in plural , but duo system does not thinks so....if for on Mondays we write i lunedi corrects us to il lunedi , if in another sentence we write il lunedi again corrects to i lunedi!! Which is the correct, please explain i am confused!!!
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makes perfect sense. Unless you are stuck on english syntax, and are translating in your head to "the Tuesday" (which would never be used in English to mean either every Tuesday or this coming Tuesday). In Italian the singular definite article with a day indicates a habitual occurence, whereas a singular occurrence does not take any article. This is just as "logical" as our usage of adding "--s" to mean habitually. This is no more logical, either way it is a grammatical formality. If the English syntax responded to "logic", then "On Sundays I go to Church" could mean anything from every Sunday to just twice a year, but acc to the arbitrary rules of our syntax it means habitually, not just twice a year. -- A language is a system for translating thoughts into words. It is a self-contained system in which we can speak of 'coherence' - the rules should not contradict each other - but not of abstract logic which does not govern any language I have ever had contact with. Every language has its own rules. For example, in Japanese there is no way to make days plural, so on Tuesday and on Tuesdays would both be kayoubi ni (wa). But until we have been exposed to other lggs we are convinced that our lgg is "logical" - so English speakers think it logical to distinguish btn one and more than one, and wonder why the Japanese do not; OTOH English speakers do NOT ask why they themselves do not distinguish btn 1, 2, and more than 2 (as did for example ancient Gk which had sg, dual AND plural).
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this is a continuous problem. Once the correct is ( il martedi mangio il formaggio) , and in another time for the same English sentence the correct is ( i martedi mangio il formaggio). So_ On Tuesdays i eat cheese_ is it = il martedi / or / i martedi, ?? ?? Simeone must give the one correct translation in italian. Thanks........
Only on Tuesdays though. I'm very strict about that rule. Tuesday is cheese day ONLY.
Cheesegratin overbaked with cheese. For desert cheesecake naturalmente
Not being a native speaker of neither Italian nor English, so take it for what it is: the construction "i martedi" is equivalent to "on Tuesdays" in English. It is a recurring event, and literally translates to "the Tuesdays" 'cause this is how Italian deals with it.
'Il martedi' means 'on Tuesdays'. It is enough to use a definite article to create that plural sense. 'Tutti i martedi' means 'every Tuesday'. (for special emphasis you can always use 'tutti i + the name of a day'.
Of course, 'martedi' used at the beginning or end of a sentence means 'this coming Tuesday'.
When it comes at the end of a sentence you can even add a preposition 'di'. ("Le scuole sono chiuse di domenica" = Schools are closed ON Sundays)
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DL is not consistent. In one of the sentences was used "I martedi" PaoloYYY - Italian says IT IS CORRECT! However, 2-3 sentences later it is considered as WRONG answer, offering in the correct answer "IL martedi".
It's a minefield for us because the choice is partly one of style. See https://www.lifeinitaly.com/italian/days-months-seasons. The relevant bit is:
Habitual Tuesdays are il martedì, but di martedì is normal at the end of the sentence. As in English, the latter puts more stress on the habit itself than on the timing, e.g. "I normally eat fruit but I eat cheese on Tuesdays."
The plural appears in "every Tuesday" = tutti i martedì. "Each Tuesday" = ogni martedì, though il martedì is a good loose translation.
Although martedì alone by default implies the next Tuesday, actually the context can decide which day you mean. If you need to avoid an ambiguity, you need il prossimo / scorso martedì.
On top of this comments page, Duolingo provides as correct answer "I martedì..."
This is exactly what I answered... and it was counted wrong??!
It corrects me saying I should have written "Il martedì..."
??? Help!
It is giving "Il martedì..." at the top of this page (three hours after your comment). All reference books say "il". Maybe they corrected their own mistake?
me too! It is plural so it must be "i" not "il"! Next question, how do you indicate plural if the word already ends in "i"?
When this sentence comes up, and you're asked to translate it into Italian from English, it does NOT accept "I martedì" (it says only "Il" is correct), but when it asks you to translate from Italian to English the sentence shown is "I martedì" and NOT "Il". The inconsistencies in Duolingo are frustrating because even after years of users reporting them, they don't get fixed.
So one question asks me to write 'On Tuesday I eat cheese' and the correct answer is 'Il martedì mangio il formmagio.' Then the next question asks me to do the same thing, and the correct answer is 'I martedì' ---- What is the difference?
If everything was as you say, the difference is Tuesday (singular) = il martedì and Tuesdays (plural) = i martedì. Every noun that ends in an accented vowel is invariant, so the only way to recognise a plural is from the article (i o le).
I wish I could post my screen saves.
This is what the question is exactly: WRITE THIS IN ITALIAN -- ON TUESDAYS I EAT CHEESE. My answer is: I martedì mangio il formaggio. I GOT THIS WRONG AND WAS TOLD IT SHOULD BE : Il martedì mangio il formaggio.
The next screen shot says TYPE WHAT YOU HEAR. I type: I martedì mangio il formaggio. I get this right, and the interpretation below the answer is -- On Tuesdays I eat cheese.
Do you see my confusion?
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I had one question to translate it from Italian to English and it was "I martedì mangio il formaggio", and translation was "On Tuesdays I eat cheese". Next question was to translate from English to Italian and question was "On Tuesdays I eat cheese" when I entered "I martedì mangio il formaggio" it was not accepted and it corrected me to "Il martedì mangio il formaggio". How could I've know what was the correct answer?
I'm having the same problem, and it looks like this has been going on for a while with nobody at Duolingo fixing it. It's just a clumsy error, and I see this in a lot of the Italian exercises.
I agree! Or at least I think we are both right! Maybe this website is just wrong on this one?
I wrote A martedì and it corrected me to use Al. Then in comments, it said to use i. What's up duo?
had this question before where i had to translate "I martedí mangio il formaggio" to english.
Now i got it in english and was suppose to translate it to italian. I therefore wrote "I martedí mangio il formaggio" and it was marked wrong. corrected it to "Il martedí mangio il formaggio"
This makes no sense what so ever :(
Could it be the stress accent? You write martedí while Duo writes martedì. Duo normally allows single-letter spelling errors when they don't produce anything it recognises as a different word. I don't know if this does so, but maybe the programmed logic can't cope with accents.
It's not about the accent, my point was that they changed the article from "i" to "il". So translate the same sentence from italian to english it is no worries, but when you get the same phrase in english and need to translate it to italian they don't except the article "i" they mark it as wrong and says that you have to use "il" instead.
That was the issue i had. I have reported it though.
Also about the accent. sometimes duolingo accepts the spelling of "po" without the accent and mark it as almost correct. Other times it says "wrong" and says that i have to spell it "po'"
When it is inconsistent, frustration rises :P
Normally you don't need to include the definitive article after mangio. Why this time?
You sort of can but if you ever spoke it to a native Italian you would sound abstract.
If you want to say a translation other than the one provided you might want to say "Io mangio formaggio di martedi"
"I martedì mangio il formaggio" is marked incorrect on this question, but an audio prompt of the exact same marks that as correct, but "Il martedì mangio il formaggio" as incorrect.
On two separate items, "On Tuesdays I eat cheese" has been given as "I martedì mangio il formaggio" and "Il martedì mangio formaggio." In each case, the other ("i" or "il") was marked wrong.
why in the listening excerise they have i martedi but the written il martedi?
I cant get this right... If I type i martedi it tells me it is il martedi and if i type il martedi it tells me it is i martedi... Seems to have a glitch in the system!
I've used "IL Martedi..." by mistake, but it worked. Not really sure why.
I believe the correct form should be "il Martedi" on the first place... Well, it is a correct form for sure.
I agree. I have studied Italian for 4 years and I've always been told to use the singular article.
The first time I did this ,I put in 'a martedi', which of course was wrong. Duolingo then told me it should be 'I martedi'. The second time I entered just that und now I was corrected to write 'Il'. On top of the comment section though it also sais 'I martedi'. Something's not right here...
Previously, I was marked wrong and at this same page, I was given the following reply I martedì mangio il formaggio." Translation:On Tuesdays I eat cheese. For the second time I was marked wrong in spite that I wrote the previous correction. Now I want to know whether Il martedi or i martedì is the correct answer. Since DL never replies, would any Italian native speaker help me out and let me know what is the right answer? However, in this same
I thought in a previous Italian to English translation of this sentence it was written "I martedì."
I am pretty sure il formaggio means THE cheese. The english version is just crap
DL, please decide now what the correct translating is
Is it I martedi or Il martedi???
I think "su" is a preposition of location. The "on" here is a preposition of time.
The translation it gave me for "on" when I hovered over it with the mouse did not help me at all. It said "su di" would work for on but the microphone didn't even recognize I said it.
Those aren't translations, they are clues at best and a fair percentage of them are irrelevant or even misleading. Knowing when to use them is a Duolingo skill. My own usage has gradually shrunk to quickly getting the gender of a noun by checking the adjective hint, and not a lot else. I prefer an online dictionary.
I am pretty sure that a couple of questions back I gave this answer and it was wrong, supposedly it should have been I martedi because it is tuesdays plural ????
"Tuesdays" is plural, but the correct answer "il martedi" is singular. It sounds wrong...
Maybe you could think about it this way. On Monday I go to work, Tuesdays I hit the gym, Wednesday I visit my mother,...
The same text in english is translated differently: Once its I martedi mangio il formaggio and then its Il martedi mangio il formaggio
Why am I being prompted to "pay attention to the accents" when the response correctly has no accents!
So Putting "Il [Day-Name]" At The Start Of A Sentence Makes It Habitual, While Putting "A [Day-Name]" At The End Makes It A "Current" Event?
Another question: I have seen "sabato" meaning on saturday, without a preposition in italian. I have seen il martedí. When do you use the article and when don't you use one?
Once it is "il martedì" meaning "on tuesday" ( so once, on this tuesday) and ince it means on tuesdayS. An explanation?
And wouldn't it be better to say "mangio dEI formaggio? Or do you mean you eat the same cheese every tuesday?
I said I martedi... I am sorry DL but on Tuesdays it is I martedi... on Tuesday it is IL martedi
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I checked Google Translate which gives il or di martedi for on Tuesdays. Maybe it's idiomatic
I don't understand why we have to use the article before the days of the week. It doesn't make sense to me, why would it be 'the Tuesday I eat cheese'. In another way, this sentence would be 'mangio il formaggio a/in mertedì'. So why when I begin the sentence with the day it is 'il martedì' instead?
Seems it can work either il martedi first or last but they won't accept the latter
Today I translated from Italian to English "I martedi" as on Tuesdays. Correct. But now when translating from English to Italian "I martedi" it was marked as incorrect for on Tuesdays. What gives?
Why we write: Il martedi mangio il formaggio (on Tuesday)- use "il", but Mangio la bistecca venerdi (on Friday)-without "il"
Why they said, martedi, watch for the accent, when is not accent on martedi????
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In the first example DL mentioned "i" martedì, and now it is il martedì. Come on DL stop this discouraging methods.
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when" i martedi ..." was transilated "on Tuesdays.." was accepted, but now the opposite ( on Tuesdays= i martedi) in the present sentence is wrong !!
if we talk about every Tuesday = on Tuesdays why I martedi is wrong? I am really confused of what is correct in italian....
Why "il martedì" here and "i martedì" in the other topic https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/237174/I-marted%C3%AC-mangio-il-formaggio ? Same sentences in English.
In the same lesson, Duo marked "Il martedì mangio formaggio" wrong and said "I martedì mangio formaggio" was the correct answer then did exactly the reverse when I typed "I martedì mangio formaggio" in answer to a subsequent question. The English sentence was the same on both cases.
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Yes, it just gave I martedì mangio.. for the same sentence in English but refused it this way round. Needs sorting out but I won't hold my breath.
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Please decide finally which is correct. The same sentence once is considered correct and then the correct is < il martedi mangio il formaggio>. From all discusions on the matter i understood that only is the correct one. Thank you.
Please fix this frustrating mistake!!! Once at "I martedì" & another it's "il martedì" Fix this error PLEASE!!!!!!!
Why is it "Il martedi" I still have not had a satisfactory explanation, the sentence implies every Tuesday, not just one.
Write your dissertation somewhere else Shimkelvine Your Plus is showing!!!
may I use the preposition "di" with the weekdays? In this sentence that's wrong
Il formaggio viene della cacà di vacca (o della vacca, o dalla vacca, o delle vacche, o dalle vacche?). Give me a break please.
Italian works differently than English, The way you'd say this in English is "On Tuesdays..." but in Italian it's "Il Martedì...". Why? Because they're different languages, I believe you'd put nothing before 'Martedì' if it's for a specific Tuesday, I.E. Next Tuesday, But since this case is the habitual, They use "Il" instead.
Are you or did you ask a native/fluent Italian speaker? If not, Please don't try to correct Duolingo's sentences, While there are cases where they are actually wrong, Most of the times they seem as such will likely be because the Italian and English languages work differently from eachother.
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il martedì is correct. no 'a', no 'ai'. German4me22 answered this above. read the posts.