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- "Θέλω ένα παγωτό."
22 Comments
293
Is παγωτό normally countable in Greek? Does it refer to ice cream desserts on sticks / individual servings of ice cream as in English?
Yes, it is countable and it has plural form as well. If you crave for ice cream you could say Θέλω τρία παγωτά (I want three ice cream (desserts)) which could be sticks or cones or individual servings...
Which pronunciation is correct?
- When playing the entire sentence Θέλω is pronounced tselo
- When playing the individual word Θέλω, it is pronounced thelo
the letter "Θ" is always pronounced like the sound of "th" in the word "thanks", always!
The word θέλω being pronounced as τσέλω is an acoustic error. There probably was some kind of complication with the program, since the voice is not a native speaking, but a Duolingo text-to-speech program. Just like trezost said, Θ is always pronounced like th is in "thanks", no doubt about that. ^.^
Thank you! BTW, do you know what technology is being used as TTS (formant or splicing)?
You're welcome ^.^ No, unfortunately, I'm not sure about that. I'm not sure if we could even fix any of those "listening" problems. For now, we only disable some that are really problematic and cause too much confusion ._.
You could, just as you could simply say "Θέλω παγωτό" in Greek, without using the article. Buy, since it's used here (probably to emphasize the number), the article is also included in the English translation. ^.^
This is the 48th new vocabulary word introduced in this cycle. It's overwhelming to the point of discouragement.
I don't think that's possible. The tiles from tile exercises are randomly picked from best translations, and ice cream is in the best translation. It might've showed up in one tile, but cream wouldn't be able to show up as an answer by itself. Are you sure you hadn't use it already, or just didn't notice it was there?
Is this how you would order ice cream? Or would it only be used in familiar settings like telling your husband you want ice cream?
This made me realize that I always say "a ice cream", and not "an". It's really interesting.
- 293
Super interesting observation. I can conceive of this being pronounceable in a way I can't for other vowel sounds at the beginning of words. I imagine that you pronounce the "a" kind of like "uh" and it sort of slurs into the beginning of "ice cream"? That's how it sounds to me when I pronounce it this way, and I think it's because I'm pronouncing the "a" using a sound pretty close in the mouth to where the "long i" sound at the beginning of "ice" starts.
"an ice-cream" is a phrase used by restaurant workers not customers. Ice cream is a non-count noun. The translation would be "I want a bowl of ice-cream" (some kind of quantifier) or just "ice-cream".
- 540
I agree, growing up near the East Coast of the USA, I never heard people ask for "a coffee" or "an ice-cream." They would request "Coffee, please," or "an ice-cream cone." Nonetheless, language is constantly in flux, and I don't doubt there are overworked baristas who talk that way.
I was brought up in NYC and "an ice cream" or "a coffee" was and is the way to go. And why the disparaging implication that baristas don't know proper English? Let's keep things friendly here.
This is incorrect. When talking about ice cream sticks, cones, or other individually packaged products, ice cream can be used as a countable noun, similarly to how a coffee can be used, for instance.
So a kid running around in the freezer section in a supermarket can ask their parents for "ice cream" (general) or "an ice cream" (a single product) and both would be entirely correct and plausible.
