"Io sono tra la mucca e il cavallo."
Translation:I am between the cow and the horse.
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"Where are you parked dude?" "Dude, I am between the cow and the horse."
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I thought e became ed when it's before a word beginning with a vowel... i.e. "ed il cavallo," not "e il cavallo."
You can only say "ed" when it's before a vowel, but you're not forced to use it at all; in literature they have different usage as e+vowel becomes a diphthong while ed+vowel becomes a new syllable (which is important in poetry), but when talking you pick one depending on personal style and aesthetics. Usually one tends to avoid double vowels (i.e. e+e, a+a), for instance "e è" is less common than "ed è", but that isn't set in stone either.
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Is it a rule? Or is it more you use in formal speaking and writing? Grazie mille.
No, there is no rule and no clear distinction of politeness/formality/literacy: the usage between same vowels is advocated by most grammarians (http://www.accademiadellacrusca.it/it/lingua-italiana/consulenza-linguistica/domande-risposte/d-eufonica) but not consistently followed even in literature (http://www.mauriziopistone.it/testi/discussioni/gramm01_d_eufonica.html). In particular in that last link the quote from Satta (journalist and linguist) recommends "a esempio" or "a Adamo", whereas "ad esempio" and "ad Adamo" are most common.
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The Accademia della Crusca rule is that E becomes ED only before another E (eg: ed egli; but: e allora); the same for A: a esempio, but ad Adamo. But not all users know it.
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I entered "Io sono fra la mucca e il cavallo" and it was marked wrong. Am I missing something and is there a different between "tra" and "fra", or is this just an error?
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well, she said "tra" and its a hearing question, so i think even tough is has the same meaning its still not the right answer for this question
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Is this an idiom, like "between a rock and a hard place" in English?
No, it's just an odd sentence. The equivalent idiom in Italian is "tra l'incudine e il martello" (between the anvil and the hammer).
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Is this a sort of idiom? Is it similar to "between a rock and a hard place"? Or is it simply a silly instructional sentence?
