"I have a snake in my boot."
Translation:Ho un serpente nello stivale.
135 Comments
Nah, man, valid effort!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMDWgGXxYOI "Hai un amico in me"
Where is the possessive part of this sentence? Wouldn't "nello stivale" mean "in the boot", not "in MY boot"?
70
The verb "ho" indicates the owner of the boot. The possessive pronoun would be used, if the boot did not belong to the speaker. In other words, if the verb and the possessive pronoun refer to the same person, the pronoun is usually left out, especially when referring to clothes or parts of the human body.
I have asked my italian friends and they say 'il mio stivale' is perfectly acceptable.
and if the owner of the boot isn't known? As in 'I have a snake in the boot over there'
You would use c'è instead of ho. (That is, there is a snake in the boot rather than I have a snake in my boot)
i just dont quite get this, because the possessive part of the sentence is the snake, because the snake you have can be anywhere, i have a snake in your boots, i have a snake in the cake, i have a snake in her house. they will all start the same
It is just like brushing your teeth or washing your hands. In English there is a possessive, but frankly whose teeth would you brush if not yours? Mi brosso i denti. Mi lavo le mani.
Very good. Your examples explain why the boot sentence should allow "il mio" as an alternative translation. In English you would also omit the pronoun in your examples (washing hands, brushing teeth), but you would not in the sentence about the snake in the boot. Because it does not have to be your boot. At any rate, my Italian friends tell me you could either use or drop the pronoun, using it does not sound weird to them.
I have children. They are not old enough to do it themselves, so, I brush their teeth. I wash their hands.
"my boot" would be il mio stivale" but "nello" already means "in the" so the "il" is unnecessary and also incorrect (because you're saying "the" twice"
Agree.. i was thinking the same, and needed to scroll all the way down to your comment to finally find someone asking about the actual italian topic :-/ Did you find an answer? Doesn't make sense to me... There's no "my" in Nello. Btw it has a number 135 next to your comment.. i thought that would be the number of comments/responses attached to your comment, but I couldn't open any under your name/comment. Maybe i misunderstood
Just saw another comment.. makes sense that "ho" at the start of sentence already indicates owner
Can anyone explain when I use nel verses nello? I don't understand the difference? Thanks!
Masculine nouns starting with "s" or "z" take the article "lo" instead of "il" (eg., lo squalo, lo zoo). If they start with a vowel this "lo" becomes "l'" as in "l'abbigliamento". So all these masculine nouns get "nello" while masculine nouns which do not fall in this category get "nel". Hope this helps (and that I have understood correctly).
Masculine nouns that start with s+consonant use lo, if it's s+vowel (sabato, for example) I'm pretty sure you use 'il'.
Why is one correct answer "Ho un serpente nel mio stivale?" Why isn't it "nello mio stivale?"
I agree, I don't understand: if the word is lo stivale, why wouldn't "nello mio stivale" be correct
I put "nello mio stivale" as well, and want to understand why this is incorrect and why "nel mio stivale" and just "nel stivale" are correct. I read the explanation above from Zzzzz..., I guess I have to remember this exception?
It's because the word "nel"changes according to the word right next to it.
Example: Nel mio stivale/ Nello stivale mio
This explanation is fantastic. Unfortunately, so far "... nello stivale mio" is not excepted.
ho una serpe nel mio stivale. this is the correct answer given. Why is serpente not acceptable? My answer was: ho una serpente nel mio stivale.
Australian woman finds eastern brown snake in ugg boot - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-37426648
- 259
just take a look at previous responses And it should help you understand why your response is wrong. Nel vs Nello in meaning is explained above. "nello mio stivale" is saying in English "in the my boot" (I think), from what I discerned from this lengthy thread. I could be wrong though. Goodluck with the snake in your boot!
Why is serpent masculine! I was so happy to translate this toy story phrase, and got it wrong in "un serpente".
so basically the presence of the mio after the nello evens out the "lo" from the "nello"?
- 351
Correct sentence is io ho un serpente nel mio stivale.
Preposition+definite article (the/the): in+il= nel, in+lo=nello, in+la=nella, in+gli=negli, in+le=nelle.
Preposition + undefinite article (a/an/some): in+un/uno/una/dei/degli/delle
why did it suggest "fra" for in when it marked that wrong and said that "nel" was correct?
Boots,shoes,slippers - in Australia the snakes don't care, they are happy anywhere
I wrote 'serpente' and it said that the right answer is 'serpe'. Why is 'serpente' wrong?
I used google translate so it may not be completely correct but "Verso l'infinito e oltre!"
it's definitely correct, that's word for word what buzz says in the Italian movie
I just got corrected for writing nello so wrote nel next time and got corrected for that!!!
- 372
Yep. I decided to stop for a while after finishing clothing and I've spent a grw days now simply revising and trying to get my head around everything to date. I got this one wrong too. I'm still practising but will probably move on tomorrow. I'm in my mid 60's and finding learning something of a challenge.
- 372
I'm just learning myself, so apologies if this explanation isn't very clear. Nel is modified to nello when the noun begins with an "s" or a "z". This is in the same way that le, la etc.. is modified to lo for the same reason. So it will always be lo serpent, nello serpent.
Close. Lo (and nello, and allo, etc) is for s + consonant, such as sc, st, etc, but an s that is not followed by a consonant does not require lo. And il is modified to lo, but le, la, etc. never become lo because lo is for masculine singular, and le, la, etc. are not.
- 372
Many thanks for that, I didn't realise the full extent of the rules for "lo". So "lo serpente" is wrong, it should be il serpente and "lo stivale" is correct. I still have a lot to learn.
- 372
And again I apologise, the word before nello is stivale not serpente, but it begins with an "s" so the rule applies.
- 372
I think it is because "nel" is "ne + il" = in the, so your sentence becomes "I have a snake in the my boot". I may have that wrong as I am still quite new to the language, it may be you are just as right as the actual answer, Italian can be just as flexible as English.
Ho un serpente nello stivale; the translation should be: I have a snake in THE boot "not in MY boot" Thanks
I am confussed la donna = womAn (singler) ,donne = womEn (plural) but in boot E is singler and i is plural which is plural in boys (ragazzi) why is this?
- 59
It didn't accept "io ho un serpente nel mio stivale", and it should be correct!
- 517
For heavens sake people..if you do not have anything of substance to contribute or enhance learning please avoid the silly comments. I am quickly finding that visiting here is a waste of time..Toy story!! Seriously????
well, if the phrase DELIBERATELY quotes Toy Story, we are allowed to joke about it, don't you think?
Doesn’t nello stivale mean THE boot Doesn’t nello Mio stivale mean. MY boot
I think the 'correct answer' says I have a snake in the boot not my boot
"Nello" means "in" + "il"
so in your translation you are saying "there is a snake in the the boot"
What about the 'my'… in the official translation. That reads 'in the boot'?
Why the "my" possessive is not considered in this sentence translation? Nello mio stivale...for example
- 100
Oh my goodness. First I have bees in the sugar, and now snakes in the shoes?!
- 100
Where is MY boot? Why only boot? Strange. I put nello mio stivale and was marked wrong.. Please, who can explain, why, perché Good luck and have a nice Sunday
