"Vado sempre a trovare mia sorella ovunque lei viva."
Translation:I always go visit my sister wherever she lives.
72 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Oh dear, yet another example of dictionary hints which only allow an American English translation. In English this is grammatically incorrect ….the correct solution should be 'I always go TO visit my sister wherever she lives.'
Anne and giovanna I agree with you and always got irritated at the absence of uk choices although it has improved. It is a us site so we shouldnt be surprised. This year a light dawned. Many more Americans than English are on the site. Many of Italian heritage. More Italians look to US to learn English. American English is what they want to learn. Not surprising really. We may have started the language but we didnt finish it. All English spoken in other countries eg India has its own version now
To incorrect grammar makes it take a long time to figure out this sentence. In the end I just thought it must be a mistake and carried on. Not helpful to the learning experience, and it must be even more difficult for those without English as a their first language.
1000
Why? I thought that would be "go to find". If not, how might one say "go to find"?
vado a trovare = I go to visit
vado a cercare = I go to find
vado a vedere = I go to see
- 878
I really appreciate your responses. I would think that "vado a trovare" is "I go to find" but I see now it can also mean "I go to visit" if followed by "mio zio" (per esempio). How do you learn such things? I am over 2 years into learning this language and still struggle. Thank you!
Seven years into learning, spending many montags in Italy every year, but one, I am still strugling.
We usually use the subjunctive mood after chiunque, qualunque/qualsiasi, dovunque/ovunque, comunque.
- 217
Thank you, but why? Duo has instructed it is used after the main verb has indicated opinion, preference, belief, desire, etc. So What is the paychological link that also enables it to be employed after ovunque, etc?
Dont worry about the Why. Just remember ovunque is followed by the subjuntive. Lots seem to end in que which is abit like the che remindet.See posts above for others
- 305
I'm also just learning Italian, but in Spanish this would also be subjunctive because wherever is open and unknown and subjunctive implies uncertainty.
They may 'go visit' in America, but good English is 'go to visit'. marked wrong by Duo.
- 1672
Thank you SchubertNo21 for pointing this out as I was about to myself but, fortunately, reviewed the comments of others such as yourself beforehand. Constructions such as 'go visit', 'go eat' are very much a part of the American spoken and written language and I fully accept that but I think it important that students without a strong knowledge of English appreciate these differences. Also DL should be capable of recognising the difference.
- 1906
Could this not be, "I am always going to find my sister no matter where she lives." It's marked as wrong, but I don't see how it's wrong, or how you could say that otherwise.
Well, technically your sentence would be correct, but "andare a trovare" has a phraseological meaning, it means "to visit (someone)" and the literal "going to find" is just secondary :)
- 1906
Thanks, Mary. I wasn't sure about this one at all, so I really appreciate your feedback.
This is a very american version and makes little sense in english which would be "go and visit"
i thought, from a previous exercise, that "va" could also mean "to want." Is this never true or only in certain context?
The English needs ‘to’ before ‘visit’. It is only US English that leaves it out.
maybe s bit colloquial, ?uk or US english/ For me (uk) I would never say pay a visit. I would just visit
Since this is a habitual and repetitive action why the continuous tense is not used? I am always going to visit my sister wherever she lives?
- 207
The continuous tense in English is tricky.
It is used to talk about an action that is in progress at a particular time, not so much one that is repeated. For example, you could say "I am visiting my sister wherever she lives now." To say that you visit her multiple times, though, you would say "I visit my sister wherever she lives."
Another complication here: in English, the verb "going" is also used as a kind of modal verb for the future tense. "I am always going to visit my sister wherever she lives" means "I WILL visit my sister wherever she lives."
This is a simplified explanation, but I think it covers the basic issue here. I hope it helps.
[US English native speaker]
thanks a lot. English is my second language and it is difficult for me to understand the nuances of the language.
Why is "wherever she may be living" counted as wrong? English can use the periphrastic subjunctive here as well, and this appears to be a lot closer to the Italian phrasing.
I agree with Tereshina that "wherever she live" is correct subjunctive English.
@Sandy, Yes This is true but in practice in the UK the correct subjunctive is almost never heard, and when it is, it sounds very old fashioned and rather pompous. The language of the ruling elite is often destined for the bin. A classic one is the English impersonal pronoun " One always finds, don't you think?" Even the queen will stop saying this soon
word Find is missing. Translation is impossible AND trovare =visitare, maybe
To non English speakers, 'I always go visit my...' is never said. You either 'always visit ' or 'go to visit'
it seems that sometimes American English can be very grating to all the other English speakers in the world (including me). If the Americans here don't find UK English to be a problem then Duo would be better off using this. It also translates more seamlessly into Italian.
Remember Duo is American. I suspect there are more American users than Uk due to the demographics of Italian heritage in US
Yes, but if the Americans don't mind some extra bits in their sentences then everyone is happy! I'm Australian and we use UK English.
- 305
Duo should recognize both American and UK English. I have no problem with "go visit", it is very common in the Midwest, but I also have no problem with "go to visit".
- 878
When I type the English translation into the DL Translate feature, it provides the following Italian translation "Ho sempre andare a visitare mia sorella ovunque vive". Now, when I type that Italian translation into the translator, it actually translates that sentence to "I always go and visit my sister lives everywhere". OMG!!!
This is the problem with computer translations. Hang on to ovunque and know you need congiuntivo
- 878
Confusedbeetle (love that moniker), thank you! I take that your reply to mean that "ovunque" is one of those words that triggers use of the subjunctive.
Thanks Angie I do get confused easily. Yes that's exactly it. Remembering which words are triggers helps me. Even to the extent that words like this sound like they have a "che" at the end, saves me having to think
- 878
Ooooo.....nice tip that some of the trigger words end in "che" (Purche', benche', affinche', prima che'.). Sorry I don't know how to put the accent over the "e" so I am using an apostrophe as the accent. I know there are other trigger words (sebbene, nonostante, malgrado). I don't claim this to be an all inclusive list but I hope it is helpful. Thanks again!
Youre welcome. It helps me. In riguardo dei accenti, if you add Italian language to your input settings then you can toggle betweem en and it. You also need to click your Show keyboard on screen or you will never guess the Italian tastiera
In English we "go to" .... "go visit" is an incorrect and lazy colloquial expression. Its wrong.
You would never say "go visit" in english. It should be "go to/and visit."
This is true as has been mentioned several times in the thread. However this is an American site. There are mote US users than UK. Annoying as it is we should tolerate both. As long as UK is accepted our way is not the Right way just because English originated with us.