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- "He works as a mailman."
"He works as a mailman."
Translation:Lavora come postino.
93 Comments
294
I used "lavora come un postino" and was marked incorrect. it is confusing to know when or not to add the article!
379
There is a differece in meaning if you add "un" in the italian sentence.
-
"Lavora come postino" = "He works as a mailman" (he is a mailman)
-
"Lavora come un postino" = "He works like a mailman" (he is not a mailman)
ᅳ "His job resembles that of a mailman" or
ᅳ "He works a lot (little) like a mailman" or
ᅳ "His working hours are like those of a mailman"
345
Thank you. That makes it so much clearer. Now if I only could remember that when translating!
345
I totally agree. The previous question tells you that you should use "l' " avvocato for "a" lawyer. This question says you are incorrect when you use "il" postino as well as "un" postino. You are told now not to use either! How do we know when to use what? Maybe Babble or Rosetta Stone would be a better choice at this point, but they are not Free!
If you want to use "fare", which is the most common way to express it, you must use a definite article, as you're indicating the general category of what she does for a living, so "mia madre fa la segretaria"; of course the generic "mia madre è una segretaria", which focuses on who she is rather than what she does, works as well. The one presented in this exercise is a more formal way to say it, "mia madre lavora come segretaria", and it focuses on her current occupation, much like "fare il/lo/la".
P.S. "Fare il/lo/la" can sometimes be used for other than occupations: for instance "fare il portoghese" literally means "playing the Portuguese", or trying to pass as one, and after a certain incident it means trying to avoid paying.
379
"Lavora" is a conjugation of the verb "Lavorare"
. . . . . simple present
io lavoro . . . . . . . . I work
tu lavori . . . . . . . . .you work (you sing.)
lui/lei lavora . . . .he/she works
noi lavoriamo . . . we work
voi lavorate . . . . . you work (you pl.)
loro lavorano . . . .they work
301
So why not use lui lavora because it could be lei lavora the english sentence states he works
401
Odd, this omission of the article in sentences like this. It is difficult to remember because it sounds dead wrong, almost as if uttered by someone mentally deficient — "What do you do, Joe?" "I work like postman..." — whereas the article is so absolutely insisted upon in other grammar, as in "The my dog is sick..." Of course I know that I am filtering everything through my English lens, and that is not the remedy for anything. Still, I wish I knew how it all evolved and where the patterns lie, if there ever were any...
267
After 3 sentences using fa, and fa in the hints, why all of the sudden is "Lui fa un postino" wrong?
379
- L̶u̶i̶ ̶f̶a̶ ̶̶̶u̶̶̶n̶̶̶ ̶p̶o̶s̶t̶i̶n̶o ← NOT wrong, but only if he is an actor; you can say "Lui fa un postino" in the sense of "he plays the part of a mailman"
ATTENTION "Lui si fa un postino" is the italian slang for "he has sex with a mailman" - Lui fa il postino ← RIGHT
- Lui è un postino ← RIGHT
- Lui lavora come postino ← RIGHT
- L̶u̶i̶ ̶l̶a̶v̶o̶r̶a̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶u̶n̶ ̶p̶o̶s̶t̶i̶n̶o ← NOT wrong, but look at the first comment above
But fa il is a correct idiom, and Duo just accepted it. There are three ways to identify a person's job in Italian: è [un] postino; lavora come postino; fa il postino. Think "I am ..."; "I work as ..."; "My job/role is ...". Essere il postino, rather than fare, refers to the postman in a given context, e.g. your street.
734
"lui lavora come un postino" is incorrect.
Apparently, according to the comments here, I need to lose the "un".
Seems odd.
351
I grew up listening to this language. Not speaking it, however. And the grammar is beyond my understanding. Sometimes a word means one thing and sometimes it means 4 other things. I know we have some words in English that have other meanings, but even listening to Italian spoken as child it is hard to grasp.
379
"he works as a mailman" can be translated:
- 1) Lui lavora come postino
- 2) Lui fa il postino
- 3) Lui è un postino
- L̶̶̶u̶̶̶i̶̶̶ ̶̶̶l̶a̶v̶o̶r̶a̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶e̶ u̶̶̶n̶̶̶ ̶̶̶p̶̶̶o̶̶̶s̶̶̶t̶̶̶i̶̶̶n̶̶̶o ← NOT wrong, but look at the first comment above
- L̶u̶i̶ ̶f̶a̶ ̶̶̶u̶̶̶n̶̶̶ ̶p̶o̶s̶t̶i̶n̶o ← NOT wrong, but only if he is an actor; you can say "Lui fa un postino" in the sense of "he plays the part of a mailman"
ATTENTION "Lui si fa un postino" is the italian slang for "he has sex with a mailman"
A mailman is probably the American translation
A postman is commonly used in British English. We would more commonly use the term 'postie' in everyday speech. Postie is used for both male and female. The postie dropped off the letters. I saw the postie in her car. The postie said he is going to Milan.
345
Let's think of "come" meaning "like a" from now on! That might help us to remember Not to use "un".
164
Half the time Duo wants "un" , my previous question wanted "un poliziotto" so I used "un" again this time, with the obvious result.
107
I omitted to write 'Tu lavora come postino', but put just 'lavora come postino' but was marked incorrect. I did this because Tu lavori come insegegnare was given in the previous sentence.
382
I'm still confused about when to use the article . Does using COME make either definite or indefinite articles unnecessary ?