33 Comments
244
I have the phone app for Italian. I just did this exercise and I wrote the translation above. It gave it to me as correct but indicated there was a typo. Saying it should have been He is not an common architect. That is of course incorrect english, so I came here to see what you have given for a translation, as the report for the phone app, is extremely limited. Just thought you would like to know.
'common' architect sounds disparaging as if he's somehow mediocre. I think 'ordinary' architect is less so and implies he perhaps designs extraordinary buildings - think Frank Gehry.
I wrote normal instead of common, which is more correct? Ordinary should also be accepted.
'Ordinary' is now accepted. But I didn't try 'He is no ordinary architect', which would be the commonest way we'd express this sentiment in English.
I did try 'he is no ordinary architect' because it sounded so much better and surprisingly it was accepted
Usual = customary, IT = usuale, solito, consueto, abituale
Not the same concept.
- 330
Looking at "comune" on wordreference.com, it looks as if it could also be translated as "public" or "municipal", which makes more sense.
Nice idea. However, in both wordreference and Collins, your sense of 'comune' is only given as a noun. 'Public' (adj) only gives 'pubblico', while 'municipal' (adj) gives 'municipale' and 'communale'. So probably not. And it doesn't fit with DL's other accepted options here.
but if you say municipal which would be comune and not communale, shouldn't he is not a municipal architect be correct as well?
To repeat: the Italian adjectives which mean "of a municipality/commune" are municipale and comunale. This sentence says comune. Read WordReference entries closely for each of these words.
- 1795
I myself would have translated as "not an everyday architect" or "not a conventional architect". Did not check whether it would have gone through.
Ordinary architect = architetto ordinario. I believe "common" relates to things rather than people.
In Britain at least, to call someone 'common' is to insult them. It means they are vulgar. 'Don't be so common' is a typical response to someone swearing.
Why use typical when you see comune and not tipico? Language teaching cannot accept distant synonyms.
By the way, "comune" sounds a bit off, because the audio stresses the wrong syllable. I thought it was worth reporting.
- 330
A better English sentence would be "He is no common architect". But I did not dare to try it!
Olivia, I agree but sadly he's a little too "gaudi" for many (alright, a little sic). :-)
