"Io voglio una batteria per la mia automobile."
Translation:I want a battery for my car.
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Why didn't "I want a battery for my vehicle" work? That was the original translation it gave me when it taught me "automobile"
Interesting the hover hints for batteria includes drums.
Often drums / fifes / trumpets were used to lead men to war; indeed they were even used to actually signal the regiments. This carries over today as a battery drum line.
I happen to know this because I have marched in various drum and bugle corps; I played baritone and soprano bugles :-)
If I recall correctly, my old students once told me that "mi batteria" in Spanish can also be slang for "my friends" (Chiclayo, Peru) :P
Even in English-speaking orchestras, we often refer to the percussion section as the "battery".
If I recall correctly, "battre" means "to hit" in french. I am not a native though, so correct me if I'm wrong.
You can be justified also by the fact that the same verb translates as "battere" in Italian too, thanks to Latin.
You are right. Battery was probably named so because an electrical discharge may "hit" you. See https://www.duolingo.com/comment/301708
Actually the word battery usually implies a collection of objects ordered in a specific way that makes that object useful. An electric battery is actually series of electrical cells stacked on top of each other in series. Battery chicken farms use a series of cages all stacked together. A missile battery uses a set (or battery) of missiles. In italian and other languages a set of drums or other percussion instruments are called a batteria for the same reason.
Nerdy but interesting!
They both mean "car", but macchina is more informal.
Macchina can also refer to a generic machine.
never, ever heard of "automobile", except in very formal documents (like a license) - always "macchina"
Whenever I visit northern Italy, everyone refers to their car as "la macchina" not "l'automobile".
My dad is a native speaker and just told me that macchina translates to machine but is often referred to as a car, where as automobile is not see generic as it only refers to automobiles. So one is simply more specific than the other but both are acceptable.
Vehicle doesn't work for this sentence but I was taught that automobile was vehicle.
I was soooo tempted to translate this as "I want a new drum kit for my car" just to see what Duo would say. ;-)
One minute it says "automobile" is masculine, another time it is "feminine." My Cassells dictionary says it is both masculine and feminine. Shouldn't it accept either one?
"Automobile" is always feminine, I've never heard anyone referring to "l'automobile" as masculine. E.G. "la mia automobile è una Toyota, mentre quella di mia sorella è una FIAT". Even the brands are referred to as feminine, because they imply "l'automobile" before: "la Ferrari, la Ford, la Volkswagen, la Chrysler, la Volvo ecc."
My Cassell's dictionary says it can be either. That's partly what I was going on. And I cited that Duolingo has claimed it to be both. It's been a lot time ago, so I don't remember the exact circumstances.
You're right, I didn't know it! I've just checked it: in origin it was masculine, but in 1926 it was decided that it had to be feminine, and since then it had been used only in this form. You'll never hear anyone in Italy using it in the masculine form.
I realize when it is audio, you should write what the audio says. But in other places it should be acceptable either way. I often get genders incorrect when the question is audio, partly because my hearing is not the best. Other times, I think the pronunciation is "sloppy."
Is this how I would request a new battery for my car at a mechanic's shop? Or is there a more polite way to ask for something?
I suppose I would say, "Ho bisogno di una batteria nuova" or something like that. If I'm in an auto repair shop, it's obvious that it's for a car. Or in an auto parts shop. More likely, though, I'd say, "Ho una batteria morta."
Is "batteria" a car battery in particular or just an arbitrary battery?
It can be any kind of battery. (Batteries (AA, AAA, C, D, 9V etc) for electric devices, like radios, remote control etc., are often called "pila").
"Batteria" could also mean: the drum set; a set of pots (Batteria di pentole); a set of artillery (Batteria d'artiglieria); a preliminary tournament in sports like swimming (Batteria di nuoto) and in general an array of similar things or persons/animals (a.e. Una batteria di cani).
I translated this as "I want a new battery for my car" and was marked as incorrect, the "correct" translation offered was "I want a battery for my automobile". In previous exercises automobile (Italian) has been translated as both motor and engine, now it is offered as automobile (English), which are we students to use and how are we differentiate between these three alternatives?
Furthermore, should one wish, or need to purchase a battery for ones car/automobile/vehicle surely one would require/expect that battery to be a new battery, both in the sense of not previously having been fitted to a car/automobile/vehicle, and new to ones own car/automobile/vehicle as well. Which supposition means that my translation was correct and DuoLingo was wrong to mark my translation as incorrect.
We will learn later that "vorrei" is the best form to use of volere instead of the in-your-face "voglio".
"La mia automobile" is correct for "my car" and for the specific context of the lesson sentence. However, an Italian will refer to their car as "la mia macchina" (my machine)...a strong reflection of Italians love for their cars (a country with one of the highest per capita car ownership) and the nation's formidable (luxury) car industry (FIAT, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Alfa Romeo, Maserati...). Gli italiani amano le auto veloci e il cibo lento (Italians love fast cars and slow food).
Why is "batteria" ending with an "a" not feminine, deserving feminine article "una"? DL translates it as "un" ????
