- Forum >
- Topic: Italian >
- "I neither read nor write."
"I neither read nor write."
Translation:Io né leggo né scrivo.
76 Comments
2262
I'm not positive, but I think it is because the nés are directly modifying the verbs in this sentence "né leggo né scrivo." But in the other sentence the nés are modifying nouns so the "non" is added to modify the verb.
153
I agree. There should have been two sentences showing when and why one needs non. Often things appear in the lesson which haven't been introduced in the tips which isn't very helpful.
As I understand it, you shouldn't use 'non' when there's no verb before the first 'né' On the internet I found the following example sentences: "Né a te né a me interessa" and "Non interessa né a te né a me". "Non né …" would apparently be too much.
I understand that Duolingo tries to teach by example rather than stuffing rules down your throat, but sometimes it would be really helpful if things like these would be explained. I'm sure that this confusion could be solved with just a few sentences of explanation. I think that would apply to other situations as well.
530
First there are some langages *( such as French) where the double negative is compulsory, and second because even in italian other sentences where propose with two negatives: non ne mangia ne pollo ne pesce.
I am very confused now about the use of the word non. As the previous user indicates, it should be correct. Earlier duolingo tested me on this:
"Non è né tè né caffè nero." -Translation: It is neither tea nor black coffee.
So why is "Non né leggo né scrivo" now incorrect? Can someone please explain the use or non-use of the work 'Non' at the beggining of sentences with né ___né ...
59
I am confused by this as well. I thought you could use non without the subject as the subject is implied by the verb endings. At least Duolingo has accepted that before...
400
Nė..Nė....means..... Neither....Nor. The DL sentence ( Io nė leggo nė scrivo ) clearly means I neither read nor write. The problem is the previous question you mentioned. You would think that it should translate as ........Lei beve nė acqua nė latte. ...BUT
The Italians do like a double negative and this is just one example of it. I know it seems wrong to English ears but that's the way it is.
She doesn't drink neither water or milk. Lei non beve nė acqua nė latte
There is a workaround for the android app.
On your phone, open chrome (or whatever browser) separately from duo, and go to your duo hompage in chrome. Then you will be able to go to the discussion tab, click on 'Italian' on the right and search for this sentence to bring up the discussion of it, then you will be able to click on follow.
You can do all that while 'pausing' your session in duo, so practice is not disrupted.
1834
Why in this case "non" was not accepted, but in "She eats neither chicken nor fish" MUST BE "Lei non mangia né pollo né pesce"? Too bad...
233
Concerning the hint I thought I have always to use "non" before neither ... nor. Pls add the correct explanation to the hint.
(Treccani)
Con accento grafico, né (dal latino nec) è una congiunzione copulativa con il significato di e non.
Può essere usato
➔per la coordinazione di due o più proposizioni negative (coordinates two or more negative sentences), ad es.:
• Non me lo ha mai detto né scritto ergo first negative non me lo ha mai detto (he never told it to me) and second negative né = e non (implied: me lo ha mai) scritto (nor wrote)
• Ha raccomandato di non fiatare né muoversi per nessuna ragione (he asked me not to say a word, nor to move)
➔In una proposizione negativa, per unire due o più elementi che hanno nella frase la stessa funzione sintattica; in questo caso, né si ripete davanti a ciascun elemento (in order to join elements of same syntax value in a negative sentence by adding né before each element):
• Non ho saputo rispondere né sì né no (I couldn't answer neither yes nor no)
• Non ha voluto mangiare né il primo né il secondo piatto (he won't eat neither the first nor the second course)
NON here simply apply to the introductory action (VERB) it then negates to accomplish with the following non + né or né + né !
And as @zimtladen perfectly explained above, you also can encounter a né + né construction
➔in a positive sentence like in:
• Né io né tu sapevamo dove andare (neither I nor you, we knew where to go)
• Né io né lei siamo arrivati in tempo (neither she nor I, we arrived in time)
In this case, you mostly invert the position of the verb / né + né and begin your sentence with neither + nor / verb.
Martharegg - You mean the accents? I think they show subtle differences in pronunciation - for example between è and e. When it comes to an accent on the final letter as in the Italian for "coffee" and "city" it shows that the accent is on that syllable. (I used the English words there as I don't have an accent facility on this keyboard and I didn't want to be confusing!)
487
I guess it's like saying "I don't drink (either milk or tea)" versus "I don't (either read or write)"
314
according to maiden and robustelli, in a sentence like this, "I neither read nor write.", both verbs can be negated by a preceding 'né'. but it also could be, "Io non leggo né scrivo."
in a sentence that shares a verb with two or more noun phrases, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs; the verb must be negated with 'non' and the options are each negated by their own 'né'. "Io non leggo né giornali né libri."