"I martedì mangio il formaggio."

Translation:On Tuesdays I eat cheese.

March 8, 2013

126 Comments
This discussion is locked.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/sanio

I would like to vote for this sentence being on the Italian Duolingo T-shirts.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/map111

All the name of the days in italian finish in --> ì <- the i with accent attono, is plural and singular because the name of each day,don't chance never, , the day of the week are lunedì =monday ,martedì = tuesday , miercoledì= Wednesday , giovedì=Thursday , venerdì=friday but only sabato =saturday and domenicha= sunday these can chance to sabati =saturdays and domeniche
like in spanish where all the day into the are in plural lunes , martes , miercoles , jueves , viernes , but sabado and domingo are singulares and we can chance to prural if we need in the talking note or show that they are some


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/jamdunk

Thanks for taking the time to comment in english on italian grammar, your post is useful to me. Good luck with your english course.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/map111

Hi ! What is your mother lenguage?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/uroshu

*domenica = Sunday (not: domenicha)


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Elon_the_Hittite

Hola, map111, just a couple of points: first, in your explanation it's 'change', not 'chance'; in English 'to chance' and 'to change' mean completely different things. Secondly, in Italian it's 'domenica', not "domenicha"; the 'h' would be redundant for the sound value here - unlike Spanish. However, the plural is 'domeniche' to keep the hard 'c' sound.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Jaknasrav

Dude yes I would buy one


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Caepa

Why is this (martedi) plural while the other words for the days of the week learned thus far are translated as singular?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/marziotta

"martedì" is both singular and plural, it doesn't change.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Caepa

Ah, I just noticed that it's 'i martedi' and not 'il martedi'. Thank you!


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/cynnamonro

I just saw that too - the plural "the" lets us know the noun, martedì, is plural here. Take it out and we eat cheese on Tuesday singular.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Alex_Luka

I had a sentence starting with "on Tuesdays" just a few sentences before this one though and that one only accepted "il martedì" as a translation. Then comes this one, which only accepts "i martedì". Slightly confusing.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/zimtladen

DL has this wrong here. "i" is wrong. It should be "il".


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/anna857144

I agree ..and the audio is very poor


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/lina___

The other words for the days of the week are just the same.

Here we get the plural form /TuesdayS/ thanks to the "I". It would be the same with I lundedi /Mondays/, I marcoledi /WednsdayS/ - which are learned in sections 1/2/.

Without 'I' here it would be: Martedi mangio il formaggio or Lunedi mangio il formaggio which will be On Tuesday I eat cheese // On Monday I eat cheese.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/vik_i_m

Thanks Lina for bringing out a vital point here. The implication of "I" in this case.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/zimtladen

"i" is wrong though. DL has messed this up. It must be the singular "il" (or "la" for domenica, the only feminine day of the week).


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/ltm328

Words that end in an accent do not change based on number [e.g. la università (the university) --> le università (the universities); la città (the city) --> le città (the cities)]


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Racile

Thanks for your explanation so helpful :)


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/ZapFairy

I agree... this is the first one in a long succession that the translation of all of them was not singular. il martedi should work too. on fridays I eat fish was il venerdi. why is this one i instead of il?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/judithmack

ON TUESDAYS: I've looked up Collins Dictionary online and Duolingo definitely seems to be wrong here. "On Tuesdays" may be translated by "tutti i martedì" (literally "all the Tuesdays"). Alternatively, using "Tuesday" in the singular, "on Tuesdays" is "il martedì" or "ogni martedì" ("every Tuesday"). All three are correct Italian translations for "on Tuesdays". Here is "He works every Friday" in Italian: "Lui lavora tutti i venerdì / il venerdì / ogni venerdì".

For the benefit of anyone who knows French, I'd like to point out that Italian and French are similar here. "On Tuesdays" in French is "tous les mardis" (using plural) and (using singular) "le mardi" and "cheque mardi". The difference between Italian and French is that French names for the days of the week, like English, have plural forms - "mardis", "Wednesdays" - while in Italian the names of the days of the week don't change between singular and plural.

I see that zimtladen says that in Italian there is yet another option: "di martedì" for "on Tuesdays".

ON TUESDAY: Italian and French are again similar. In both languages you just give the day and nothing else: "martedì"/"mardi". For example, "Lui arriva martedì" ("He is arriving on Tuesday").


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Alejandro_T

does anyone know why duolingo says this is "i martedi" but for the Saturday example it's "il sabato" ? why the difference?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/alanvoe

I think that this Duolingo exercise is incorrect. The sentence should start with "tutti i martedì" or "il martedì". Reference: https://italian.stackexchange.com/questions/11197/does-a-weekday-preceded-with-a-plural-definite-article-express-regular-events


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/SofieLange95

I'm confused by this too


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Nollie260

Yes, this is puzzling. Can anybody give an solution, please?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/judithmack

"Il sabato" or "ogni sabato" is correct Italian for "on Saturdays". "On Tuesdays" should be "il martedì" or "ogni martedì". Duolingo is wrong.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Ojgi

i thought we ate the cheese on Wednesday


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/shiningkira

We wear pink on Wednesdays.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Rayne247082

Funny! thanks for the input


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/refrigerifero

I still don't get it, I martedi = tuesdays but il sabato = saturdays ?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/alanvoe

I think that this Duolingo exercise is incorrect. The sentence should start with "tutti i martedì" or "il martedì". Reference: https://italian.stackexchange.com/questions/11197/does-a-weekday-preceded-with-a-plural-definite-article-express-regular-events


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/kristin45712

I like someone who has a schedule for their cheese eating


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Mattdennis7

"Il martedì mangio il formaggio" is being marked as incorrect, while a text prompt of the exact same phrase puts that as the correct response, but marks "I martedì mangio il formaggio" as incorrect.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/dccPDX

Same question


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/judithmack

"Il martedì mangio il formaggio" is the one that's correct.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Elena75121

Could someone please explain to me what is the difference between "I martedì mangio il formaggio" and "Il martedì mangio il formaggio"? Duolingo keeps giving me both versions, but provides the same translation "On Tuesdays I eat cheese."


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/CristinaMa670333

In Italian, names of the days are inflected.

We have different strategies

Ci vediamo (questo) martedì See you (this / on) Tuesday

Ci vediamo il / ogni / tutti i martedì We see on Tuesdays

Some ambiguities might be found on the following, but contexts always help. As a sentence in itself

Ci vediamo di martedì

Is potentially both (at least to my hearing)


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/CristinaMa670333

no, not really... sorry

Lunedì Martedì Mercoledì Giovedì Venerdì Sabato they are inflected

(la) Domenica (sing) (Le) Domeniche (plur)


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/ThomasH.137928

Tried to sing la domenica, but i sang wrong.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/judithmack

Grazie. I wonder if I'm right that "every Sunday" may be translated by "tutte le domeniche".


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/alanvoe

I think that this Duolingo exercise is incorrect. The sentence should start with "tutti i martedì" or "il martedì". Reference: https://italian.stackexchange.com/questions/11197/does-a-weekday-preceded-with-a-plural-definite-article-express-regular-events


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/judithmack

"Il martedì mangio il formaggio" is the one that's correct. Duolingo made a mistake.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Inksi

Once "i martedi " is wrong and "il martedi " right; then again the opposite????!!!!!


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/zimtladen

The other time it had it right. What is given here is wrong.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/judithmack

Duolingo made a mistake. "On Tuesdays" is "il martedì".


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/mlight

I was surprised the "I" could be "on" I thought it could only be "the"


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/tdattolo

I think the plural definitive article in this case "i" is used to indicate that something (eating cheese) happens every tuesday. A more literal translation would be: "Tuesdays I eat cheese" which means that every tuesday cheese is eaten. The direct translation of "i" is still "the" but the meaning of "i martedi" is the equivalent of "on tuesdays" in English.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Preste

It is like: All the (plural = i) Tuesday(s) I eat the cheese.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/judithmack

But Duolingo made a mistake. The "i" is plural "the" but you'd have to write "tutti i martedì" (literally "all the Tuesdays"). Alternatives are "il martedì" and "ogni martedì".


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/ratefreakman

Tuesdays I eat cheese, and Wednesday I eat mortadella, and Thursdays I eat the bread!


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/mary973134

Venerdì hai un panino nello stomaco :)


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Jae633849

È meglio mangiare il formaggio tutti i giorni!


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/EnchantedApril

I commented on another post about this sentence. It is presented here in Italian as "I martedì..." In another lesson, one must translate this exact sentence from English to Italian, but "I martedì..." is marked wrong! Why the inconsistency?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/zimtladen

"i martedì" is wrong. It should be "il martedì".


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/wuzeq

Why here is "On tuesdays" while all previous examples didn't use any preposition (?) to express that something happens every week


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Douglas381466

Okay, now I'm really confused. I just learned from another post that "Il lunedi" means "On Mondays (plural)" while "lunedi" with no article means "On Monday (singular)." So, shouldn't this be "Il martedi mangio...."? Help!!!!!


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/zimtladen

Yes, you are exactly right. Duolingo has mangled this one.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Sandra795079

The is the sentence: "on Mondays I don't work" and comes correct (green) when you type "il lunedi non lavoro". Then here is this sentence: "on Tuesdays I eat cheese" and comes incorrect when you type after the same pattern as before "il martedi mangio il formaggio" but comes correct when you type "i martedi mangio il formaggio". Why is it this way? In both sentences in Englisch the weekdays are plural but in the Monday/work sentence they want it singular in the italian translation and in the Tuesday/cheese sentence they want all sudden plural in the italian translation.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/MariannaLead

Yes, exactly my questo


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/judithmack

Duolingo made a mistake. The correct Italian is "Il martedì mangio il formaggio" ("martedì" being singular here). I think someone at Duolingo got muddled because an equally correct Italian expression with the same meaning uses the plural. In this case it would be "all the Tuesdays" - "Tutti i martedì mangio il formaggio".


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/purenitrogen

I'm not native to Italian, but from what I learned another possible solution should be "Every Tuesday I eat cheese." Maybe someone could correct me on this.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/brienza112

I'm not native either, but what I learned is that you would use "ogni" to say every. In this case the meanings are very similar, so in conversation it wouldn't make much of a difference.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/judithmack

According to Collins Dictionary instead of "Il martedì mangio ..." you can say "Ogni martedì mangio ..." with the same meaning


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/maria121318

Is this a mistake? Shouldn't it be: Il martedì


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/zimtladen

Yes, it is a mistake by DL. You are exactly right.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Doorfish

On Tuesday I eat cheese. Only.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Fernacious_P

And on wednesdays we wear pink.


[deactivated user]

    I need to learn "On Wednesdays we wear pink"


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/GraemeJeal

    On the words above, the accents over every "I" look the same to me. I take it that only Tuesday has the backward sloping thingy, though.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Gita-ji

    All the days ending in 'dì' have 'the backward sloping thingy.' It is hard to distinguish from normal 'i' though.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/SylviaMia1

    I wrote every Tuesday i eat the cheese ... ugh


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/PATRICKPIZ1

    ogni martedi, tutti i martedi


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/nazigol

    so what is On Tuesday I eat cheese. as something I do only for one Tuesday no always as a habitual task?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/alanvoe

    The main translation is "On Tuesdays I eat cheese". English uses plural and French singular in this context.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/PATRICKPIZ1

    it's not that straight forward. in english we also use the singular when talking about something done habitually. "on tuesday i eat cheese, wednesday porridge.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/SignorMittet

    That phrase is extremely useful and important! Best pickup linr ever!


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Tootle46

    for the English translation, the "On" should not be necessary. "Tuesdays I eat cheese." was counted wrong but should be accepted.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/nasaricca

    I kinda very much disagree with this. Doesn't putting a definitive like "Il" in front of anyday if the week make it a reoccurring thing!? A lunedì = on Monday but il lunedì = (on) Mondays?! I'm pretty sure this rule extends to adjectives too. Il alto = the tallest. Etc. This app is good but not for new learners of a language


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/zimtladen

    Actually to say "on Monday", meaning one particular Monday, you would just use the word lunedì without any article or preposition at all. For regularly on Mondays it is either il lunedì or di lunedì. Alternatively ogni lunedì or tutti i lunedì for "every Monday". But not "i lunedì" on its own. ("i martedì" here is a mistake by Duolingo)


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/AndreLHeyns

    2 questions earlier the correct answer was "IL martedi" all of a sudden it is "I martedi" (The exact same sentence) please explain


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/judithmack

    This is simply a mistake by Duolingo. The correct Italian is "Il martedì mangio ..." I think Duolingo got it wrong by confusion with "tutti i martedì" ("all the Tuesdays") which has the same meaning.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/FunAddict

    Does anyone else have trouble distinguishing between the female speaker saying the articles "il" and "i"? Particularly confusing here as "il martedì" should be accepted.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/MichaelZon10

    I martedi il cuoco cucina un serpente


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/judithmack

    Horrible thought, I'd get a new cook or stay away on Tuesdays! - but your sentence is wrong because Duolingo mistakenly taught "I martedì ...". Your sentence should be "Il martedì il cuoco cucina un serpente".


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Katia459268

    Again duolingo translates On Tuesdays.= I martedi,,,, instead ....il martedi ...because in previous sections you insisted that the correct is ..il martedi . Now again I am confused with this !!!!!


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Kartagis

    Three sentences ago, i wasn't used, so which one is correct?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Kartagis

    You mean "i martedi"?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/zimtladen

    Yes. See my reply to Katia459268 above.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Diane-Berto

    Why does it say "i martedì"? Every other instance it is wrong! But not here?!


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/donatoadc

    Well that's odd. It's Mondays for me.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/m1c45

    so with the before Tuesday it means just this Tuesday?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/derkz16

    Can't it be "Every tuesday i eat cheese"?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/dhunteroz

    thats what I put, also marked wrong


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/judithmack

    "Every Tuesday I eat ..." would be "Ogni martedì mangio..." or "Tutti i martedì mangio ..." but I think there's no difference in meaning really in English between "Every Tuesday" and "On Tuesdays".


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/MahmoudJimmy

    Damn, it should be di Martedì i guess


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/MikeGGP1

    Is the plural of "in" "i". I expected this to be "in martedi" similar to "in gennaio"


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/jesslc

    No "i" here is the plural "il" and indicates that the sentence is "on Tuesdays" (instead of "on Tuesday"). Days of the week have different conventions to months of the year.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/zimtladen

    Actually it is wrong here: "on Tuesday(s)", meaning "every Tuesday", can be il martedì, di martedì or else ogni martedì. But not i martedì.

    "On Tuesday", meaning one particular Tuesday, is just the single word martedì.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/ClareP86

    Lol. I love this sentence


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Andreas.T.P.

    Do ATTENTION DUOLINGO here!! THIS exercise says: TYPE WHAT YOU HEAR. I hear an ITALIAN sentences (I martedì mangio il formaggio.) NOT am English one! Than I write in Italian, not in English. PLEASE CORRECT HERE SOMEWHAT.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Lauri533034

    But I drink his beer in September. I want beer with my cheese today!


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Schnesskett

    I'm just waiting for the "On wednesdays we wear pinkc sentence


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/delamiafede

    E i mercoledì portiamo rosa.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/AndreaDigg1

    I translated this as "I eat cheese on Tuesdays" and I'm honestly surprised they deemed that as correct.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/alanvoe

    Your translation is correct, but Duolingo often rejects unnecessary word order inversions.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Niki121cz

    There is "il". Why I can't write "the"?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Helen142736

    The previous example directly contradicts this. One was with Il thevother with i and both were explained as On Tuesdays. How can i possibly know what is right?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/zimtladen

    "il" is right. "i" is wrong.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/judithmack

    Duolingo made a mistake. As zimtladen says the correct Italian is "Il martedì mangio ..."


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Alejandra21949

    What wrong with, I eat cheese on Tuesdays. ?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Thalasokoritso

    Is this what Italian Plastics say


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Renbud1

    I thought the cheese was for Wednesday. Non puo aspettare.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/jaycarlyle

    It is impossible for me to distinguish il/i when the woman is speaking. Often this is okay because of the context. Here, it seems to me, it could be in the singular - On Tuesday ....?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/zimtladen

    Actually it should be singular. il martedì = (regularly) "on Tuesdays". To say "On Tuesday" (eg referring to next or last Tuesday) it would just be the single word martedì. But "i martedì" is just wrong.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/ColinDocke1

    Like with many phonics, i thought it was "di martedi" does this not say the same thing ?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/zimtladen

    di would actually be correct, unlike i....


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/AndrewChenYYC

    Why the engliah question (type italiano answer) and the italiano question (type english answer) are NOT consistent?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Katia459268

    There is a grammar problem with this sentence. From english to italian the accepted answer is "il martedi" from Italian speaker changes to "i martedi" for the same sentence !! So "On tuesdays" is plural or singular ?????


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/zimtladen

    "On Tuesdays" (meaning generally on each and every Tuesday) is il martedì or di martedì.

    "On Tuesday" (meaning on one particular Tuesday, which one being clear from the context) is just the single word martedì.

    "i martedì", on the other hand, is just wrong.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/judycucin

    Is it just me, or does "i" and "il" sound identical on Duo?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/zimtladen

    In this case i martedì ought not only to sound like il martedì but it should BE il martedì, since il martedì is right and i martedì is wrong.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Kaylee385649

    And on Wednesdays we wear pink ;) Tutti i mercoledì indossiamo il rosa


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/GirolamoF87517

    Please at least write the proper sentences what is "i martedi"


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/DominiqueT96956

    In another exercise I get a red flag for "I martedì" and is "il martedì" accepted. Duolingo tsss

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