"I have a pair of sunglasses."
Translation:Ho un paio di occhiali da sole.
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It specifically asks for sunglasses, so you must add the "da sole" to distinguish them from (eye) glasses.
I used "scuri" - dark - which is used in Italian for sunglasses and I lost my heart. I think it is in San Francisco
Why not "occhiali di sole" ?? It seems like I didn't get the difference between di and da. Can someone explain please?
As far as I understand, 'di' means 'of', as in: un bicchiere di vino (a glass of wine), while 'da' means 'for', as in : un bicchiere da vino (a glass for wine - or simply 'a wine glass'). Hence occhiali da sole are 'glasses for sun'. I think there are lots of other uses too though, I find prepositions really confusing.
Thank you, your explanation has been very helpful. And I found these explanations, it may help you too. Prepositions and Clitic Pronouns are killing me :( da : http://italian.about.com/library/fare/blfare156a.htm di: http://italian.about.com/library/fare/blfare157a.htm
Thanks for those, they were helpful. I know this is one I am going to be struggling with for a while though. I'm just hoping if I keep seeing them it will eventually all fall into place. :)
One of the main uses of the preposition di in italian ("noun + di") is to describe what an object is made of.(E.g. il tavolo di legno - wooden table). If we use "occhiali di sole" in this specific case, it would mean, eyeglasses made from sun. Which makes no sense! And defeats the purpose. Lol
In our example here "da" was used to indicate purpose. Not sure if you remeber our example from the clothing section "vestito da sera". Kinda similar.
In this case, it helps if you think about da = for the = for da. Whateva floats ya boat! Hope that helps!
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Because "da" is evil. It's lurking in dark corners. It attacks when you're most confident. It defeats you, time and again. For each explanation you may read on "da", there will be five, ten, twenty exceptions and many more opinions, corrections and additional details to take into account. In reality, this "da" is a malignant invention of the Italians, especially designed and developed to confound us foreigners and expose us as poor ignorant aliens. In other words, "da" is the ultimate learning challenge!
"Ho un paio d'occhiali da sole" was not accepted. Can someone explain why the elision would be incorrect in this sentence? I've also reported it, just in case it is their mistake, but if not, I'd like to understand when it is OK to elide "di" and when it is not.
"d'occhiali" is acceptable. :)
I would rather write "di", but I don't know why.
As a staunch defender of "correct" English usage" (a losing battle), I understand that there is sometimes no "rule" for a usage that "feels" right. I doubt I will ever achieve that in any learned language, but I thank you for the helpful reply. It may help me to be more aware of when elisions are made (and not made) in the Italian I hear and read.
In the same way as glasses is singular in english ... Can you pass my glasses, rather than "both my glasses". It's nonsense, but it helps me ;)
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Does 'a pair of sunglasses' not point to one object in English? So 'ho gli occhiali da sole' is a correct translation?
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2019-11-25 Translating that back from Italian to English gives us, "I have the sunglasses", which is not the same sentence. It may mean there is only one item that is sunglasses and I have it, or it may mean that I have everybody's sunglasses for the trip we're beginning.
Please explain the difference between the use of di and degli in these DL challenges: di occhiali da sole versus degli occhiali rossi. Why?
Soooooo I hovered over "pair" and it gave me this translation: parlamentare che ha raggiunto un accordo con un parlamentare dell’opposizione affinché entrambi si astengano dal voto
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mp who has reached an agreement with an opposition MP to ensure that both abstain from the vote
this is all new to me; haven't learned "da sole" yet, and they spring this on us?!