"He cooks in the kitchen."
Translation:Lui cucina nella cucina.
60 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Does anyone know if there is an (explainable) intangible difference between "Lui cucina nella cucina" and "Lui cucina in cucina" (and what that difference is, of course)? Like maybe "nella cucina" evokes the thought of a specific room in the house, where as "in cucina" makes one think about just the place where food gets made.
Of course I'm overthinking things :) but I'm curious...
in + il = nel in + la = nella in + l' =nell' in + i = nei in + le =nelle in + gli = negli in + lo =nello
My question isn't so much 'what is nella?' but rather in this instance, does "nella cucina" have a different feel than "in cucina" to the Italian ear (and of course, what is that difference)?
Le due espressioni sono equivalenti, anche se è senz'altro più usata quella senza articolo; si usa invece sempre con l'articolo quando viene identificata (nella mia, nella vostra, ecc.)
The two expressions are equivalent, even if the one without article is certainly more used; instead it is always used with the article when it is identified (in mine, yours, etc.)
mbisson, use "in cucina" and "in bagno" after the verb essere, to indicate where something is. Otherwise use the articulated preposition. Don't worry too much about it though.
What was told me by a native speaker is that: 1) in + definite article + place is old-fashioned usage though people would understand you 2) now "in + definite article + place" basically means "to be in the place but not to use it for its purpose". Example: "la mucca è nella cucina" = the cow is in the kitchen but alive and instead of being in the meadows) As you can see, the usage of a definite article in cases like this one has nothing in common with the usage of it in english, it does not mean a definite place, here, definite kitchen
In a "sloppy/fast" talk you can say both ways, it does not matter. but "in cucina" it means either 1)in a kitchen that you give for granted or 2) a generic kitchen.. 1) we are at home and i tell you " puoi andare in cucina a prendere il pane?" .. it is obvious I mean the kitchen of our home, it is the other room of this home. 2) we want to buy a treadmill, i ask you "Dove lo vuoi mettere?" you say " in cucina" and I answer "ma uno in cucina non ci mette un treadmill" it means none puts a treadmill in his kitchen, neither mine nor others'. If I use " nella cucina" is used either for a 3)generic topic or 4) a kitchen that is not granted: 3) the same example of point 2) 4) I have a huge house with 3 kitchens, and i tell "vai nella cucina del piano di sopra"
"In cucina" is literally "In Kitchen" and naturally, if you weren't speaking in the abstract you would want an article to define Cucina. Similarly, there's another question that says "Credo in lui"; You would not say "I believe in the him". It's technically idiomatic, but similar from English to Italian.
You totally could say "In cucina" but it's more abstract and poetic.
My Italian friend says that all rooms of the house use "in" instead of "nel/lo/la/le". So, "Gli animali sono nello zoo," but "il gatto è in cucina."
I'm sure there are exceptions, but I haven't been wrong yet going by this.
The prompt was, "He cooks in the kitchen." So, how can "Cucina nella cucina" be an acceptable response since it does not clearly state "He"? I find DuoLingo to be somewhat inconsistent on this point.
I am sure Duo accepts "lui cucina nella cucina" as a possible answer. However, as I already explained above, if you didn't know who it was cooking in the kitchen, you'd use his name. Once everybody knows who is cooking, it's enough to say "cucina nella cucina." An Italian would include the word "lui" or "lei" only if they had to clarify when there was a disagreement. To try to let you imagine how that would sound in English, you'd say HE cooks (or is cooking) in the kitchen. And with those caps I mean that the word HE is stressed by the voice. I hope that helps.
P.S. This is actually a classic example of one of Duolingo's weak points: lack of context. It really does sound strange when just one sentence is thrown at you like that -- and it's hard to explain the reason why a native speaker would use that translation... If, on the other hand, there were some development of a short story or of a paragraph, you might be able to understand better why it's not necessary to say "lui." Again, it's not wrong to say it, but it does change the emphasis.
I've learned that this language is very context based (if that makes sense. I'm not sure if you see what I'm saying). "Cucina" by itself doesn't apply to one gender.
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What happens is that different to English, Italian has a verb form for each person (Io, Lui/Lei, Noi, etc) and "cucina" (verb cucinare = to cook) is the verb form corresponding to "Lui" therefore the pronoun can be supressed because it is implied in the verb form itself. "(Lui/lei) cucina" = He/She cooks. For better understanding read about inflexions. That would help understanding why so many forms of the same word (articles, verbs, adjectives, etc.). Also be mindful of the word Lei translated into Eglish as You. That would be a formal way of referring to the second person (You). I hope this had been of help.
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Why can't I say lui cuoce nella cucina, I thought cuocere (sorry haven't got accent on my computer) means to cook.
Lynnich, that would mean that he himself was cooking, not cooking something. Yikes!
- 33
Well, I am often burning myself in the kitchen, maybe she was too?? Thank you for your help!
'Cucinare' is usually to prepare and cook foods (a transitive verb) whereas 'cuocere' is more the cooking process. It's usually used as an intransitive verb, meaning the action is contained within the subject, not passed onto something else. However, cuocere is sometimes, albeit rarely, used transitively as well. It doesn't have an accent. I take it from your question that Duo marked you wrong on it? Yeah, if you say 'lui cuoce nella cucina' what comes to my mind is a guy in the kitchen dying of heat. Maybe it's a hot day and he's using the oven too.
Why is " Lui cuochi nella cucina" wrong? Cuochi was given as one definition of "cooks" in the examples.
cuochi is the masculine plural noun, ie 'cooks' as in the people who cook.
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I'm confused previously "Lavoro sulla cucina" Meant both I work in the kitchen and on the kitchen, and here it doesn't? Can someone explain please?
You have to think the prepositions as connected to the verb, not to the noun.
"Lavorare su un'attività" (To work on an activity)
"Lavorare in un posto" (To work in a place)
"Cucinare in un posto" (To cook in a place)
(It could be "Cucinare sui fornelli" To cook on the stoves, but you are phisically into the kitchen, you would never say in English "I cook on the stoves", would you?
"To cook on the stove" is correct English, if rare - you wouldn't bother saying this unless you were stressing it was the stove you were cooking on as opposed to cooking in the microwave/on the grill etc.
You definitely wouldn't say "wok on the kitchen" though, unless you were doing repairs/building on the room itself.
"Lavora" could also mean that they are cleaning, fixing the plumbing, repairing something, etc. "Cucina", on the other hand is very specific, it means "cook".
I agree. I liked marziotta's direction to think about some of these bothersome prepositions as being connected to the verb, rather than the noun.
Why is "Cucina alla cucina" wrong? In another question, "alla cucina" in place of "nella cucina" was fine.
Remember that there's not a 1:1 relationship between prepositions (et al.) in English:Italian. Here "alla cucina" means "at the kitchen" not "in the kitchen." This is also a special case where you can say "in cucina" to mean the same. What is the other sentence you encountered (where "alla" works for "in the")?
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"Il Cuoco" means "The Cook", as is the person who cooks. "La Cucina" means "The Kitchen" and "cucina" is the third person singular present of the verb cucinare equivalent of english "he/she/it cooks"
Ma chi cucina in cucina? Il cuoco cucina in cucina. Io sono un cuoco e ho una cucina. Io cucino nella mia cucina, quindi... Io cucino in cucina! :)
when do I use gli? I know la is (F) and il & lo are (M) but when do I use (N) the?
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Why is 'il cucina nella cucina' wrong in this context when I was given it to transcribe a few questions ago?
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- il cucina nella cucina = the kitchen in the kitchen
Although it should be "La cucina nella cucina" in order to be ... (hmmm) ... correct.
Lui cuochi nella cucina? (thought it looked good).... I'm having trouble with masculine versus feminine also....
He cooks in the kitchen - Lui cucina nella cucina, cooks in the kitchen - cucina nella cucina. Why is the second one correct also?
I must be missing something really obvious, so I apologise in advance for this question, but …. Why is "Lui cucino nella cucina" wrong. I thought Cucino was right for masculine "to cook".
Just read the post at the bottom. I must be tired, too much Italian, all sorts of reasons..... I course Cucino means I cook and cucina means he cooks. Sorry.
il verbo cuocere è perfettamente corretto e nel caso della frase in questione è più gradevole l'ascolto, pertanto non è possibile darlo come errore. Rivedete e correggete perché è un'informazione errata.
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Why is it not cucino nella cucina? As it stands it is saying kitchen in the kitchen. Cucina nella cucina??
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Cuocere e cucinare in italiano sono sinonimi.Quindi la frase "Lui cuoce nella cucina" è MIGLIORE!
Im confused. There was no "he" in any of the answers. Go off I guess?
I have a question: why does the cook "cucina nella cucina" and we eat candies "allo zoo"
Very much the same as in English: he cooks in the kitchen but eats candies at the zoo.
nella = in the, allo = at the