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- "Domani lavoriamo."
27 Comments
Yes.
... it is, however, changing the emphasis we give to adverb .
The information move on "when"... and not on "work".
Therefore the sense is:
A "Oggi non lavorate?"
R "No. Lavoriamo domani".
Instead:
A "Venite al cinema domani?"
R "No. Domani lavoriamo".
HTH
Is it common to use a present tense here, or is it just because we haven't learnt the future tense yet?
In the spoken language the present tense is often used to indicate future actions.
To be grammatically correct you only have to use the present tense for future actions if you have a relation to the present in the sentence. In this phrase you have the word domani (tomorrow) which is only "tomorrow" seen from the present; in this case you have a relation to the present and so it's grammatically correct to use the present tense to express an future action.
(bytheway: it's the same with the past tense, but it isn't really used).
Thanks sandra, so great to get a quick answer here. Good thing I'm already used to this - my native language Dutch is just as "sloppy" with its tenses :-)
It may be a practice to use the present for the near future in English, but it is crude grammar, and the word 'will' is better English.
Present simple can express a fact, wish, hability or frequent activity. I think it works in English too.
Sorry, in English you'd say "tomorrow we'll work" much more often than "Tomorrow we work". I'm starting to get the feeling that the English translation was done by Germans, who generally who use the present tense where a Brit would use the future.
Technically it's correct in this form "Today we play, tomorrow we work". It's not a conversational sentence you'd hear every day, but it's not incorrect in any way.
That's not totally true, because it just says tomorrow we work so there is no possible way to know what happens today in that sentence. (exept meeting duo.)
Because we haven't learned future tense yet, they are just using this phrase to practice the words and the mechanics of simple, present tense. Not all the phrases are going to be things you'll usually say. That doesn't mean it's incorrect.
See sandrabruck's answer. It's clear that the present tense is ok in Italian, but it's not usual in English. We are learning Italian, not English, so "we haven't learnt the future tense yet" is not an argument. "Tomorrow we'll work" is correct.
I believe it is because it is similar to Portuguese, since it also comes from Latin: We use the present tense Very often to refer to the future, for example in "As pessoas trabalham amanhã", it literally means "The people work tomorrow", i.e. "the people will work tomorrow".
Would translating "lavoriamo" as "let's work" be correct? I know that "Andiamo" can be used like "Let's go" in English, so I kind of generalized into thinking that was true of "we" forms of other verbs. Am I wrong?
No, you aren't wrong because I believe you meant "Let's go work tomorrow" which would be correct.
Yes, the present tense in Italian can indicate future action, but shouldn't the English translation reflect that future action, i.e., will work?
It's quite a difference between "Tomorrow we work." and "We work tomorrow." Is there a way to work out the same difference in Italian? Is "Tomorrow we work" then translated to "Lavoriamo domani."? Thus is the meaning of the placement of tomorrow/domani at the end vs. the beginning just the opposite in English and in Italian?
The phrase We will work tomorrow should be accepted as a correct translation.
How does "domani lavoriamo" translate to "they will be back in an hour"?? Shouldn't it be "Tomorrow we work"?
I was marked correct with "Domani lavoriano", which I really shouldn't have been. Not even a warning about a typo, just a straight success.
