"Il vostro coltello non taglia."
Translation:Your knife does not cut.
80 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
"Your":
Singular Feminine: "la vostra"
Singular Masculine: "il vostro"
Plural Feminine: "le vostre"
Plural Masculine: "i vostri"
Yes, the two are related, although relatively few nouns have both a masculine and a feminine form.
Shouldn't it be tuo instead of vostro? I thought vostro was for plural "you" as in when you address a group?
I guess it is conceivable a group of people are all holding one knife incapable of cutting...
Since not everyone says "you all" or "yall" it makes sense. If you were to borrow a knife and address the couple who owns it with "your knife does not cut" it works, hence "vostro." But if you were just addressing one person then "tuo" would be used.
I think, that it would be an acceptable sentense, said to a waiter in a restaurant. Assuming that the knife is not a personal belonging of the waiter.
I'm pretty sure it's just because it's polite to say vostro instead of tuo. I know it's like that in French
In Italian, "tu" vs "voi" is strictly singular vs plural. If you want to be polite in Italian, you would use "Lei" or "Loro".
Thank you for the sources.
They do confirm what you say, but they also point out that it's uncommon/regional.
Yes, if you go to Southern Italy you can hear some people who say voi as a formal pronoun. But in the Northern or Central Italy people only say lei as a formal pronoun.
I am native speaker. By the way you can check it at the following links:
https://www.pimsleurapproach.com/resources/italian/grammar-guides/formal-informal/
http://www.orbilat.com/Languages/Italian/Grammar/Italian-Verb-Forms_of_address.html
Yes, if you were addressing only one person. "Il vostro" indicates you are addressing multiple people.
It says that is "won't cut" instead of "don't cut". I got it wrong because of that...
Here you need the 3rd person singular, therefore you use "taglia". Had "io" (I) been the subject of the sentence, you would have used "io taglio".
Conjungation of "tagliare", presente indicativo:
Io taglio
Tu tagli
Lui/lei taglia
Noi tagliamo
Voi tagliate
Loro tagliano
I see. So because the knife is what is being modified by cut then you use 3rd singular? So the sentence would be “your knife it does not cut”
Slice could also be used here as a correct word. I was under the impression taglio/taglia meant slice as well and slice is the exact same as cut.
No, because slicing is not exactly the same. You can cut a tomato without slicing it. Slicing is when the cutting object goes all the way through. A cut could only go about half-way through.
That makes it an adjective that derives from the past participle of the verb.
Rae.F I disagree. When a past participle changes to reflect the gender of the subject : Lei e' venutA or with a direct object pronoun: L'ho comprata (< ho comprato la casa), it has not become an adjective. It's still a verbal form, namely a past participle. The language simply provides for the verb form to reflect gender.
Oh. We only brought two knifes to the picnic. I need to cut this loaf of bread. You need a knife for the butter? Great! Here...your knife doesn't cut...that's why I gave it to you.
I've heard that voi is not often used these days as a formal you. Instead italians use capital Lei now..? And the possessive is declined just like "his/her/its". So this sentence could also read "Il Suo coltello non taglia."
trying to figure out when one uses vostro as opposed to tuo,,can anyone answer that for me? Thanks
TU - the singular "you"
The following are declensions of the possessive form ("your"):
il tuo - your singular masculine thing
i tuoi - your plural masculine things
la tua - your singular feminine thing
le tue - your plural feminine things
VOI - the plural "you"
The following are declensions of the possessive form ("your"):
il vostro - your singular masculine thing
i vostri - your plural masculine things
la vostra - your singular feminine thing
le vostre - your plural feminine things
When it's the possessive adjective (your thing), the article is mandatory.
When it's the possessive pronoun (yours), the article is optional.
http://www.italianlanguageguide.com/grammar/possessive-adjective.asp
You actually can not tell in English without context if it is you (singular) tuo of you (plural) bistro
Both should be correct
Just checked the the conjugate list for taglia. Okay got it but why not tagliete. (spelling?)
"Your knife" is third person singular (he/she/it), thus "taglia". The conjugation "tagliate" is for second person plural (y'all).
Gotti...I think 'il coltello' is clearly the knife, that is, the whole utensil, implement, etc. while 'la lama' (assuming you're not referring to one at your local zoo or atop a mountain somewhere in Nepal), is the "business end" of a knife, i.e., the actual blade.. Examples of its use are: lama di rasoio (razor blade) and lama di spada (blade of a sword).
eng.alexperes: It'd either be "your knife won't cut," which is a contraction of "will not" or "your knife doesn't cut," which is short for "does not". "Don't" would be the contraction of the plural "do not" and so incorrect here.
I said can't cut, but the correct answer is does not cut, so how would you say can't cut?
Il vostro coltello non può tagliare. può is "it can" and "tagliare" is the infinitive "to cut".
RoinujNosde: It's both. It's the general word for "knife", however one would use it.
vanBosheide: It could be. 'vostro' is 'your' plural, while 'tuo' is 'your' singular. it's a matter of whom you're addressing.
Jordyn...In English you need the auxiliary verb 'does' which you don't need in Italian. You can say: "The knife cuts." Or to be emphatic: "The knife does cut". In a negative sentence however, you can only say: "The knife does not cut." "The knife cuts not" is only seen/heard in poetic, archaic, or satirical writing.
iremdmrbs: The translation I see above is "does not cut" which certainly can be contracted to "doesn't cut". If you're given "won't cut" that's ok too since 'doesn't' and 'won't' in a context like this are expressing the same idea.
Verb conjugation has nothing to do with gender.
Because "coltello" is singular masculine, and all adjectives, including articles and possessives, must agree in grammatical number and gender. There is a list of the forms higher up on this page.
What is the difference between using vostra, vostro, etc, and tua, tuo, etc? Don't they both mean your?
English only has one "you" that pulls double duty as singular and plural. Many other languages have separate pronouns that make that distinction.
TU (singular "you", addressing exactly one person)
il tuo (your singular masculine thing)
i tuoi (your plural masculine things)
la tua (your singular feminine thing)
le tue (your plural feminine things)
VOI (plural "you/y'all", addressing two or more people)
il vostro (y'all's singular masculine thing)
i vostri (y'all's plural masculine things)
la vostra (y'all's singular feminine thing)
le vostre (y'all's plural feminine things)
As explained elsewhere on this page:
Verb conjugation has nothing to do with gender.
115
Hi can anyone tell me why this is Il vostro not il tuo when it is singular and masculine?
Without any context, it could be either il tuo (addressing a singular person about his/her singular masculine thing) or il vostro (addressing multiple people about their singular masculine thing).
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/264256?comment_id=4415969
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/264256?comment_id=35158821
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/646842?comment_id=31662782
In English, a particular knife in your kitchen is 'your' knife but we are speaking of one knife used by many people -- just as we speak of one kitchen being 'your' kitchen for the family.
In English this is a version of an adage: 'not the sharpest knife in the drawer.' Is there a phrase in Italian to indicate someone is a bit dim or dull?