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- "Bevo caffè alla mattina."
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So, are these forms correct to? "bevo caffe nella mattina" "bevo caffe di mattina"
I think the problem for us English speakers is the Italian prepositions don't slice along the same lines as English. In some phrases where we use "in", Italian uses "in", but for others it uses "a" or "per". I'm not sure there's an easy rule for it.
Though I notice these time words all tend to use "a" instead of "in". Maybe that's a rule? Siamo a aprile -> We are in April Bevo caffè alla mattina -> I drink coffee in the morning
So is there any way for us non-Italian speakers to learn when to use "nella" or "alla"?
I believe nella is more of being inside something physically. Something like months and seasons we are in them but not technically. Its more of a rule in the grammar to use a or di when referring to months seasons or time (morning, night, etc). And as far as "alla mattina" might be a regional thing in Italy. Its much more safer just to say "Bevo caffe di mattina". Still means the same thing and personally sounds more natural. (My family is from Palermo, Sicily so maybe in northern parts of Italy they say "alla mattina" but I never heard my family say it).
I'm not sure, but for this case, like a time of the day ( mezzogiorno, mattina, sera, notte.. you can just use di (di notte, di sera, di mezzogiorno..etc)
nella is incorrect because it describes being inside something physically. you cannot be inside a morning. don't know about di
Barron's Italian-English dictionary has two entries for "morning": "la mattina" and "il mattino". What's up with this? When is morning feminine and when is it masculine?
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Although they did not mark it wrong, I struggle with the accents. Is there a clear description or explanation somewhere on when to use which accent (acute or grave)?
Bevo caffe alla mattina. D'estate usiamo la griglia. Can someone please tell me the rule to which preposition to use when talking about what you do in certain times of the year. To me right now it's kinda random.
Bevo caffè alla mattina = I drink coffee in the morning.
Bevo caffè da mattina = I drink morning coffee.
Im going based on knowledge I've learned.
Esempio: Ho un vestito da sera (which we've all seen) = I have an evening dress.
I know this is an old question but I thought It might help answering this now in case anyone else is wondering. To my knowledge...
Bevo caffè alla mattina essentially means "I drink coffee by morning" di mattina doesn't make sense.
I'm a total newbie though but from what I've learnt, that seems to be the reasoning.
I think that is actually the more accurate translation, or at least an alternative one (but I'm not entirely sure). If you remember back in the earlier parts, we could use a noun to describe another noun by putting "al" in it, such as "Voglio del gelato al cioccolato" being "I want some chocolate ice cream." Perhaps that's what's going on here, but because "mattina" is feminine, we use the feminine form which would be "alla." So the sentence "Bevo caffè alla mattina," could very well be "I drink morning coffee."
Again, I'm not sure so it would be appreciated if someone more experienced could verify this.
I've not seen "mattina" used before this lesson. Typical greetings appear to be "Ciao." and "Buongiorno." Can I also say "Buona mattina."? I ask because Google Translate also suggests "Buona mattinata."
I don’t understand this either as Di Dominica is translated as Sunday’s or every Sunday.
I have the same question. "I drink coffee in the mornings" was marked wrong. How would one say "...in the mornings." ?
No, di means 'of'. Distinction between alla and nella are less clear to me but here's an explanation.
Any reason why 'a la mattina' is wrong? Just a matter of grammar I guess.
Re the previous question please can you apply British English when as i am you have a British user with a British phone/mobile location. E.g. I might not know that 'fall' is the third season of the year. We call it Autumn. US English is different from British English. E.g. Pants are underwear not trousers which cover your legs. Thanks
Two sentences on duolingo with the same meaning but two different answers that dont seem to be interchangeable. I drink coffee "alla mattina" but but my cats drink milk "di mattina". I dont get this. the meaning is exactly the same.
