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- "Dici che è grave?"
31 Comments
The word pense/ think does not show up in the original sentence. Dici che translates closer to "you say that". No thinking there at all. What's going on?
Yes, the usage of "dire" in this context is idiomatic, you could use "would you say" to be more literal, but that's just a roundabout way of asking you what you think of a statement.
Why not "Do you say it's serious"? That seems to mean the same, but also a more literal translation.
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"are you saying" is certainly used in this context. I went for that and got marked wrong.
No, it's used, but not in this context: the Italian question isn't about what someone else is saying, but asking the other person to say whether what the speaker just said represents a serious condition/illness. E.g. https://www.repubblica.it/online/cultura_scienze/bucchi/sessanta/sessanta.html: "Da depresso sento che mi mancano enormemente i libri su cui ho studiato all'università. Dici che è grave?" (when I'm depressed I feel that I'm missing enormously the books I studied on in University. Do you think it's serious?)
ANYONE: Why did DL stop giving the full conjugation of verbs when hovering over a verb form (like 'dici' for 'you say') where are the rest of the present form conjugations io, lui/lei, noi, voi, loro, etc.)????? That was a really useful feature.
Grave is almost never applied to people in modern Italian; the closer it gets is "avere un'aria grave", having a serious expression, but even that is mostly literary.
In my opinion and if the Italian expression is idiomatic the way you translate it shouldn't have to be so rigid. "Tell me, is it serious?" (which is what I wrote) means the same as "Do you think it is serious?" (correct according to Duo) but isn't accepted as a correct answer. Any thoughts on this?
I agree with you. If DL wants to use idioms it should be done in a separate unit, titled "IDIOMS"
I would have thought 'Are you saying it is serious' would be the closest translation that sounds right in English.
It might sound right, but it's quite the opposite of what the Italian sentence means: it's not a reaction to what someone else is saying, it's a request to say whether something is a problem. The actual translation might be quite far depending on context: e.g. "ho premuto il pulsante rosso, dici che è grave?" I would translate with "I pressed the red button, is that bad?" Or in an exchange like https://twitter.com/Dlavolo/status/531349842157912064 I would translate it with "is it that bad?"
f.formica has answered that six years ago ... have a look up
"Yes, the usage of "dire" in this context is idiomatic, you could use "would you say" to be more literal, but that's just a roundabout way of asking you what you think of a statement."
Do you say it is serious ? Is the given correct answer. But I would like to meet the person who would ever say this. They would stand alone while every other English speaking person would say “ Did you say it is serious”
This is an idiom, maybe? "Dici" does not carry the same connotation as "pensi," unless I'm overthinking this.
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I still think 'are you saying it is serious ? ' is a valid translation, 'do you say it is serious ?' is not good English.
