"La cucina è la sua."
Translation:The kitchen is his.
262 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Both are correct in this context, so we don't know and both are accepted by the system. I used "hers" and it was fine :)
I said the kitchen is hers and was marked wrong. But if I say the kitchen is his it is marked correct why?
It should be correct both ways, considering the lack of context telling us whose it is. It could have been a glitch.
So if I was having a conversation in Italian, and someone asked who owns the kitchen, and I said "la cucina e la sua", even if the owner was male, is it still correct?
Right. In Italian, all adjectives, including all the possessives (possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns), must agree with the noun they go with. In this sentence, the possessive goes with "la cucina", which is singular and feminine. Therefore it must always be "La cucina è la sua."
If you need to specify "his" vs "hers", you need to say "La cucina è di lui" or "La cucina è di lei".
Here we go again, endless debates about" out of context frazes" Also kindly correct me, when the possessive is the last word in the sentence we do "not" use la or le?" Or was that in Italian thing? It may be Italian", it is something kind of Very important for me to know, thanks for your time...could it be French. I made a big note of it, somewhere?
I believe that in French like in English you cannot have a possessive adjective as a predicate, and possessive pronouns need the article, so "C'est mon chat" -> "C'est le mien". In Italian you can actually use the adjective, so "il gatto è il mio" and "il gatto è mio" are equally correct, they just carry slightly different nuances.
Am I getting something different? 'hers' was not given as an alternative...only 'his'
If "sua" were capitalized ("Sua") that would be fine, since "Lei" is the formal "you". But since it's lower-case, it can only be "his/hers". Then again, Duolingo doesn't really pay too much attention to capitalization.
No, "it is his kitchen" is wrong as well; the subject of the sentence is the kitchen, not "it", so it's either "The kitchen is his" or "The kitchen is hers".
I said 'theirs' because that's how you say 'third person of indeterminate gender', and apparently that was wrong.
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I think Rae.F's answer 2 years ago above may be helpful here, in particular the point about "sua" being lower case - see what you think i.e. " .....But since it's lower-case, it can only be "his/hers". Usually if the gender is unclear then the default is male I believe.
That would be "la Sua" with capital S, because it would belong to "Lei" and not to "lei".
I understand that when reading and writing, but how can you convey a capital letter when speaking aloud?
No. As explained before, the possessive is like any other adjective and must agree with the noun it describes, not with whose it is. We always say "la cucina è la sua" regardless of whose it is because "la sua" must agree with "la cucina". It could just as easily be his kitchen or your kitchen, if we're using the polite "you".
Yes, "la" is the feminine form of "the", but it must agree with the noun it goes with, not with who owns it. "La cucina" is feminine, and so "la sua" must also be feminine. It has nothing to do with whether "he" or "she" owns it.
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Masculine singular = Il suo Feminine singular = la sua
La cucina e la sua = The kitchen is hers or also It is her kitchen.
I am a bit confused! Some clarification please!
The article and the possessive both only refer to the subject (the kitchen) and not to the person who owns the kitchen. In this case we simply don't know if this person is a guy or a girl, so both 'The kitchen is his' and 'The kitchen is hers' are correct.
So what this means is that "kitchen" is a feminine noun in Italian, is that correct? If we changed it to a masculine noun, like "ragazzo", we woild also have to change "sua" to "suo", and it would mean "the boy is his/hers". Am I correct to make this assumption?
"kitchen" is always feminine in Italian. That never changes. But IF it were masculine, then yes, you would say something like "il cucino è il suo" to mean "the kitchen is his/hers". But since it's feminine, we say "la cucina è la sua" to mean "the kitchen is his/hers".
This is because the possessive, like all other adjectives, must agree with the noun it's associated with (in this case "kitchen") and never with who owns it.
Was it, perhaps, a "type what you hear" exercise?
Then you have to type what you hear... if the voice speaks Italian, you have to type Italian words, not English ones.
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I think "L'olio è suo" is a general statement "The oil is his" while "L'olio é il suo" is indicating that the oil belongs to him for sure. This concept might be hard to understand because it does not exist in English. Does anyone has any thought on this?
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Yeah I don't think it exists in English, but it does in French. It might be like "it is her kitchen" (sua) vs "the kitchen is hers" (la sua) or "the kitchen belongs to her" (la sua)
I'm not sure I get your point there Jag1949.
Mario è un agricoltore. L'olio è il suo. / L'olio è suo.
or
Anna è un'agricoltrice. L'olio è il suo. / L'olio è suo.
There's no really a difference between those two sentences.
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From what I can tell, adding the 'il' doesnt change the meaning of the phrase, it simply emphasises the ownership part of it.
In english we would change our tone slighly and maybe furr our brow to make the point.
Nuances.
It's the difference between "It's his (not mine)" and "It (not something else) is his".
Can someone tell me when do we use "il cane è il mio" and "il cane è mio". Thank you in advance
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• "la cucina è mia" = "la cucina è la mia".
• "il cane è mio" = "il cane è il mio".
The difference is Very subtle and IMHO there is no real difference in meaning
instead, there is a slight difference in meaning if the sentence is in its negative form.
• "la cucina NON è mia" = "the kitchen is not mine" (maybe I have one or more kitchens, or maybe I don't have any).
• "la cucina NON è la mia" = "the kitchen is not mine" (but surely I have or I have had a kitchen)
omg,lol, i am more trapped and confused with "its, his, her , hers.." what is "la sua" and "il suo" exactly ?
Both of them mean "his, her, hers, its" (depending on context).
la sua is used when the thing that is owned is singular and feminine, il suo when it is singular and masculine.
Is it possible to say " La cucina è suo" to mean "the kitchen is his" and " la cucina è la sua" to mean "the kitchen is hers"?
No. It can only be "La cucina è (la) sua" because "la sua" must agree with "la cucina", never with whose it is.
If you need to be more explicit, you would say "La cucina è di lui" or "La cucina è di lei".
Why does duo let us choose from accents angled 2 different ways in the Italian section?
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(I'm italian)
95% of italian words with accent use the left-facing accent (╰) (grave)
"Perché" (why/because), ventitré (twenty-three) use the right-facing accent (╯) (acute), but IMHO few people in italy know the real difference in pronounciation
-Official site in italian language-
-Site in English language-
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This could also be translated as his/her cooking as in '' la cucina povera'' describing the food of the poor or peasants now very fashionable.
If you're referring to the formal you, you're kind of right: the program is based mostly on writing sentences out of context, so we only translate suo to you when it is capitalized. Although this rule doesn't always apply outside of formal documents written in Italian, there are pedagogical reasons behind it. There would be a lot of confusion for beginners who would wonder why they just started learning Italian 2 minutes ago and all of a sudden you and she are the same word! Here are a few examples of when formal you would be appropriate (if found beyond the skill dedicated to formal you):
- Sua madre cucina bene = Her/Your mother cooks well.
- Lei è una donna perfetta = She is/You are a perfect woman.
- La preghiamo di andare via! = We ask that you/she please go away!
why is it L'olio è suo , but la cucina è la sua. then shouldnt L'olio è il suo be correct
Both ways are correct, depending on what you're emphasizing.
"La cucina è sua" would mean "The kitchen is his/hers (and not mine)." "La cucina è la sua" would mean "The kitchen (this one, not another one) is his/hers."
There's not much of an emphasis. It's just the normal sentece we would use. Saying "Una cucina è sua" would sound weird in italian. It would mean that there are more kitchen and only one is his/hers.
Only in a really rare circumstance and used in a weird way. For example: You go in a restaurant and you recognize from the taste of the dishes that the chef is ceirtanly Mr. X. So you say: "la cucina è la sua". Meaning with the term "cucina" his style of cooking.
Since no gender is implied, wouldn't a better translation for suo/sua/sue be "theirs"?
It wouldn't be since suo/sua/sue is singular. Theirs corresponds to "loro". :)
Going from English to Italian, certainly. From Italian to English, however, I believe awebb is referring to the "singular they" (which was good enough for Jane Austen).
That's EXACTLY what I mean. It's confusing to say suo or sua both mean his/hers/its, when in reality (at least as far as an English translation goes) they would be better defined as singular "they/their".
That's true, especially since there is no context; but from a teaching perspective, just imagine the mind-boggling confusion that would cause... It's already hard enough teaching the difference between singular, plural and formal you...
I can see where you're coming from, because English is also my native language, but consider the Italian speaker learning English. "His cat" can mean the cat is male or female! How do they know whether to translate it as "il suo gatto" or "la sua gatta"? This is why Duolingo accepts either answer when typing, and has you select multiple answers when it's multiple choice.
While this lack of one-to-one correspondence between languages can legitimately be confusing to many learners, it is still something that's important to take a good stab at. For all that it's perfectly fine to use the "singular they", language education in general (and perhaps Duolingo as well) tends to emphasize standard usage, which prefers to keep the singular singular and the plural plural.
@franwy No. In English, "his cat" means "the cat belongs to him" and "her cat" means "the cat belongs to her", regardless of the gender of the cat.
In the Romance languages, including Italian, all adjectives, including possessives, have to agree in number and gender with the noun they modify. In the noun phrase "il mio gatto", the noun is "gatto", which is masculine and singular, and so the "il mio" must agree with "gatto", regardless whether I am a man or a woman. "Le tue gatte" means that you, male or female, own multiple female cats.
This is why "la cucina è la sua" can mean both "the kitchen is his" and "the kitchen is hers". "La sua" must agree with "la cucina".
Rae F... I'm totally lost on what you mean by saying.... "but consider the Italian speaker learning English. "His cat" can mean the cat is male or female!...."
You DO know that il suo gatto = his cat... and has Nothing to do with the sex of the cat?
This sentence structure we learned with il suo/la sua - was telling Who owned the cat - not if the cat was male or female. Or did I misunderstand what you meant by referencing the cat's sex?
So when you're taking to another person and you say sua which according to Duolingo is his/hers with no masculine or feminine difference, should the person automatically know what gender and who you're talking about?
There may be only 2 (grammatical) genders, but there are ten billion people in the world. Even if you know the gender of the person in question, you'd still have to clarify exactly which person you mean. I'm sure in normal conversation there's context that establishes who you're talking about.
"Hers" is the possessive. Saying "the kitchen is her" is the same as saying "she is the kitchen".
Because you need a possessive pronoun there, not a possessive adjective, and "her" is a possessive adjective -- it can't stand alone but needs something after it.
Her kitchen - the kitchen is hers.
Compare: my kitchen - the kitchen is mine. You can't say *"The kitchen is my".
Well, in English "cook" is both a verb and a noun: The cook cooks a meal. "Cucina" is both a feminine noun and the 3rd person singular for "cucinare" (to cook).
It is feminine, because "la cucina" (the kitchen) is feminine.
"sua" is either "his" or "her" for objects that are feminine (la sua cucina = his kitchen / her kitchen).
"suo" would be "his" or "her" for objects that are masculine (il suo libro = his book / her book).
Kind of like how "tua" is used for feminine objects no matter whether the owner is masculine or feminine (la tua cucina = your kitchen, regardless of whether you are masculine or feminine).
The more common UK english syntax would be: "It is her (or his) kitchen". According to the discussion her should be accepted, but it isn't.
I think that those two sentences are not equivalent (just as, say, "This book is mine" and "This is my book" are not equivalent).
So talking about "the more common syntax" is misleading - they aren't two different ways of saying the same thing, but two different ways saying two different (but related) things.
"il suo, i suoi, la sua, le sue" can all mean "his, hers, its"; which one to use depends not on the gender of the possessor as it does in English ("his" for a male possessor, "hers" for a female one) but on the gender of the possessed object (e.g. "i suoi" for books, which are grammaticalle masculine).
Can't do the accents on my tablet. How can i get the duolingo onscreen keyboard back? Thanks!
Try long-pressing the base letter - you may get a pop-up with accented versions of that letter.
Accented letters are usually easier on a phone/tablet than on a PC, due to the keyboard being software rather than hardware.
How do I put accent on the "e"? I keep getting this wrong because i can't do it on my phone.
On a phone, try long-pressing the "e" letter - you will probably get a little pop-up with accented versions of the letter, including "è". Then slide the finger onto the right accented version, then let go.
No.
"It is his kitchen" = "È la sua cucina". But while Italian doesn't need to say "it", English has to do so.
"La cucina è la sua" = "The kitchen is his".
If you're on mobile, try long-pressing on a letter and see what pops up.
Read the other comments on this page. The "female" part of "la sua" refers to the kitchen, not to its owner.
That's a different grammatical construction. Compare:
It is her kitchen.
It = pronoun
her kitchen = subject complement
her = possessive adjective
The kitchen is hers.
The kitchen = noun phrase
hers = possessive pronoun as subject complement
I thought sua was feminine and suo was masculine. It this because cucina is fem?
yes. sua IS feminine and suo IS masculine. However they do not solely mean hers and his respectively - they both can mean both his or hers - and as you said, yes, sua is used because the thing being possessed (cucina) is feminine. It agrees with the gender of the thing being owned, not the owner
Why do you have to say "la sua" if you already said "la cucina"?
It is correct both ways: "La cucina è sua" and "La cucina è la sua." But they convey slightly different nuances.
"La cucina è sua" would mean "The kitchen is his/hers (and not mine)." "La cucina è la sua" would mean "The kitchen (this one, not another one) is his/hers."
Every language has some exceptions. At least, the Italian language is not as rife with exceptions as English.
I agree, every language has exceptions; however, I was not comparing English language with Italian language. I am trying to understand and learn this language.
"é la sua cucina" - is almost word for word. It can mean either "It's her kitchen" or "It's his kitchen".
This sentence - "La cucina é la sua" - is practically the same thing but with a different word order and more emphasis on the fact that it is hers/his.
Yes they should :) but I don't know how to make that accent on my keyboard without changing layouts or typing in a lengthy Alt Code - I use é because it is easy to make - Alt+Ctrl+e - even though I know it's not strictly correct
Wouldn't it have been better to just use a plain e? Then it would also have been "not strictly correct" but, in my mind, less wrong than adding a diacritic but having it be the wrong one.
Or you could have used e' which is what I think Italians sometimes use themselves.
i'm so confused. How do we know if it is his or hers? can someone explain the rule? google isn't helping.
Context, pure and simple. In English, if I say "his dog", you don't know if the dog is male or female. They just encode things differently in Italian.
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Do you really discuss to whom the kitchen belongs? In my sense, kitchen is a place, not belonging to any specific person. If anyone says "it's my kitchen," I'd feel really strange.
Professional chefs tend to have a sense of dominion. They're in charge of everything. They control who does what and when.
Or homeowners, who have a kitchen in their house. It's their kitchen just like it's their house, their bedroom, their bathroom, their front porch.
The kitchen could belong to him or to her - you can't tell from the Italian sentence.
It does not depend on the gender of the owner -- only on the grammatical gender of the thing which is owned.
So la sua cucina has the sua because cucina is feminine, and you would use la sua cucina regardless of whether the kitchen belonged to him, her, or it.
why sometimes says: la sua, and some times says sua. I mean sometimes with article and sometimes without article.?
Both are correct, but there is a subtle difference in meaning between them. One means it's his (or hers) as opposed to being someone else's and one means the thing (as opposed to something else) is his (or hers).
I put "The kitchen is his" and it was correct. But isn't "la sua", hers? "hers" was not an option.
la sua can be "his", "hers", or "its". It's used when the thing possessed is grammatically feminine, regardless of the sex or gender of the owner.
how do I know which è to use. I haven't seen much of any explanation what that thing on top of it is or what it means and it is kinda frustrating because it tells me I get the letter wrong. can someone please help me out?
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What is wrong with it is her kitchen ?It is a perfectly correct statement and means the same as the kitchen is hers. Please enlighten me!
Different grammatical construction.
La cucina è la sua = The kitchen is hers.
Noun phrase in the subject, then the verb, then the possessive pronoun in the predicate.
È la sua cucina = It is her kitchen.
Pronoun in the subject in English, omitted in Italian, then the verb, then a noun phrase including the possessive adjective in the predicate.
A previous sentence translated 'la sua' as hers....even though the structure is the same.
Yes. That's because it's suo/sua depending on whether the thing that is owned is masculine or feminine, not whether the owner is male or female.
Yes, la sua could be any of "his" or "hers" or "its" depending on context.
Yes! That's nearly right!
"is hers" (not "her") - or - "is his"
are both possible in this sentence :)
See the other comments on this page....
I believe an interpretation of "yours" would require a capitalise 'la Sua' - that all forms of the polite pronoun ('Lei', 'la Sua', etc.) are capitalised.
Lowercase 'la sua' is "his" or "hers".
It's complicated, but maybe is because I am not English Speaker , I don't know all rules about English that so I don't understand well the sentence " LA cucina è la sua "
"La cucina è la sua" can mean "The kitchen is his" or "The kitchen is hers".
Puo anche essere "the kitchen is yours" se parla con qualcuno che non conosce
This is the best point... If you need to specify "his" vs "hers", you need to say "La cucina è di lui" or "La cucina è di lei".
I like this comment. "his" vs "hers", you need to say "La cucina è di lui" or "La cucina è di lei".
Because "The kitchen is hers" (La cucina è la sua) is not quite the same as "It's her kitchen" (È la sua cucina).
I can' get "his," "hers," or "yours" to work. None of them are seen as the right answer even though it says "his" when you get it wrong.
If it's multiple-choice, you need to select all of the valid options, not just one of them.
the "Sua" which is used here ends with "a" instead of "e" because cucina is feminine (ends with "a")?
Nearly!
sua ends with -a because cucina is feminine (and singular).
It would have been sua regardless of what letter the feminine singular word ended in, e.g. la sua mano "his hand / her hand".
The plurality of the subject can come after the "su(a)"? So we have to identify the subject and its traits first? (eg: La sua mano, but is "sua" the subject, or the hand?)
The first thing you do is identify the gender and number of the noun. From there you use the appropriate adjectives, possessives, and articles to agree with it. As mizinamo said, it has nothing to do with being a subject or an object or any other declension.
The old woman likes the small cats:
La vecchia donna ama i piccoli gatti.
donna: feminine singular
Therefore it takes la and vecchia
gatti: masculine plural
Therefore it takes i and piccoli
Whether something is the subject or object of a verb is independent of possessive structure. So la sua mano could be either a subject (e.g. in "your hand is beautiful") or an object (e.g. in "I see your hand").
With sua, we know that the owner is third person singular (i.e. "he" or "she" -- ir possibly "it"), and the possession is feminine singular.
My phone cannot write the accent on the e meaning Is in Italian, so my answer comes up as incorrect. What can I do? Cosa posso fare?
Try long-pressing the E key - you may get a pop-up with accented versions such as é è ê ë. Then slide your finger over to è and let go.
The possessives section is so far the one that most screams out for a single click to a chart for the learner's reference. Some of us learn that way, by examining a full set to note the patterns, and then applying them. The lack of an overview for the pattern means users are constantly explaining the same patterns over and over.
The possessive, like any other adjective, must always agree with the noun it's attached to. So you always use gender and number agreement with what is possessed, never with who possesses it.
IO
il mio = my singular masculine thing
i miei = my plural masculine things
la mia = my singular feminine thing
le mie = my plural feminine things
TU
il tuo
i tuoi
la tua
le tue
LUI/LEI
il suo = his/her singular masculine thing
i suoi = his/her plural masculine things
la sua = his/her singular feminine thing
le sue = his/her plural feminine things
NOI
il nostro
i nostri
la nostra
le nostre
VOI
il vostro
i vostri
la vostra
le vostre
LORO is irregular:
il loro
i loro
la loro
le loro
Thank you for this easy to follow explanation. My point is that on the mobile app, one must wander through comments for a cogent presentation like this. Why isn't there easy access to the "tips and notes" that one finds via the desktop interface?
I honestly don't know. I've been clamoring for it ever since I got the app. As it is, I mostly use Duolingo on the website and only use the mobile app to review when I'm not at my computer.
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''la cucina povera'' at this moment in time is exemplified by the programme on Channel Four where Jamie Oliver explores the cooking of Italian ''nonnas'' and their traditional dishes from all over Italy and attempts to reinterpret them.
It is her kitchen = È la sua cucina.
The kitchen is hers = La cucina è la sua.
How exactly was the question presented to you and how exactly did you answer?
How can it be la sua
Because la cucina is grammatically feminine, so su- (his / her) takes a feminine ending -a.
la mia cucina (my kitchen), la sua cucina (his/her kitchen) etc. Always with -a on the possessive.
Conversely, il mio cane (my dog), il suo cane (his/her dog) etc. Always with -o on the possessive since cane is masculine.
It is. Italian grammar requires the definite article before the possessive pronoun.
If you typed "The kitchen is hers" and it marked you wrong, please flag it and report "My answer should be accepted."
If it was a multiple-choice question, you need to select all of the valid translations, not just one of them.
Yes, "sua" is feminine because "la cucina" is feminine. It does not matter if the owner is masculine.
To give some examples for what Rae.F said:
La cucina à la sua. =
- The kitchen is his.
- The kitchen is hers.
and
Il libro è il suo. =
- The book is his.
- The book is hers.
From su- you can tell that the owner is third person ("his", "hers") but the gender of the owner; the ending -o, -a agrees with the gender of the possession (feminine cucina, masculine libro).
Why is this la suavities when previous examples in this exercise do not include la/le etc before sua/tua etc
To teach that both ways are acceptable.
What it does not teach, however, is the distinction between them.
"La cucina è sua" would mean "The kitchen is his/hers (and not someone else's)."
"La cucina è la sua" would mean "The kitchen (this one, not another one) is his/hers."
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This phrase can also mean 'his /her cooking' as in the phrase 'la cucina povera' meaning Italian peasant cooking using basic and simple ingredients.
Yes, but that isn't being covered right now, and that's not the point of my comment.
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It was meant to be a helpful comment in order to broaden your understanding of the Italian language, I won't bother in future !
"La sua" can mean "his" or "hers". It's "la sua" because "la cucina" is feminine and it must agree with that, not with whose it is. It's just like any other adjective that way.
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/289199?comment_id=430323
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/289199?comment_id=26792652
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/306864?comment_id=34707869
I wrote "The kitchen is her " but wrong!
Yes, of course that's wrong.
It's incorrect standard English, and in colloquial English it would mean something completely different from what the Italian sentence says.
La cucina è la sua = The kitchen is hers (= the kitchen belongs to her) / The kitchen is his (= the kitchen belongs to him).
"The kitchen is her" would mean that she is the kitchen, not that she owns the kitchen.
As explained many times on this page, it can be. "La sua" needs to agree with "la cucina", so it can be translated equally as "The kitchen is his" or "The kitchen is hers".
Which is the difference between his and her in this example?
"The kitchen is his" and "The kitchen is hers" would be said the same way in Italian: La cucina è la sua.
"The kitchen is her" is not correct English.
I used 'hers" and it was NOT fine! Your explanations are not working here.
What was the rest of your answer? Odds are 95% you had an error somewhere that you didn't see, 5% it just glitched. The following answers are confirmed to be accepted:
The kitchen is hers.
The kitchen is his.
The kitchen is yours.
It is her kitchen.
è la sua cucina.
The kitchen is hers.
La cucina è la sua.
I wrote "It is his kitchnen" and was marked wrong! I think is the same meaning
I wrote "It is his kitchnen" and was marked wrong! I think it's the same meaning. Doesn't it?
how is it that sua can be his or hers? la pasta nel piatto e la sua. The pasta on the plate is his.
thank you for this answer! Right. In Italian, all adjectives, including all the possessives (possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns), must agree with the noun they go with. In this sentence, the possessive goes with "la cucina", which is singular and feminine. Therefore it must always be "La cucina è la sua."
If you need to specify "his" vs "hers", you need to say "La cucina è di lui" or "La cucina è di lei".
His or her.. this is rhe same
As a possessive determiner (before a noun), yes.
As a possessive pronoun (instead of a noun), no -- there, the options are "his" and "hers".
So you can say "The kitchen is his." or "The kitchen is hers."
But "The kitchen is *her." is incorrect English, just like "The kitchen is my." or "The kitchen is your." would be wrong.
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In this instance as 'cucina' is feminine you have to use 'la sua' but it can mean 'his' or 'hers'.
Isn't la sua feminine
That's right. That's why we need la sua here, because cucina is feminine.
I'm confused by " la sua" being masculine and, in another exercise, " la suo" was feminine. What did I miss about gender endings?
la sua is for feminine nouns.
il suo is for masculine nouns.
la suo doesn't exist.
Also, only the (grammatical) gender of the possession is relevant -- the gender of the owner is not expressed in any way.
So la sua cucina can be "his kitchen" or "her kitchen" or even "its kitchen". It's la sua because cucina (the possession) is feminine.
isn t sua third person singular male as opposed to suo which would be "his"
isn t sua third person singular male
No. sua is for feminine nouns such as cucina, not for masculine nouns.
la sua is feminin
Yes. We use the feminine ending -a because the noun cucina is feminine.
so it sould be the kitchen is her
No. "The kitchen is her" is not even correct English.
La cucina è la sua can translate to either "The kitchen is his" or "The kitchen is hers". The Italian does not distinguish the gender of the owner -- only the gender of the possession.
the kitchen is her is marked as not correct
Yes, of course -- "the kitchen is her" is not correct English.
It would have to be "the kitchen is hers".
Hearing the robotic voice speak it slowly sounds like something else. Ensure that the slowest voice is loud and clear.
Because they didn't code that in as a correct answer. Just pick one. Next time the sentence pops up, pick the other one if you want to mix things up. Either is correct, but the combination is awkward.
Yes, in the polite form. But as others have answered here they are normally capitailised, at least on Duoingo. Suo & Sua
I don't get this, the his/her refers to the kitchen and not the person who the kitchen belongs to? How would you say the kitchen is his and actually mean it belongs to a 'him'? And why would you want to say the kitchen is his, if it's (for example) actually hers (if his and hers are both acceptable)?
Correct. We use la sua because cucina is feminine. It is the gender of the noun that decides the gender of the articles/ possessive pronouns, not the gender of the owner. To specify his or hers meaning the owner you should say... 'La cucina é di lui' or 'La cucina e di lei'. For your last question you are thinking in English. All languages are different. In Italian there is no specific his or hers, only sua/suo.
Ok, thanks a lot for explaining. So 'La cucina é di lui' means 'the kitchen is of him'? ie. 'his kitchen'?
Exactly. It's a lot more cumbersome to say than 'la sua cucina', but you can use it if you really want to specify that it is HIS kitchen
I understand that Duolingo says the correct answer is "The kitchen is his", however, I also understand that the Italian word "sua" is defined as her or hers. The article "La" is feminine, as well as, the noun, "cucina", for this reason, I am confused of how "sua" can mean "his." :(
"His", in English, means that the owner is male. (But you would say "his mother" or "his father" -- in English, the "his" does not change, whether the possessed thing is male or female.)
"sua", in Italian, means that the possessed thing is feminine.
So you would use "sua" with "la cucina", because the kitchen is grammatically feminine and that is the thing which is possessed.
But "sua" does not say anything about the gender of the owner. The owner of the kitchen could be a man, a woman -- perhaps even an inanimate object such as a restaurant.
So in English, you could translate it as "his kitchen", "her kitchen", or "its kitchen", depending on the context.
Thank you so much! Your explanation really has helped clear some confusion for me. :))
La sua should be her not his
No. "The kitchen is her." is not correct English.
La cucina è la sua. can mean either "The kitchen is hers." or "The kitchen is his." but not "The kitchen is *her."
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The word 'cucina' has to be 'la sua' because it is feminine, it can mean either hers or his !
No, possessives don't work like that in Italian. Like all adjectives, it must agree with the thing it modifies, which in this case is "la cucina".
I thought His was "il suo" and hers was "la sua." But, according to the help file attached, it could also be "its" or "your" which is not gender specific. I guess the only real way to learn is to speak with a native Italian!!
This has been addressed multiple times already on this page. The possessive is an adjective. And like all adjectives, it must agree in gender and number with the noun is modifies, which is the thing possessed, not who possesses it.
"Lei" is the formal form of "tu", like in Spanish "usted" is the formal form of "tú". If you address someone as "tu" then you use all the "tuo/tuoi/tua/tue" possessives (again, depending on the gender and number of what is possessed) and if you address someone as "Lei" (regardless of their gender because here it no longer means "she" but rather a polite/formal "you") then you use all the "suo/suoi/sua/sue" possessives (again, depending on the gender and number of what is possessed).
I have never heard anyone say "the kitchen of him" unironically. Either way, "his kitchen" and "the kitchen of him" are just noun phrases. You were asked to translate a complete sentence:
La cucina è la sua.
The kitchen is his.
This is a perfectly well-formed sentence in English.
Is there the word "hers" in English? I have never seen any word like that!!!
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JorgeFelip2 Yes, "hers" is a word in English!
Hers : pronoun
Used to refer to a thing or things belonging to or associated with a female person or animal previously mentioned.
"His eyes met hers"
Another example:
The scarf is hers.
Hope this helps!
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"Her" because it is referring to the kitchen. La cucina is femenine. You know this because of "La"
In English, the choice of "her" or "his" depends on the owner, not on the possession.
In Italian, the choice of suo or sua depends on the gender of the possession.
So we can say "her kitchen" or "his kitchen" in English, depending on whether the owner is female or male.
The fact that it is referring to the kitchen is irrelevant for the choice of "his" or "her" in English.
The grammatical gender of the possessive reflects the grammatical gender of what is owned, not who owns it.