"Le mele rosse non sono speciali."
Translation:The red apples are not special.
40 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Adjectives usually change according to gender and number. If the adjective ends in -e in the singular (la donna speciale, il ragazzo speciale) then when it modifies a plural noun it ends in -i (le donne speciali, i ragazzi speciali). Here are some other examples:
- la mela verde/le mele verdi
- un uomo forte/due uomini forti
- una scarpa grande/due scarpe grandi
- (Type 1) Adjectives that have 4 forms - they end in -o (male singular, ex. 'perfetto') and in -a (female plural, ex. perfetta) end in -i (male plural, ex. perfetti) and in -e (female plural, ex. perfette). However, (case 2) adjectives that end in -e, for both male and female gender forms in singular, end in -i, in plural, for both male and female forms. These adjectives (type 2) have only 2 forms, not 4 (type 1 adjectives)
Is "le" necessary here? E.g. in English you would say "Red apples aren't special." (Not The red apples...)
Yes it is. In italian the definite article (il, la...) is used much more frequently than in English, for example: "le mie mele" ("the my apples")...
Following this rule then, shouldn't it read 'le mele rossi' rather than 'lt mele rosse?? Confused.
rule is without exceptions end in o,i,a,e (masc singular, plural, femine singular, feminine plural) exceptions are colorday mentioned end in e, i singular, plural regardless of sex or gender-invariable.
it's not always so easy. In Italian you have a lot of colours (adjectives) that don't change their forms.
-
il cappotto rosa
-
la gonna rosa
-
i pantaloni rosa
-
le gonne rosa
etc.
I cannot for the life of me figure out when it's pink and when it's red! It's like Duolingo changes its mind every time I use it. Please help!
Here is my way: pink=rosa only one "s" but red=rossi because it is a deeper color it has two "SS. Whatever works, right? :-)
Pink is 'rosa' - one 's' and it is invariant (unlike most adjectives, the form doesn't change to match the noun)
Red is 'rosso' - double 's' and it's a normal adjective which changes the ending to match the gender/number of the noun (ie. rosso, rossa, rossi, rosse)
To hear the difference between 'rosa' (pink) and 'rossa' (red - feminine singular), the main difference is in the first vowel: 'rosa' sounds like 'rose + ah', whereas 'rossa' sounds like 'ross + sah'
I'm not exactly sure when to use "gli" all the time but yet I continue my lessons everyday. When to use "i" as opposed to "gli". Like anything else , it is a matter of of practice, practice, practice. You will figure it all out and it will become intuitive. I pick up Oggi, the italian newspaper and I say, I need to study more and expand my vocabulary, I'll figure out the "articles" and prepositions along the way. No pain, no gain.
Rules for the definite article:
https://i.imgur.com/aJ7Qlgb.jpg
Rules for the indefinite article:
Masculine
https://i.imgur.com/ioiRcSS.png
Feminine
https://i.imgur.com/7WZMfoO.png
Actually there's a strict rule for this: you use "gli" instead of "i" for nouns starting with a vowel (gli amici) or s+consonant (gli scaffali) or x/y/z (gli zucchini) or ps/gn/pn. In singular you would use l' instead of il in the first case (l'amico) and lo in the others (lo scaffale).
Please can someone explain why 'the red apples are no speciality' is incorrect. Is speciality a different word or something? How would you say that?
You've changed the meaning entirely. Your speciality is something you are especially good at. Special is an adj. that means better, greater, or different. They cannot be used interchangeably.
941
This really lends itself to "The red apples are nothing special". That's what we'd say in English.