"The wife of my uncle is my aunt."
Translation:La moglie di mio zio è mia zia.
30 Comments
Well you're in luck, here you wouldn't need the di + article combination because zio and zia are singular family members. But here is a list. They'll probably just require a little memorization:
singular:
- di + il = del il piatto del ragazzo/the boy's plate
- di + lo = dello il gusto dello zucchero/the flavor of sugar
- di + la = della la gonna della ragazza/the girl's skirt
plural:
- di + i = dei la casa dei ragazzi/the boys' house
- di + gli = degli il ristorante degli uomini/the men's restaurant
- di + le = delle le scarpe delle donne/the women's shoes
Thank you for this list. I was also having problems understanding this. I think I got it now.
I am a little confused, in which cases I can't use di + article? Just when referring to family members? There are some other instances I've had problems with in this section like "Mia mamma cucina per mio padre" Is it incorrect to say "LA mia mama cucina per IL mio padre."
Avoid using articles in front of 'madre' and 'padre', but affectionate terms (like mamma) can take the article, depends on the speaker :)
91
THANK YOU! This has heretofore caused me the most trouble. Looking at your list, it seems so obvious!
Thank you. I was heartbroken over the use of 'di' in this sentence, but now I feel so much better prepared for di after reading your clear (reminder for me) on how 'di' works. It makes it worth having to go back again and restart the section ;-)
I am not!seeing how this list explains why the phrase uses "di" instead "de". Help, please!!!
The preposition used is "di", which becomes "de" only when combined with a definite article. "My uncle", as a singular form family member, does not take an article, so it remains "di".
Is it incorrect to have the "la" with the mia zia...as in "e' la mia zia"? I thought it wasn't necessary, but not incorrect.
As far as i can tell living in italy it is correct with la, and incorrect without
I have a similar question as tmac - I thought the article with singular family pronouns was unnecessary, but not incorrect. Is it actually incorrect?
Because family relations are not given an article in the singular form. They do have a definite articel in the plural form. So you have "mia zia", "mio zio", "mia madre"..., but "i miei zii", "i miei fratelli", "le mie sorelle" and so forth.
Could duolingo Please pick a lane! Who constitutes an immediate family member? If I include the article with aunts and uncles one time, it's wrong; exclude it the next, and it's wrong. This is tiresome and confusing.
- 668
Someone somewhere came up with this "immediate family member" thing, and unfortunately it's not correct. Singular, unmodified family members (immediate or not) never take articles in the possessive.
Hello IsolaCiao,
Thank you that is much more helpful and avoids the confusions of subjectivism as to who is an immediate family member and who isn't.
PS by ' unmodified family members' I suppose you mean 'unspecified'? So if I specify which aunt it would take a 'la'?
e.g, - Lucia, la moglie di mio zio, è la mia zia?
- La moglie di mio zio è la mia zia Lucia?
Thank you for your time
- 668
I'm glad if it helped. What I mean by "unmodified family members" is that there is no descriptive adjective, prefix, or suffix.
Mia sorella (unmodified)
La mia cara sorella (modified by the adjective "cara")
La mia sorellina (sorella is modified with the suffix "-ina")
In your second example, you're modifying "la mia zia Lucia" with her name, so I think that works.
- 1729
Either your uncle or your aunt would be a sibling to one of your parents, but you would still call your uncle's wife your aunt.
I can have multiple aunts and uncles, so why is the definite article not necessary?
Because it isn't a logical rule, it's an arbitrary grammatical rule. Singular family members have no definite article. Plural family members do.
When I call My aunt : Mia zia OR just zia Or something else??? Thanks in advanced : )
