33 Comments
The ! at the end of the sentence clearly indicates the phrase as a command or suggestion
Good point. Fair point/suggestion. But not necessarily so. Surely it could be expressing a certain amazement or even annoyance that someone was arriving so early or so late.
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'Towards nine' doesn't work in English as a time phrase, I translated 'verso' as 'before' but was wrong, I'm assuming it's a colloquial extra meaning of the word to put it in a time phrase meaning 'about'
>>Towards nine' doesn't work in English as a time phrase,
It works OK for me in English carli.
Think of it as an "old" clock with "hands" or pointers. The hand moves toward the designated hour, so when people meant something like "we will be ready (when the hands on the clock moves more) towards nine." One measured time with actual movement and distance. Maybe an artifact of speech, but measuring specific time started with sun dials.... Maybe a bit trivial, sorry!
"Le" is used for indicating the hours of the day, except one o'clock which is "l'una".
What does "Le" actually stand for in this context. I realize you said it is a time indicator, but the word itself in this context intrigues me. Grazie!
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Same thing in Spanish, we use the plural feminine "Las" before the hours (Las dos, las tres, etc.) except for one o'clock which again, like in Italian is "La una".
I guess it's short for "Las __ horas"
I have read in the previous postings that it is the full article for ''ore". Prego!
Why not circa?
Btw, "towards nine" may not sound right at first in US English, but put it in the right casual dialect and telling someone to "Come by the house more toward(s) nine o'clock" sounds perfectly natural, like when clarifying a time.
I have the same question as Jeff. I am guessing this has to do with usage more than with grammar but to me, as an English speaker, it seems more natural to use "circa" rather than "verso." Any Italian speakers care to clarify?
There is certainly no reason why "He arrives here around nine o'clock." should not be correct. The exclamation point does not necessarily suggest a command. What if it were a famous or otherwise exciting person about to arrive? Duolingo and its computer generated answers can sometimes be a royal pain!
Arriva is third person singular. Therefore, it should be he arrives and not arrive.
In a previous sentence I translated "arrivate a casa" as "GET home early" and it was marked as incorrect - it had to be "BE home". Now in this one I put BE and that's not in any of the acceptable answers. Also, you really don't need to say AT about 9. "Be here about nine o'clock" should be fine.
Try suggesting sentences marked incorrect with the "accept answer" button. That way we can get to them in a timely fashion and make sure they work for you next time :) Get works for the "arrivate" sentence now as well!
The lesson is about imperative so with "he arrives" you are not answering right, even though this translation is possible.
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This section covers the imperative as already noted, so although it is one possible translation, it is not in the framework of the lesson.
Not really. To me, by nine means no later than, while about nine could mean a little before or after
