"Io non metto zucchero nel tè."
Translation:I do not put sugar in the tea.
65 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
1768
You. Cannot. Translate. Word. For. Word. From. Italian. To. English. Or. Vice. Versa. I'm sure you know gosh darn well by now that in Italian, they often use definite articles where in English we would not, such as when speaking in generalities. It's "nel tè," never "in tè." You just have to memorize it and quit trying to apply English rules.
979
they are teaching grammar including the use of articles so it expects the translation to exactly match even if that is not how you would normally do it. once you have learned the basics you can use it however you want. I don't put sugar in the tea (only in the coffee).
In what situation would you use "I am not putting sugar in the tea"? Wouldn't that be the answer to the question: "are you putting sugar in the tea?"? But then Italian has also a present progressive form ("sto mettendo") which hasn't been introduced, yet. If the sentence is using the simple present, then it's more of a question of habit, a repeated action, and you would use the simple present in English too: "I (usually) don't put sugar in the tea" :-)
I translated this as: I don't put sugar into the tea, and was told by the system, that I used the wrong word. I suppose they were referring to "into", instead of "in" only. In fact, in proper English (Britain), my translation is the appropriate one, also "in" alone may be used nowadays, but it is definitely MORE right to use "into", not wrong. They also use the "do not", instead of "don't", we sounds awkward, to say the least - like a beginners English.
I put 'I don't take sugar in tea'. Realise this is my preference but this sentence is along the lines of..... I may pour the tea, but I leave the addition (or not) sugar to the people drinking it. I find that whenever I thinkI am 'improving ' the English I am wrong. Note to self: Stick to close translation
Jerry,
The reason your answer is incorrect is that you used "add" instead of "put". Add is a completely different verb in Italian. If it was to add, the word used would have been "aggiungere" rather than "metto". You wouldn't say, "I added the dog to her cage." Rather you would say, "I put the dog in her cage." Adding something usually implies you are combining something, ie. "I added eggs to the cake." Although, in the scenario, you could also say, "I put eggs in the cake." Added is just more appropriate for that scenario. So, yes, your answer is incorrect and this is why.
I hope this helps you in some way.
--Aidian
1108
Why is "I do not put sugar into the tea" wrong? I'm not an english native speaker, but still quite sure this is correct...
873
I do not put sugar into the tea. Why is this wrong? Did my English trick me? It is my second foreign language...
121
What's wrong with 'into'? ( I don't put sugar into the tea) Just curious since I'm no native speaker.