"Io non metto zucchero nel tè."
Translation:I do not put sugar in the tea.
65 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Consistently, I have heard "nel" pronounced as "nella". Is this an error in the audio?
I hear the same thing. She adds a definite 'a' sound to nel. I have learned the hard way not to trust her pronunciation.
I listened to it like 10 times and I honestly can't hear any Italian 'a' sound after nel.
BTW: she? I hear a male voice. What system are you using?
I don't put sugar in the tea. THE tea, the tea of gods. The ultimate one...
Is it just a bad translation of the Italian sentence? ( that italians just always use a definite article here) or is it just a weird duolingo sentence where the tea sounds as strange in italians as in English.
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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.
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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).
I understand that this obviously translates as 'I do not put sugar in the tea' . However, why is 'i am not putting sugar in the tea' incorrect please? I thought the present simple could be used as present continuous in Italian?! Many thanks.
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 do not put sugar in tea" is more accurate. Those who don't answer, "I do not put sugar in THE tea" shouldn't be marked wrong.
It will be marked wrong because italian uses articles for eeeeeeeverything (sorry for the emphasis. The translation ensures that you recognize there is an article there.
I agree. "I do not put sugar in the tea" sounds very unnatural in English. I answered "I don't put sugar in my tea" but it was rejected as wrong. But it is for more natural than "I do not 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
Is it correct to say "il zucchero" as well as just "zucchero"? Does including the "il" change the meaning somehow?
No it is not correct to say "il zucchero ". One of the grammar's rules is that when a "male" subject start with "z" (like "zucchero") it requires the article "LO" (not "IL")
I answered "i dont add sugar in the tea" is this still correct? Because it says I'm wrong
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
My suggestion : to a question "are you putting sugar in the tea ?" , I will reply "No, non gliene metto !" . What you guys think ? PS I agree that duolingo english translator most like is not an english one ! Some time I get very strange sentences !
For the sake of meaning, that is correct. For the sake of learning Italian, it is not correct, because the "non" is with the verb ("not put") rather that with the sugar.
it gets me every time - i did not put sugar in the tea - can someone tell me why
the Italian sentence is in the present form. 'I did not put sugar in the tea' is in the past form.
@KnudRex
• Io non metto zucchero nel tè.
• [ I do not put sugar in the tea. ]
Mettere = [ put; get; make ]
Translate it as it is.
There is nothing wrong with this sentence - [ I do not put sugar in the tea. ]
I do say to volunteers "I do not put sugar in the tea, and not in the coffee too."
:) KK
Is «metto» irregular the way «mettre» is in French? I mean, they do both have Latin origin
mettere is regular in the present form:
(io) metto
(tu) metti
(lui/lei) mette
(noi) mettiamo
(voi) mettete
(essi/esse) mettono
"Mettere" is regular in the present form, but it's irregular in the 'passato remoto' (one of the four indicative past forms): io MISI / tu METTESTI / lui-lei MISE / noi METTEMMO / voi METTESTE / loro MISERO
In wich case do you use io ? Because in other sentence they left out the io part.
There was no "the" option for me to pick, so it was automatically wrong.
@JollyRoger16 It is difficult to tell why your translation is not accepted. Please copy all the options and put them here with your translation. I believe a good few DL users would be able to help.
It'd also help other learners.
Grazie.
:) KK
If it is translated literally, why do they form questions correctly? (Do they, Do you etc. ?)
I put "I don't take sugar in tea", which is what we would say in the U.K. This was "corrected" to "I don't take sugar with tea" (despite "nel" meaning "in"). This and the sentence above both seem poor English.
@GraemeJeal
• Io non metto zucchero nel tè.
• [ I do not put sugar in the tea. ]
There is nothing wrong with that statement.
In fact, I have said that to the volunteers who helped with setting up coffee breaks at retreats.
I do not add sugar in the tea. What is the difference, add seems more suitable in English , please comment?
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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...
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I do not put sugar into the tea. Why is this wrong? Did my English trick me? It is my second foreign language...
"the" precedes a lot of thing in Italian, like "La mia mama". Forget the "the" and it reads I don't put sugar in tea".
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What's wrong with 'into'? ( I don't put sugar into the tea) Just curious since I'm no native speaker.
