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It says I need to translate the definite article, but I thought a sentence like this could refer to water in general. "l'acqua" meaning "water (in general)". So, a translation like, "Water is clear", should be fine, right? Or not?
1820
Syntactically you are perfectly right: "L'acqua è blu" can be translated with "Water is blue" or "The water is blue".
I believe it was not accepted because it sounds somehow strange. "Limpido" means crystal clear, so it does no apply to water in general. Another examples is "I gatti sono bianchi": an italian speaker would always interpret this sentence as "The cats are white", not as "Cats are white" because it can't be an universal statement.
Sorry, if crystal clear means limpida or limpid, living in the USA for some 57 years, I never heard one say " the water is limpid" What is wrong translating Duo not "the water is crystal clear, like in a lake?
- 1820
Well, it's just a matter of nuances. I would translate "limpido" with "clear" and "cristallino" with "crystal clear", because the latter is a bit more emphatic. But "limpido" = "crystal clear" is acceptable to me.
Not all the waters, unfortunately, are clear or clean: so the article is ok
I'm with you; at times they seem to accept the English translation sans article as in a universal noun, other times they insist on it, and I haven't found the key yet!
Check if the statement works as a general statement. Water is not always clear, so they must be talking about some particular water.
"L'acqua è un elemento." is "Water is an element."
"L'acqua è limpida." is "The water is clear."
Not necessarily--the definite article ("the") is used differently in Italian and English. In Italian, when you refer to a thing in general (in the subject of a sentence!), you actually use the definite article (if you want to use singular form), if I remember correctly. "L'uomo pensa." Man thinks. "Lo spagnolo è bello." Spanish is beautiful. "Il gatto è un animale indipendente." Cats are independent animals. "La felicità è una pistola fumente." Happiness is a warm gun. Maybe this is only true when the thing in question isn't tangible? (Happiness, Spanish, humanity, love, etc.) I don't remember for sure.
I know where you are coming from here. I think the rule is that you must use the article with the noun when it begins the sentence. If you are being asked to translate the definite article then clearly one has to use this in the reply but otherwise I would think your answer correct. Hope this helps.
Shoudln't "the water is clean" be accepted as well? Clean as in not polluted, safe to drink.
Well, technically, "clean" can suggest something that was, for example, dusted or polished, while "clear" speaks more to the object's transparency. So, the water may be clear because one can see through it very well, but it might not be necessarily clean as it can still have many invisible bacteria and whatever else crawling around in it.
Good point. I think part of my confusion is that limpio (esp.) = clean.
Edit: (since I can't reply anymore) I only ever knew claro, but apparently there is límpido as well.
Yeah, the two notions can get melded together often. :D I recommend reading the post added above by s84606. It really clears things up and adds more dimensions to the question. XD Yeah, I know what you mean. But in Portuguese, and IDK if the same can be said for Spanish, we have «limpo» = "clean" and «límpido» = "clear."
YES!!! THE LINE ABOVE THE E IS FINALLY POINTING THE RIGHT WAY!!! It took me so long to get this right!!! Sorry if I disturbed anyone's thought process; I just wanted to share my joy with the world! :)
Yes, Italian uses the opposite direction accent from Portuguese. It took me a while to get used to also. è as opposed to é.
riguardo le parole "limpido" e "chiaro", vogliono dire la stessa cosa o c'è differenza?
Ambidue delle parole si possono usare con gli oggetti fisici, credo io, ma soltanto «chiaro» si usa nelle conversazioni, per esempio «È chiaro?»
- 1820
I believe there are some other differences: "limpido" applies to transparent objects only (normally fluids), and is the opposite to "torbido" (murky). "Chiaro" can apply to opaque objects as well, to say they have a light color.
So, for instance a light gray dress can be definied as "chiaro" but not "limpido".
Also, "limpido" is clearer than "chiaro". For instance "la notte è chiara" means that there's a lot of light (e.g. there's a full moon), while "la notte è limpida" means that you can see a lot of stars. "Una voce chiara" means that words are clear to understand, "una voce limpida" means that is also somehow melodious.
This applies to your examples as well: a standard semi-humurous response to "È chiaro?" is "Limpido!".
Chiaro also means "bright," not just "light colored." For example, a song I learned begins, "Già il sole dal Gange / Più chiaro sfavilla" which means something like "Already the sun shines most bright[ly] from the Ganges [River]."
What I don't know is whether something can be lightly colored but dull (as opposed to "brightly" or "vibrantly" colored) and still be considered "chiaro." Part of my thinks not, but I also know that the opposite of "chiaro" is generally "scuro" which means dark, not dull. (Fun fact: in painting and drawing, using sharp contrasts in bright/light and dark shading is called "chiaroscuro" shading, from chiaro and scuro.)
If it's not scuro (dark), it must be chiaro (bright)... that's what I think too. It most certainly is that way in a chiaroscuro painting or drawing. But our world is not a giant chiaroscuro painting. Let's say you're comparing neon blue to light beige. Are both of them bright colors? Yes, in English they most certainly are. Is neon blue darker than light beige? Not really. Neon blue is a vibrant color but not a dark color. Just look at someone wearing a neon shirt - nope, that's not a dark color at all! Not much darker than white if you stare at it for a while.
Unless there is an Italian word meaning vibrant(ly), chiaro has to include vibrant neon and light pastel colors.
So we really need to show an Italian a hot pink and a lighter but much less vibrant pink (like Kirby), and as which is more chiaro. The way I would describe it in English would be to say that the hot pink is brighter but darker and the Kirby pink is lighter but less bright (or more dull or mellow), so I'm curious how the distinction would be made in Italian.
Yes, there is. "Limpido" means "clear AND transparent" For instance: you can choose "un colore chiaro", but not "un colore limpido"... . Speaking of water, the opposite of limpido is "torbido"
If you are talking about whether you want to say something like "light blue," that in Italian would be said «azzurro/blu chiaro». :)
Before Duo askes questions for us to answer, please we are on Duo to learn. Start with" torbido= murky, chiaro = opaque, limpido= crystal clear, than ask if we remember via any of your other methods, but First teach please new words. I did mot vlme accross them in French or Spanish, thank you forum
Even if the water is clear it could still have germs in it that are not visible to the naked eye
this is wrong. there is a difference between clean and clear my answer should be accepted.
Whoever knows Spanish might confuse this with "limpio" which means "clean", not "clear".
L'acqua è limpida... e innocente (there has to be another Radiohead fan here somewhere ;) )
