"She is like her mom."
Translation:Lei è come sua mamma.
66 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
I saw 'Il mio papa ...' in another sentence, with an explanation in the discussion that it would be 'Mio padre ...', but 'Il mio papa' (and I mean papa with the accent - i.e. meaning 'dad' not 'pope'), and this explanation said the same would be true of mamma, i.e. 'La mia mamma ...' , but 'Mia madre'. Can anyone explain why not ' ... la sua mamma' here?
When referring to close family members, the definite article is omitted when referring to a family member in the singular e.g.
Questo non è mio figlio, è mio cognato. Mio padre abita a Roma. Sua madre è napoletana. Mia moglie è francese.
However, the article is used if the family members are:
In the plural………………...…....le mie sorelle; With an adjective…………....…il tuo fratello maggiore; With diminutive form (the suffix '-ino' at the end)……………….....….il mio fratellino; With loro…………………….........la loro figlia; With mamma/papà/babbo (informal words)……la mia mamma/il mio babbo;
These are the general rules, but I guess the last one about informal words, such as mamma, papà, etc. is not so strict. I've heard (by following Italian forums) that in the northern parts of the country they don't use the definite article in this case as much as the people in the other parts of the country. So, I guess the last rule is optional.
I hope this helps.
369
I answered "lei è come sua mamma" and it was marked correct. (No article). Maybe they have changed what is accepted since many people have weighed in on this. What do the Italians really say?
apparently there are some exceptions for that rule: 'Mio Padre' but 'Il mio papà' - 'Mia madre' but 'la mia mamma' - 'Mia sorella' but 'La mia sorellina (little sister).... but I don't know how to explain it.... I don't know if these are the only words where you can do that or if there's a rule.... sorry :/
As a child I was highly amused that the word I used to refer to my mother, "mummy", had another meaning. :-)
But seriously, Duo, please try to accept more British English equivalents.
Also would it be asking too much to accept Scottish English vocabulary as well, words such as "clerkess"? Once I was marked wrong for "manageress". Maybe I'm asking too much. I suppose there has to be a limit as to how many alternatives Duo's database can be programmed to accept.
Hold down the alt key and type 0232 to get è, 0224 to get à, 0233 to get é, 0242 to get ò, 0249 to get ù. Find the list of alt codes here: https://www.alt-codes.net/
1115
Lei è come la mamma. She is like her mother. The mother being HER mother is surely implied ?
True, Sjurstvold, but we have to follow what's customary in the language we're using. In English we would say "She is like her mother" and would never say "She is like the mother", and Italian seems to be the same as English in using a possessive in such sentences. Language isn't really about logic but about usage. :-)
1780
Earlier sentence in previous section translated as "leggo tuo nome" but marked wrong and corrected as "leggo IL tuo nome". Why can you drop the definite article in this sentence but not in previous one?
Hi. You won't need this now but in case anyone else wants an explanation: The rule about when to drop the "the" before the possessive is that you drop "the" before a close family member (of your own or someone else's) e.g. "Vedo tuo padre" ("I see your father"). The rule doesn't hold for anything else, so it's "Leggo il tuo nome" ("I read your name").
378
I agree Sjurstvold. Tu è come la mamma was correct. So why is lei come la mamma incorrect? As for all the discussion about madre/padre, mother/father, mamma/papà, mom(mum, I'm Australian but Duo has always accepted it)/dad - these are the exact translations that Duo has taught. There is no reason for confusion. And should it be mom or mum? Get over it. It's whatever you've grown up with and there is no wrong or right.