"We write to them in October."
Translation:Scriviamo a loro ad ottobre.
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Well two of those depend on context. With time "a" and "in" are pretty interchangeable but genereally speaking "a' = at and "in" = "in a place". "Ad" is simply used for when the words between the "a", "e" and I think "o" ends and begins with a vowel respectively. For instance "la donna ed uomo" would be "The woman and man". But for "ad" it would "L'uomo viene ad aprile" or "The man comes in April".
There is a slight difference though. "in ottobre'' means every October while "ad ottobre'' means the forthcoming October.
So it's 'in ottobre' means forthcoming october and 'ad ottobre' means every october?
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I tried "Scriviamo a loro in ottobre" but got shot down. I thought it was clever when "in" meant "in". Apparently "ad" is preferred over "in" here.
Yes, «li» is incorrect because that is the direct object pronoun. You would need to use the indirect object pronoun «gli».
I used the suggestions (ad/a) but then it says it is wrong and should be a/ad. Looking through the notes here, I see why I was incorrect. But why suggest the wrong answer?
The hover hints just blindly translate each word individually. It is up to us to learn the rules and determine which option is best per given situation.
a and ad , please explain me :D, i m confused with the use of these two words :D
- 2401
When you have the preposition "a" before a vowel it usually/optionally turns into "ad". This is similar to the rule for a/an in English. The same rule applies to the conjunctions "o" and "e".
- a settembre
- ad ottobre
- ottobre o novembre
- settembre od ottobre
- ottobre e novembre
- settembre ed ottobre
when it was singular, it would be be "gli", when it is plural, it would be "li", isn't it?
is it ad ottobre instead of a ottobre because that would be two vowels together and it sounds better as ad ottobre?
- 1919
OrMcC (and others), it's because the preposition is actually a, but when it precedes a vowel sound we turn it into ad. Since loro doesn't begin with a vowel sound, it's a loro.
In the Clitic Pronouns grammar section, it says that there is an exception with "loro", in the sense that one should omit the "a" after "scrivire". Eg, it says it should be "scriviamo loro", instead of "scriviamo a loro". Which one is correct then?
I wrote Loro scriviamo a ottobre and it said it was wrong because it should be Li scriviamo a ottobre or Scriviamo a loro ad ottobre but I'm certain that loro can be used as an indirect pronoun. Plus li is a direct pronoun so that would mean we write them rather than we write TO them. Anyone care to comment?
loro=they (nominative case, subject) vs li/a loro=them/to them(accusative case, object) 'loro scriviamo a ottobre' is wrong, because it means 'they we-write in october'
As for 'li', yes, there is a difference, e.g. ' li scriviamo una lettera ad ottobre'= we write them a letter in october vs 'scriviamo una lettera a loro ad ottobre'=we write a letter to them in october, but as you can see they are both acceptable (considered correct by native speakers).
This is quite confusing. "li" means "them", but it does not neccecarily mean them as in "people", but is actually refering to the object.
"Li scriviamo" could be used in this way: "Hai finito di scrivere i contratti?" - "Have you finished writing the contracts?". "Li scriviamo adesso" - "We write them now".
If you are writing lettes, that are feminine, you instead use "le": "Hai finito di scrivere le lettere?" - "Have you finished writing the letters?". "Le scriviamo adesso" - "We write them now".
But "li" could also be used for people, as in "Li educhiamo" - "We educate them". Here we say "we write to them", so we need to either use "a loro" or "gli".
Hope this made things more clear
We write them.... is bad English (in this context)..... It is more correct to say..We write to them.
Scriviamo a loro = Gli scriviamo = We write TO them
Because it is an indirect object... Li (them) becomes Gli (to them)
Li scriviamo is used in Italian but it does not mean "we write to them'....but rather ' We write them....in the sense of...We write them down....
Li scriviamo in un libro = We write them down in a book
Li scriviamo matematicamente = We write it out mathematically.
I looked it up and this says that loro and gli can both be used to be to them. http://italian.about.com/library/fare/blfare166a.htm
Yuujen, if you want to use «loro» as an indirect object pronoun, you must put it after the verb. This is the only indirect object pronoun that follows this rule. Note:
Loro scriviamo ad ottobre. = They we write in October. (sounds like a subject-verb agreement error)
Scriviamo loro ad ottobre. = We write them in October.
I wrote the latter, and it was accepted. I will refer you to this link: http://italian.about.com/library/fare/blfare117a.htm.
Hope this helps.
As far as I know, 'gli' is only masculine singular (meaning '(to) him'). This site where you looked it up doesn't give the form 'li' (meaning '(to) them'). I think there is a mistake on that website, whereas duolingo was right from the begining this time.
And as for loro, notice that before the verb it's subject, e.g. loro scrivono (they write), but after the verb it's object, e.g. scrivono loro (they write to them).
Le is to her when it's alone but if you're saying Give her it, you'd say Daglielo. It doesn't give the form li because it's only showing the indirect pronouns, while li is a direct pronoun. Gli is also often used as to them in more informal situations as well. (http://italian.about.com/library/fare/blfare165a.htm) Furthermore, object pronouns in Italian (and French) go before the verb, not after most of the time. So I write a letter = Io scrivo una lettera but I write it = Io la scrivo. I'm still very dubious.
'them' is used as an indirect object pronoun, so either of these is acceptible:
after the verb
.. scriviamo a loro
before the verb
.. gli scriviamo
Here's a chart sorted by pronoun:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw00FD60mORud3VtMkQyZmJ0MTA/edit?usp=sharing
Duolingo just told me the correct response is 'gli scriviamo'. I haven't come across gli in this form. Is it a pronoun?
Why would I use an article gli (plural of the) instead of a pronoun noi?
- 2401
Gli here could be used as an indirect object pronoun, which means "to them", but it's controversial since it also and originally means "to him".
- Scriviamo a loro ad ottobre.
- Gli scriviamo ad ottobre.
I'm surprised... I wrote "Scriviamo allore in ottobre" and it was just marked a typo ...
- 428
I wrote "Scriviamo ad loro a ottobre" and DUO said I was wrong, it was "a" instead of "ad"; so I wrote "Scriviamo a loro ad ottobre" and it said I was wrong!! It said that it was as I had written it first.
Seems to be an error in the words you can select. There was one "ad" and one "a" but I needed two "a" Scriviamo a loro a ottobre.
Since the next word «ottobre» begins with a vowel, it is common to change the second «a» to «ad». It is not an error.
- 137
We learn AD octobre, because that starts with a vowel. But before aprile, also starting with a vowel, it had to be A?. WHY???
If I remember correctly tips prior to this lesson use a octobre not ad otobre. The lesson also said a or in can be used interchangeably
How do you know which is ad and a when both are available when you click on the underlined word?
