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How can we determine when "suo" means "her" or "his"? Sometimes there are really hard cases.
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In real life you have a contex where you define who "suo" refers to, then you know.
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But they also wanted: He has his dress. How can this be correct?
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They only look like dresses. ;-), Priestly garments are "robes". My (female) wife is a priest in the Episcopal Church, and she wears robes when she performs her priestly duties. They are never "dresses".
Also, I sang in a church choir, which also wears floor-length robes. I posted a picture of me in my robes, and some people asked if I were wearing a dress.
That's not to say that she doesn't wear dresses. When she does, however, they are no different from dresses worn by non-priests.
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does he have his own suit (lui ha il proprio abito) or another man's suit? Do these both mean the same?
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The sentence as it is could mean either, but it is equally ambiguous in English :)
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I think it's a default translation to say "He has his suit", as in, the translation of abito in this instance would usually be suit. I wouldn't have thought it was "He has his dress" when the sentence is in isolation. We don't normally think of men as having dresses!
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I thought the answer was "He has his suit" and "He has her suit". I don't understand how "abito" means "dress" as well.
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Things for women can be masculine -as is vestito. Words can also have various meanings!
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does anyone else find it impossible you understand this womans pronunciation of tuo and suo. Another question;how many of the non-italians would have got this far if all the questions were vocal.
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I clearly hear "suo" for this, but I can't access the slow version right now. I know the Italian audio has a lot of problems, but to be honest I found the lessons much easier when I had the speaker turned on for audio. I lost more hearts when I turned the speaker off. I actually don't remember losing a heart with the audio, although it must have happened. I think this is because I have studied Italian a long time and am fluent enough to tune my ear despite the glitches. Other people have said the same thing, although it takes a while to get used to the computer voice. I found the same with the Italian to English tree (I am a native English speaker). Bear in mind that I often struggle with understanding native Italian speakers at normal speed. Take heart that the Duo audio will become easier. I'm not saying it's the best way to learn listening skills, but it's a good start. You need to supplement it with real Italian, of course.
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I heard it clearly but I think I was expecting "suo". Listened on slow to reaffirm.
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It's something that takes getting used to. The first few times I encountered exercises with suo/a I frequently mistook it for tuo/a. I did it again with this exercise. But after playing it about 10 times, the s became clear.
The mind does some pretty odd things - it doesn't just not hear stuff, if fills in the blanks for things it doesn't hear clearly. So, if you're expecting tuo/a (for whatever reason) and don't quite catch the suo/a, you'll hear tuo/a. After more exposure, you will naturally come to hear the correct words.
But I must admit, the female audio's pronunciation is so fast between ha and suo, it's really difficult to catch the s (instead of t). The female voice's enunciation could be a lot better. I've coached some public speakers, and my primary advice to all of them has been: You don't need to slow down as much as you need to make each word more clear. For some, the 2nd bit of advice was to slow down.
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Great! Now he has to get back to the bank and get a pay raise! (Props for those who get it!)
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Sometimes it is confious. However we can help with a native from Italy. It is helpful ;)
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Correct answer is "He has his suit" but Duolingo expects the answer "He has his costume".
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What's a costume? That is what I am shown as the translation for abito=costume
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In American English, a "costume" is clothing that is associated with something different from clothes worn in normal human activities, including formal events. Even a tuxedo or an ornate evening gown would not be deemed a "costume", nor would uniforms worn at work.
The most evident example of a "costume" is clothing worn at Halloween (look it up), where people dress in all sorts of strange garments: to look like vampires, like kings and queens, like princesses, like witches, like famous movie characters. People acting in plays can be said to dress "in costume", to present their characters.
In AE, "costume" definitely means something very specific, while in Italian, it means a much broader range of clothing which includes AE costumes, but also includes everyday wear.
My Italian boyfriend is saying that 'abito' just on its own refers to a 'woman's' dress, not a 'suit'. If you say 'abito scuro' (dark suit) or 'abito da sposo' (wedding suit) then it means does refer to a 'suit'. Alternatively, 'completo da uomo/donna' is also suit. And more colloquially a suit is 'giacca e cravatta' (meaning jacket and tie literally).
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I put he has his clothing and was marked wrong. The answer came back as "costume." Why was I marked wrong?
Here it is translated as his suit but was rejected for me and was informed as He has her suit. Please explain
