"Non hai mai tempo per le cose importanti."
Translation:You never have time for the important things.
52 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Why is it 'importanti' masculine plural ending when 'le cose' indicates feminine plural things?
Because singular ending -e changes to -i in the plural, whether the noun is masculine or feminine.
so "importanti" is a masculine and feminine plural form of "importante"
check this link for details: http://italian.about.com/library/fare/blfare128b.htm
Same Q here. I guess this version emphasises never....well...let's leave it to native speakers of English
1817
Hi..
grammatically yes ..
• AVVERBS OF FREQUENCY answers the question: "how often?"
ex. Always, often, sometimes, never, etc.
Adverbs of frequency generally go before the main verb, but "AFTER" the auxiliaries verb (such as; be, have, may and must...).
_ "Never forget". Non dimenticare mai.
_I 'can "never" remember her name. Non riesco mai a ricordare il suo nome.
_They 'have "never" had' pets. Non hanno "mai" avuto animali domestici.
_ They "never" had' animals. Non hanno mai avuto animali.
- 710
I put 'you never have the time for important things'. Wrong. Maybe I just talk wierd but this is preferable to me.
I wrote "you never have the time for important things" and was marked incorrect :(
Is there a write up somewhere regarding "Mai"? i know it means "never" but sometimes it means "ever" right? I can't think of an example but I know "Mai" sometimes trips me up. help, please!
- 775
I put 'You never have time for important matters' and it was marked wrong. Does duo object to the word 'matters' (which I checked was a possible translation of 'cose') or to no article before 'important' which I thought sounded better?
The word "mai" makes it never. Non corro mai. I never run. You have to use non with it.
I feel that while it carries the same meaning, "You don't have time for what is important" would more directly translate to Non hai tempo per che è importante.
- 1022
Does this mean specifically YOU, or can it mean "one never has time for the important things", as it can in English.
Depending on the context, it can be a "general" statement.
The followings can all be translated with "one never has time for the important things":
-
Non hai mai tempo per le cose importanti. (informal)
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Uno non ha mai tempo per le cose importanti. (informal, also literal translation of your option)
- Non si ha mai tempo per le cose importanti. (more formal, less colloquial)
- 107
Like in so many other listening exercises, it is impossible to understand some words, like "tempo" in this case. The audio is often very poor!
I put a 'the' in front of time, becsuse the English reads so much better that way. Obviously, because it wasn't a literal translation, it was wrong!
I did the same and reported that it should be accepted. it frustrates me when the translation isn't literal and they don't allow it. Often it's the difference between British and American English, so even more frustrating!
Shouldn't "You never have time for important things" or "You never have the time for important things" be a better translation?
- 559
If the translation is supposed to be into normal spoken English why is ‘the’ time wrong?
Why isn't it "there isn't more time for the important things" ? How do we know it is "you" that doesn't have time?
- 775
It is 'you' that doesn't have time because 'hai' is the 2nd person singular of 'avere' - to have, which is irregular. it is conjugated 'ho', 'hai', ha', 'abbiamo', 'avete', 'hanno' Also 'mai' means 'never', not 'more'.
I think that we have also write you have never time for important things