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- Topic: Italian >
- "Lei è la donna."
56 Comments
"you" is used in English whether you're speaking to your little sister or to the leader of your country, and whether you're speaking to one person or several.
In Italian, you make a difference between talking to one person (you = tu) and talking to several people (you = voi). And when you're speaking politely/formally, you use you = Lei (capitalised for politeness).
So lei = she, Lei = you.
At the beginning of a sentence, you can't tell them apart.
Yes, you are :) However. Please keep in mind that sometimes "il" (il libro) becomes "lo" (lo sport) or - when the following word begins with a vowel, it becomes "l'" ("L" + apostrophe, as in "l'albero", the tree); the latter also happens to the feminine "la", which becomes "l'" when preceding words beginning with a vowel (L+ apostrophe, as in "l'acqua", the water). This is probably just confusing you, so you can stick with il/masculine - la/feminine at first if it's easier for you :) Check this out: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/language_notes/il.html
Emilee: Thanks for your good explanations. Is a vocal the same as a vowel?
you're very welcome! and oops, I did mean vowel, sorry! (wrong language lol) I edited my previous comment :)
What is the difference between the types of accents over the e? Does it matter which way it is facing, and if so, why?
Essentially, it reflects the pronunciation: "è" is an "open e" like in the English "met, get, etc.". While "é" is a "closed e", like the first part of the "a" in "may, bay" etc. For example, the words "tè" (tea) is pronounced with an "è" and "te" (you, to you) is pronounces with an "é".
Yeah, but don't worry too much about it: lots of Italians don't even know there are two types of accents.
When you have a la or le before a vowel it becomes a shorter l' I think because ofnpronounciation reasons but what about lei e? Why is that not shortened when two vowels are so close together
In this particular case is an indeterminate article then should not be "the" should be "a". Becouse the root of this language is the same as spanish and portuguese, then is a little tricky for english speakers...
Why not "she is the queen"? It actually makes more sense with this grammar.
That would fit if it had been "e" instead of "è".
Accents are important :)
When doing the activity it isn't recording my voice so to continue I have to skip the question. How do I fix this?
If you go into the settings, you can turn off the clues where you have to talk and the clues where you have to type what you hear.
I said she is the woman. The sound recording has never worked. At least have answer without having to go to comment section, please.
what does duolingo mean when it says use the indefinite "a" instead of the definite "the"? I just started learning and i'm confused
On the website, there should be little buttons underneath the text entry field.
On a mobile device, try long-pressing the base letter, e.g. long-press e to get access to è é ê ....
You ask for the translation in Italian but answer shows in English. When i type it in English you show the answer in Italian. I get is wrong either way. Your progam has an error!
My answer is correct ...she is the women but its continue to repeat the question without excepting my correct answer
I found the last word of this recording almost impossible to hear, both at the normal and the slow speed.
Try pressing on the letter 'e' if you do Duolingo on your phone, on the normal keyboard. A choice of letter 'e's with different accents should come up. On a PC, go to Insert and choose Symbols. Good luck!
I typed the correct Italian i heard and the answer minus punctuation matched. Why wrong.
Often when l am correct it does not accept and continually repeats.
How do you make e = is without the accent mark on the keyboard? Im getting this answer wrong b/c i cant distinguish between the two.
