31 Comments
[QUESTION]
Why don't we put the definite particle "THE" before the word breakfast?
Grazie mille per le vostre risposte.
I'm guessing you only put "the" when it's that specific breakfast which would make the sentence "what are you doing before THE breakfast" as in that particular one. If you miss it out "the" it could be any breakfast, so the sentence would be "what do you do before breakfast" in general
I dont think we need to: there is only one meal each day that is "breakfasty", the same way there is only e g one lunch. They also give an indication of time. Cf "a snack" that is also a meal of sorts, but gives no clues as to when in time.
I'm curious, what's the function of "di" in this sentence? Could "cosa fai prima colazione" also work?
I was told that 'prima di' is an expression that means 'before' while 'prima' by itself (without the di) is 'first' (often followed by 'dopo' meaning 'then/after that'.)
I'm not sure, but that phrase would probably sound too ambiguous. "Prima colazione" means breakfast. "Colazione" also means breakfast by itself. Your sentence - if I'm right - would literally translate to "what do you make breakfast", which is probably not valid Italian. Could be an idiom, though. Please correct me if any of this is wrong. Thanks.
As far as I have understood, prima di = before when it comes to time and time a day. Avanti may also be used.
Prima = before in all other settings.
But I may be wrong, so please correct me as I am learning myself.
I think "prima di" should be thought of as "prior to", i e " before". At least in this instance, and that prima here has nothing to do with colazione.
170
I thought that "fare" was to make or to do. I tried make, but got marked incorrect.
You're right! That would work as well, but if somebody asks you "Cosa fai stasera?" they usually don't mean "What are you making this evening?" unless they're asking about the dinner you've planned or they're trying to use a terrible pick up line ;)
LOL, one of the suggestions for "fai" was "do drugs": "What drugs do you do before breakfast?"
- 861
I looked at the drop down list for "fai" after I read your post... wow. Crazy, huh? I'm starting to think duolingo has a prankster among us.
I put "What do you cook first for breakfast?" as in, multiple items to be cooked. It was marked wrong, which is probably correct. How would I say that?
Edited for spelling.
Because this is a question about regular actions, not a future plan.
- 193
It's only "the" breakfast if it's a particular breakfast you are talking about.
Nurse my daughter take care of my son wash dishes and countertops do a laundry excetera excetera excetera
