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- "You are truly a nice couple."
"You are truly a nice couple."
Translation:Siete proprio una bella coppia.
100 Comments
388
I thought "bella" meant "beautiful" and "bene" meant "good" or "nice" Are these interchangeable?
"Bene" is an adverb, meaning well (as in sto bene); good is "buono". Nice is a rather elusive word in English, and I suspect there are several ways to translate it into Italian...
Unfortunately for my hearts my dictionary does not include 'buono' for 'nice'. Though it does have 'bene' for the adverb 'nicely' :-)
If anyone is interested ( slightly off topic), the word "nice" originally meant delicate/intricate/ refined/ well made. A hundred and something years later it has now been so over/ misused that it is extremely vague/ bland, meaning " quite pleasant/ OK/ attractive etc". It is so bland and virtually meaningless we were told to never use it in wrtten English as there is always a better more precise word.
Originally it meant "unpleasant"! "You are a nice fellow" was an insult in the 17th Century. It's a bit like "wicked" which is changing its meaning in our time.
"we were told to never use it in wrtten English as there is always a better more precise word." Nice.
In reality bella = beautiful and carina = pretty. They taught me that at school during english lessons.
Think of the "nice" as "nice looking". If I'm understanding correctly, the speaker is saying the two look good together. So "bella" would fit here
why is it "Siete proprio una bella coppia" and not "Siete propria una bella coppia"? coppia is a feminine form..
So far you've learned two different types of proprio. If you can identify the role of the word, then you can figure out whether or not to use a different form :)
adjective indicates possession: like most adjectives, this one does change with gender and number
- Ognuno ha la propria giacca/Each one has got his own jacket
- La ragazza usa i propri poteri/The girl uses her own powers
adverb can mean truly/really...: like all adverbs, this one does not change
- È proprio una bella giornata/It is truly a beautiful day
- È proprio un disastro/It is truly a disaster
- 1092
When does an adjective come before the noun and when can it go after it? I keep getting it marked wrong for putting it in the wrong place, but it's not consistently before or after the noun...
Most of the time they come after. The ones that commonly come before are bello, buono, grande - all with their various derivatives. Also worth bearing in mind is that the position of the adjective can change the meaning eg una borsa cara = an expensive handbag, un caro amico = a dear friend.
Dome further detail: Demonstrative adjectives (questo and quello,) posessive adjectives (mio, tuo, suo) and Indefinite adjectives (Quali and Quanto) always go in front of the noun. To just about complete the set also remember ogni, qualche and nessuno. Hope this helps.
- 1826
I have many Italian cousins and they tend to use "proprio" in sentences with this kind of meaning ("you are really..." whatever).
In this sentence, probably not, because in English you wouldn't say "You are a nice couple" to one person. Also, I just think about it as if "y'all" or "you all" makes more sense, then use voi, not tu. Hope I could help!
Maybe so, yet the "you" is not referring to the people in the couple, not the couple itself.
As a native English speaker, I can't explain the Italian grammar with any certainty, but I suspect it's because the "you" is implied to be plural--as though you are saying, "You (two) are truly a nice couple."
I don't know, though, whether Italian counts the couple as a singular collective noun when we speak about them in the 3rd person--as in "That couple is truly nice."
No. A couple is indeed a single unit but it is composed of two individuals. So, 'sei' for addressing each individual but 'siete' for addressing the couple. However, if talking about the couple then 'è' would be correct.
I tried "Veramente siete una bella coppia" and it was marked wrong =(
May it was the word order?
- 2060
Good question, I don't know if this is right but I think paio is more for objects -gloves, shoes etc.
- 556
Shouldn't it be "sei" rather than "siete," since "couple" is a singular and not a plural in the same way that "famiglia" is singular rather than plural?
See BenZeller's great explanation, comparing "voi" and "you all", which you would not conjugate in the singular.
- 457
Syntax! To me, "una coppia proprio bella" sounds fine too, but Duo says no. Waah! Will I ever get syntax straight?
you have a system of hearts, I don't know if it is only on the free version, like a game. If you make a mistake you lose a heart. If you lose too much hearts, you cannot progress until the next day.
Finally got it after over 400 days. Voi is you all, and tu is when you are referring to one person.
DL has now presented three different words for "really" proprio, veramente, and daverro. What are the rules for each?
- 485
I wrote "Voi siete veramente una simpatica coppia" and was marked wrong. When I changed the word order to "coppia simpatica" it was marked correct. I don't know if that helps!
Why not "una simpatica coppia"? Simpatica is one of the suggestions and yet it is not accepted.
Why is proprio used here? it seems like a redundancy. Is it just colloquial?
- 1826
"Proprio" adds emphasis. It is like when we say "really" or (as in this translation) "truly." You are not just a nice couple; you are truly a nice couple.
We have the word "proper" in English, which means "real", so if it helps, you could think of "proprio" as meaning "really" (as in "you're a really nice couple") and "veramente" as "truly". In some English dialects, there's the expression "proper", which means "really" or "very", as in "you're a proper nice couple".
Grazie! I only thought 'propio' meant 'quite', as I'm sure that's what Michel Thomas said on my audio CDs.
P.s, do you not get a little confused with all the other languages you're learning?
Thanks for looking at my profile. It is confusing doing several languages at the same time, especially if they are from the same family (Germanic or Romance for example), but I had a bit of a head start - my German is fluent and my French conversationally fluent. Then I found it was best to concentrate on one at a time, so I'm not working on my Italian at the moment, just Dutch, having spent the last year concentrating on Danish.
- 173
oh you Europeans have such opportunities to use other than native languages. Years ago an English teacher in the Piedmont (central) region of North Carolina declared that all the Spanish she ever got to use was, "Mas pane, por favor."
I thought it should be simpatica or gentile, too (or at least that those words should be accepted).
- 274
I also believe simpatica is a far more suitable word in this instance. It was in the hints and rejected. Not so sure about gentile - kind I think
Is anyone else struggling with this module? I am finding it hard to figure the base rules.
I put: Voi siete proprio una bella coppia and Duo says: Wrong, it's Siete proprio una bella copia. And I say: If I would ever learn Italian, obviously must be considered as a genious.
1: This Sounds Really Weird In English, Maybe Moving "Truly" To Be After "A" Would Work Better? 2: Doesn't "Bella" Mean "Beautiful"? Why Does It Mean "Nice" Here?
There are so many meanings of "nice" in English that you can virtually take your pick which Italian word you use. I would not worry too much if Duo does not accept yours provided it appears in the following:
- 135
Nice originally meant 'precise' as well so it wasn't really a compliment. I wouldn't want to be described as precise in character. I think 'bella' is an awful translation for 'nice' How about 'gradevole' or 'piacevole'? Dont think Duolingo got this right!
- 173
I thought gentile was nice. This sentence makes me think that they are good looking. "Pretty is as pretty does." "Beauty is skin deep."
Siete davvero una coppia gentile. I am not sure which bit DL did not like the "davvero" or the "gentile". Listening to Italians talking in videos and how they use gentile, it sounds that the meaning of "gentile" is nice, and should be accepted here.
- 173
maybe DL is thinking that it has not introduced us to "gentile, " and wants only our limited vocabulary.
surely "a couple" is singular therefore sei rather than siege. Comments please
I used "simpatici" which I thought meant nice...but it seems it wasn't correct
- 243
Google translate "Siete proprio una bella coppia" -> "You are such a beautiful couple".
I think these adverbs are introduced too much altogether, making them difficult to distinguish and remember.
