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- "He is a waiter."
"He is a waiter."
Translation:Lui è un cameriere.
28 Comments
Hey! Interesting etymology stuff I just looked up: I was wondering if there was a link between the italian word for waiter, "cameriere" and the english word "camera" and found that the latin root "camera" means "small room/chamber" and adding the suffix "iere" often means that the person sells things or has a good to offer. The cameriere is the guy that goes to that little back room and brings you the good stuff. And the english word "camera" is like a tiny room/chamber that you put light into in order to capture pictures (think old-timey cameras).
I Believe Camera Actually Comes From The Italian "Camera Oscura", Literally Meaning "Dark Room", Which Referred To A Room With A Small Hole In A Wall So That Light Would Come In Creating An Image On The Opposite Wall, The Oldest Cameras Were Basically The Same Thing, Just Preserving The Image With Film Or Something. (I'm Not An Expert On Cameras)
You can use both, there is no particular rule as far as I can tell. There's also the case of the definite article when the verb is "fare". All these three are correct sentences in the Italian language:
È un cameriere. (indefinite article)
È cameriere. (zero article)
Fa il cameriere. (definite article)
332
Not accepted Aug 18, 2020. Thought I was wrong the first time, so I didn't report, will do so if it hasn't been fixed by the next time I encounter it.
I also thought that "a" was not required, but Duo tells me it is. Reported 9 June
That should work as well, so report it as a valid translation if you see it next time.
Weird. I wrote "lui e il camariere" and was told it was wrong and yours was the correction.
- 819
had this as multiple choice and marked both 1 Lui è cameriere. and 2 Lui è un cameriere.
but Duo said only #2 is correct. Is #1 actually incorrect? I guess I will report and see what happens...
- 1406
This is from Centro Studi Italiani :
« 5.1 Angela fa l’avvocato. Carlo fa l’insegnante.
5.2 Ludovico è programmatore.
5.1 The definite article is used in front of the names of professions; but
5.2. it is not used when the profession is introduced by the verb "to be". »
However, if there is a qualifying adjective :
Lui è un eccelente professore.
Translation of the Italian in Augustine2017's comment:
5.1 Angela is a lawyer. Carlo is a teacher. 5.2 Ludovico is a programmer. 5.1 The definite article is used in front of the names of professions; but 5.2. it is not used when the profession is introduced by the verb "to be".
From this and 123annn's comment, I learned that "fare" means "to do" and "to make," depending on context.
Accordingly, when speaking of professions, I'm going to use "fa la" instead of "èn" in order to get this translation added to the database once it receives enough upvotes and "My answer is correct" input. I also started dropping the article "un/una" in sentences describing a person's job and reporting that the omitted "a/un/una," which is the *indefinite" article, is a correct alternative translation.
At my Italian class this week we were taught that no article is needed in this sentence.
Reported as professions don't have to take the indefinite article; it should at least accept the option without 'un' as it is ambiguous
It's just using the verb to do/make instead of to be. You will notice this in many other languages if you study others. Hope this helps
Since Italian Has A Different Word For "Waitress", The "Lui" Is Ultimately Unnecessary, Right?
