64 Comments
Me too Knoxienne. Me too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! if you're learning Italian are you going to Italy, or are you already there, and your just try to speak that language? But I think it would take me a long time to answer like that.
wow you are doing great ! i have a question is duolingo enough to speak and understand a language ?
I really love when I type it right but the sound makes me second guess myself and change it...
72
Is there any guidance I can use to understand the meaning of fra? Since the hints say 'between' I translated this as 'the prison is closed for fifty days' but was marked wrong.
I translated 'fra' in this case as 'within', which seemed about right. "Within fifty days, the prison closes." DL accepted the answer too.
- 72
Thank you - that sounds like a translation that makes sense, within my understanding of 'tra'
- 450
The first hint says 'in' which makes good sense in this case. I can't really see how your answer ties up with 'between.' In any case, preposition usage differs from language to language. I've found that experience is the best teacher for their correct usage in a particular language.
- 72
The present tense is being used but the sense of 'closes in 50 days' is future, (correct English would be 'it will close in 50 days'). I thought it had the sense of 'between' the day it closed and the the day it would open in the future, so the closer was ongoing in the present.
I'm sure experience will get me there in the end, but it would be nice to get some guidance in the meantime.
- 23
No, the simple present is very often used to denote something which will definitely happen (has been planned etc) and in the not too far distance. (Not, when I grow up ...). Present continuous can also be used as future.
- 450
Wow! I never even thought of that. I just used the English that seemed right in the context. In any case, someone who is more proficient in Italian would have to offer the guidance you're looking for. Sorry I can't help.
Im also curious about this. Im pretty sure Viaggiatore had an answer to this but I skimmed over it..lol.
- 450
I agree. I hope you left it as a suggestion to Duolingo. This is a Beta program and they appreciate getting that sort of feedback. I've had numerous translations accepted by suggesting them.
Murray you're going to Italy ??????????????? Lucky I always wanted to go............................. bring me back something!!!!(J.K I don't even know you) hope its fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh I had a question, how would that help you???????????????????????????????????????Hole to talk to you soon............till next time.
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I translated it as "after fifty days the prison closes" meaning it has only been open for fifty days and it was marked wrong. Is there something wrong with my english or is it just a bad translation?
- 450
I'm not an expert, but I've noticed that there are often shades of meaning in prepositions from language to language. In this case, the use of 'fra' meaning 'between' also means 'within.' So, the prison is closing within fifty days, or between now and the fiftieth day.
I think it's more natural in English to say "The prison closes in fifty days' time", but DL doesn't agree. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
My English teacher would say adding the word "time" to "fifty days" was redundant. Fifty days IS time. Verbally, people do use this but it's not really needed.
that's a natural English translation. DL doesn't like it because it's not literal
I like the random sentences on Duolingo... Eventually, we'll hopefully be able to construct italian sentences from a knowledge base, rather than just memorised lines ;)
I am confused! "In fifty days the prison closes" means that on the 50th day the prison will close and not before. "The prison closes within (the next) 50 days" means that the prison will close at sometime in the next 50 days. These are two different meanings, but which is the meaning in the sentence? I thought that "la prigione chiude in cinquanta giorni would be the first sentence but how to express the second meaning? Fra / tra means between /among / in / amid / within / betwixt; this indicates to me that fra here means within the next 50 days ie the second sentence above. Clarification would be helpful please.
- 167
When the sentence starts with fra and a number it means "in".
When fra is in the middle of the sentence, then it means "among" or within.
Fra cinquanta giorni la prigione chiude (in 50 days, exactly)
La prigione chiude fra cinquanta giorni (within 50 days)
At least I'm pretty sure; I could still be incorrect, though. I'm not Italian.
- 298
the fast speaker says : Fra......la prigione E' chiude (e' is added) I keep getting this wrong because it is what I hear!
- 450
Use this link: https://translate.google.com/#it/en/%22Fra%20cinquanta%20giorni%20la%20prigione%20chiude.%22%3A . It's Google Translate and the sound is very clear.
In fifty days time the prison closes is perfectly acceptable English. Why is this not accepted by DL?
- 450
I would suppose because bots are very literally minded. There's no 'time' in the Italian sentence.
When I listen to the phrase, the last two words dropped off into a muddle of incomprehensible sound. It seems that repeatedly the last couple of words lose volume and become mumbled. I've been complaining in the discussion board about the quality of sound (bit rate is definitely too low, which is why it isn't sharp and clear) - and I hear that the Italian phrases we are listening to now is an incredible improvement, and one of the best on duo lingo. Is anyone else having issues with the quality of the sound.
Is the meaning the same if the sentence is 'Fra cinquanta giorni รจ la fiesta grande in Sicilia' ?
- 1451
There is no letter "k" in Italian. You use either "c" or "ch" before "e" or "i".
- 1652
Sure you can use it....................... if there is a prison near you, and it's closing in 50 days.
- 298
In the normal sound track I heard: ....la prigione e' chiude! Typed it right the first time and changed it only to be marked wrong. sigh..
