"The girl does not like chicken."
Translation:Alla ragazza non piace il pollo.
94 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
I do not understand why 'La' is not accepted since the translation is 'The girl...' Why must it be 'alla'?
Because the subject is "il pollo"; "piacere" is more "to be liked" than "to like". A mnemonic help is translating it as "to be pleasing" and then reorganizing the sentence: in this case it would be "To the girl is not pleasing, the chicken".
I still don't understand. Why is "LA ragazza" incorrect? If we are to translate "The" to "Alla" and not "La," then more explanation is required. I would be perfectly fine translating "To the" to "Alla," but that is not what is being asked.
You said that reason why "the" translates to "alla" is because of the chicken. Not sure I understand why. What I am understanding is that what you're trying to say is: "When using the verb 'piacere,' one translates 'the' to 'alla' rather than 'la' and this is an exception to the rule." Are there any other verbs like this?
Thanks a lot :-)
"To the" is necessary because "piacere" technically means to please, not to like. In english we say "I like chicken" but in Italian it's "At myself pleases chicken". As such, the way its structured is "at the girl pleases the chicken." If you look at the sentence "Mi piace pollo," you'll notice that "piace" is conjugated in third person singular, not first person singular, because "I" am the object and "chicken" is the subject. Similarly, if you wanted to say "he talks to me" you would say "mi parla (lui)."
Hope that's helpful! :)
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Simply a vagary of the language & how reflexive verbs have to be treated. Equally, the Italians might ask why we say it the way we do!!!
No problem! I suggest looking up reflexive verbs, since they are extremely common in italian.
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I am guessing that Mi really is first person singular, but it is an object pronoun rather than a subject pronoun
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Writing or explaining this way makes more sense to English speakers and is also accepted.
il pollo non piace alla ragazza
Ok, i Think i understand your answer. But what would the "Italien in the street" say; La ragazza non piace or Alla ragazza non piace? My main goal is not to be a translator but to make myself understood in everyday Life.
"Alla ragazza non piace il pollo" would be pretty common, except that it would be rare for anyone to call a girl "la ragazza". The most common I think would be "a lei il pollo non piace".
I understand the "to her" instead of "the girl". It makes sense in my head. And i really like your comment about the most common way to say it. That is what I want learn. Thanks!
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Piacere è un verbo intransitivo; I have found this for you: In grammar, an intransitive verb does not allow a direct object. This is a distinctive from a transitive verb, which takes one or more objects. The verb property is called transitivity. Intransitive verbs are often identified as those that can't be followed by who or what. Wikipedia
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I would like to know if an Italian speaking person would understand if you said la ragazza in this sentence instead of alla ragazza?
My husband is Italian and I questioned this as well. He said that yes, it would be understood with "la ragazza" but "alla ragazza" is the correct way.
Its alla read "tip" before you start lesson. When you express a like before piace or picone the name take alla
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The determination of the gramatical subject "il pollo" is obligatory in Spanish when using the verb equivalent to "piacere" (gustar). Is it obligatory in Italian too? Or can I say: Alla ragazza non piace pollo?
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One of the other exercises using this same sentence was a "choose the correct sentence among the given" and the correct choice DID NOT have the article "il" before pollo. But I got it wrong when I omitted it in my answer.
I don't know about Spanish, but in Italian it has nothing to do with piacere, and everything to do with the fact that you always have to use an article before the subject: just like you can't say "pollo è buono". Even if that weren't the case, Italian almost always requires an article in front of general concepts.
Thanks f.formica... you've just answered my question! I should have read on down. Pollo in this sentence is the subject so needs the definite article.
In the sentence "Compriamo caramelle" caramelle is the subject but does not require "la" but in this exercise our famous "pollo" requires a definitive article. What is the difference?
In "compriamo caramelle", "caramelle" is the object, not the subject, and the article would be "le": in the same way you cannot say "caramelle sono buone".
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Good question. I thought so too, but DL gave me the correct answer as not including the il [pollo]. I see this screen has it though. ??
That is weird, as they marked me WRONG for not including the "il" (I wrote " Alla ragazza non piace pollo")
Aaaarrrggghhhh! I thought I'd sussed this... when to put the definite article and when to leave it out. I wrote "alla ragazza non piace pollo" also, following what i thought was the rule from many previous lessons , only to have it marked wrong. Now I'm completely baffled. People keep saying you don't need the article in Italian, same as English, unlike, say, French. Can anyone clarify why it is wrong in this instance to omit the definite article?
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I did the same thing and wonder ...is it really wrong...and if so what is the rule to follow.
First, it is not a correct translation. "Alla ragazza non piace il pollo." As if she were served a poor meal at a restaurant while "The girl does not like chicken." indicates the girl does like chicken in general. Second, in english we would say "The chicken is not pleasing to the girl." = "Il pollo non piace alla ragazza." But italian grammer with reflexive verbs is different than english grammer, therefore "To the girl, is not pleasing the chicken." = "Alla ragazza non piace il pollo." There are other reflexive verbs in italian that will twist our english grammer around. Study and practice and learn to think in italian.
I think the connotation is that when it comes to food, "the girl" finds chicken to be the most unpleasant. Maybe she finds fish delightful, but chicken does not please her. Am I on the right track?
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In English we could equally say "Chicken is not pleasing to the girl". There is nothing in the sentence to specify that it's a particular serving of chicken, it could surely be chicken in general?
Ecco una traduzione che rispetta la costruzione inglese: LA RAGAZZA NON GRADISCE IL POLLO.
Why is it the article sometime used before the noun in a sentence and sometimes it is not. Many times when I use the article before the noun I am graded incorrect then in other sentences when I don't use the article before the noun I am still graded incorrect. Is there a grammatical rule that I am missing?
Because we are talking about a specific girl, so the definite article is needed. The english equivalent would be saying something like "I throw the ball at girl" instead of "I throw the ball at the girl."
I'm working my way back up this thing for grammar practise rather than extra learning and I have never heard anyone say 'alla ragazza' in this context. I and my Italian family would all say 'la ragazza non piace il pollo' in common speech. Then again we speak dialect a lot so I guess we might just be sloppy.
I too have answered without "il" in front of pollo before and it was correct. It doesn't read as "the" chicken it says chicken. However today I got it wrong because I omitted "il". It sounds better in English if the sentence reads; she does not like chicken. Is the "il" necessary in Italian to make the sentence sound grammatically correct?
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Yes, Deana, I absolutely agree; I just posted a similar comment. I wish I had read all the way down and found the comments from you and Michael first, but when there's 107 .....
I understand it as "To the girl, the chicken is not pleasing"; or in other words "The chicken is not pleasing to the girl". La ragazza is the girl; whereas, Alla ragazza is to the girl.
Is it okay if i say "alla ragazza non LE piace il pollo"?? Or did i just completely make that up?
Doubling the object can be done as a form of emphasis, yes; whether that's okay is subject of debate. It's been drilled into us as children never to say things like "a me mi", and it could cost us grades in a school test, so most Italians tend to consider it unacceptable (especially in writing) or dialectal, but most grammarians acknowledge that it's been around for centuries and there's nothing wrong with emphasis. So yes, you'll hear that, especially in some regions, but be careful using it; it's not normally accepted in this course for instance.
Interesting. First time I saw this there was no 'il' and it was correct. This time with no 'il' it is marked as incorrect....
Read the sentence as: the chicken is not likeable to the girl. 'to the' is 'alla', pointing to the girl.
I didn’t put IL pollo. Wrong! Why are DL so inconsistent? Sometimes the want the definite article and other times they don’t. I made a literal translation and the red flagged it☹️
Because the Italian way to say it is : to the girl pleases the chicken.. something you cannot say in English. You cannot say la ragazza loves chicken.. that would mean she is in relationship with ! Always remember that piace doesn't mean like but please... when you are pleased by the chicken taste, then you like it.
In this context it means "at the" or "to the." Remember, "piacere" doesn't mean "to like," it means "to please," which is why "pollo" is the subject and "ragazza" is the object. As such, the literal english translation would be "At the girl does not please the chicken."
"does not please the chicken" sounds more like when I make my ckickens go back in their pen -- they are not pleased at all. This is a bit confusing since we are concerned with the girl's feeling/likes, but not the chicken's.
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It's just a weird thing with piacere you have to learn. You have to add "a" (in its proper form) to the article (le, la, etc) so it becomes 'to the X'. So la ragazza becomes (a + la = alla) alla ragazza.
Others above explain the grammar rules better than I can. LOL...
So we should translate this as "The chicken is not pleasing to her" to extend to "The girl does not like chicken"?
Why not, then, place "Il pollo" before? Il polo non piace alla ragaza"?
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Cause their Italian and don't do it that way? They'd mostly likely know what you meant, but might chuckle that the chicken didn't like the girl. Hee Hee
Good Luck...it is confusing
To the girl, the chicken is not pleasing would be the literal translation.
I said 'Alla ragazza non piace pollo' and it marked me wrong. Is the article mandatory in this one?
In italiano si dice.. Alla ragazza non piace il pollo. L'articolo è sottinteso... Ma c'è..
It seems to be a guessing game as to when DuoLingo wants the article, in this case il, or not. Half the time they don't use the article. There is no consistency. They do not seem to go by any standard grammar rule.
I learned from another discussion that Mr formica is a contributor. Is that possible for DL to specify/mark the contributor for this and other forums. Grazie.
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In lesson one of prepositions, the sentence was the same and accepted pollo without the il before it. Why is it wrong now ???
Why alla? I am confused. Al is supposed to mean to the ....please help. Grazie
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You are close to correct. A is 'to', so al is "to the (male noun) --> Al ragazzo. So for ragazza, you get alla ragazza, 'to the girl'. Not to be confusing but you could also have alle ragazze and ai ragazzi for multiples. Good Luck!
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The sentence was "The girl does not like chicken," Not "THE chicken" - chicken in general, not this specific chicken. I was marked wrong because I said "pollo" instead of "il pollo". There have been numerous examples throughout this course - and in the immediately preceding sections - where the article was omitted when referring to items in a general sense, rather than a specific one. Please be consistent Duo.
Hi, fluent Italian speaker here: words aren't generally used without articles in a general sense in the way that they are in English. In this case the article actually cannot be omitted - 'alla ragazza non piace pollo' is just grammatically wrong. It's important to keep in mind that you're dealing with a different language, and that intuitive things in English might not easily transfer.
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Ciao Raffaele, thanks for setting me straight on that point - but now I'm still confused. As I said in my post, I've seen many examples where Duo has omitted the article, and marked my answers correct when I omitted it - like this evening, in the same section. So how does one differentiate between the entire population of something - chicken, for example, and one particular chicken dish? I like chicken, but if I'm at a party, I might not like "the chicken". Right? Grazie mille!
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"Alla ragazza non piace il pollo" could be translated in English as 'The chicken is not pleasing to the girl'.
Why must we use 'il' pollo? Why cant we say 'Alla ragazza non piace pollo ?'
"pollo" is the subject of the verb piacere. "The chicken is pleasing". Just as one would say "the boy" "il ragazzo" or "the woman" "la donna", the article is needed before "il pollo". Since "non" preceeds "piacere" the literal translation is "The chicken is not pleasing to the girl." Because "the girl" is the direct object of "piacere", "alla" is needed.
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But it doesn't answer the question how do you distinguish between chicken in general as opposed to a specific piece of chicken? No one has pointed out how we say the latter