"They eat some apples."
Translation:Loro mangiano delle mele.
36 Comments
Mangiano qualche mele is plural. So why is it a problem, why should it be 'qualche mela'?
Apparently qualche has no plural form and is always followed by the singular form of the noun, as in qulache giorno. See for example:http://www.italiangrammarsite.net/Chapter%203.htm
Is there a rule as to when you use del- vs qualche when refererring to "some"?
140
Found this explanation on http://blogs.transparent.com/italian/qualche-alcuni-o-dei/
When talking about unspecified quantities we can use several forms. The most common indefinite adjective is qualche, which means ‘some’, ‘any’, or ‘a few’.
The problem with qualche is that it is invariable, and always singular, but expresses the idea of plurality. Let’s look at the way we use it:
Ho comprato qualche pianta al mercato (I bought some plants on the market)
Qualche albero è caduto a causa del forte vento (Some trees have fallen because of the strong wind)
Qualche giorno fa siamo andati al mare (A few days ago we went to the sea)
Conosci qualche buon ristorante qui vicino? (Do you know any good restaurants near here?)
Yes. Native speakers don't use the pronoun since it is attached to the verb. I guess DL is using them to teach us.
Remember it reading somewhere here on duo, Essi and Loro both are correct. However Essi is less commonly used in daily conversations. Not a native Italian
- 1946
No, I bounce around according to my attention span and mood. Once in a great while I might do two or three at a time for a day or two.
I've been studying Italian on DL for about 6 weeks now, so I haven't gotten very far - but with all the cognates, it's been relatively easy (especially compared to Japanese, which I studied for a couple of years). I am happy with my progress so far. I think I'm going to try Turkish next, because it's from a different language family than any other language I've studied.
I think I did it right because mele is plural for mela so why did they say it was wrong ??
- 1946
That entirely depends on what you put for the rest of the sentence. We have no way of knowing that, so when you ask for help, you need to include those kinds of details. How was the question presented to you? If it was multiple choice, what were all of the options? If it was typing, how precisely did you answer?
Delle is followed by fem. plural nouns and della is followed by fem. singular nouns:
- Hanno delle carote/they have some carrots
- Vendono della verdura/they sell some vegetables
- Mangiamo della carne/we eat some meat
- Beviamo della birra/we drink some beer
They told me to say 'they eat some apples' I said 'mangiate qualche mele' then told me I was wrong for using the plural of apples. Why is this?
- 1946
Yes, but it has to agree. "Dei" is for masculine plural. "Mele" is feminine plural.
* http://italian.about.com/library/fare/blfare125a.htm
* https://ciaoitaliablog.wordpress.com/classes/italian-preposition-with-definite-article/
I have pressed the correct answer but it is saying its wrong so I pressed the other choices but its not accepting any?
