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- "Di dove sono?"
35 Comments
292
Literally, you could translate this sentence like that, but it is not correct English. If you want to convey the meaning of the Italian sentence, the translation is "Where are they from?"
- 411
Ah , but it is correct English. In good, pedantic English, a sentence should not end with a preposition.
Maybe i am oldfashioned, but I was taught never to end a sentence with a preposition. Therefore it should be: "From where are they?" However, DL does not accept this answer.
- 225
The rule against ending sentences with prepositions is a good example of unwarranted prescriptivism. Those who invented it were insufficiently knowledgeable about the history of English as a Germanic language. The term preposition ("a preposed word") itself is only a general description. The rule was influenced by grammatical theory based on Latin--and English is not Latin...But careful writers, aware that the "rule" still has many supporters, try to avoid "trouble." But "from where are they?" is not natural English!...In highly colloquial French, one hears "c'est la fille qu'il sort avec..." 'She's the girl he goes out with', as opposed to "c'est la fille avec qui il sort."
- 169
That is not and has never been a rule. Multiple academic sources support this contention. Here is one: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/prepositions-ending-a-sentence-with Still, a very funny episode from the old TV series Designing Women went something like this: at a high society function the main character asked a lady, “where are y’all from”? The lady stuck her nose in the air and said, “I’m from where we don’t end a sentence with a preposition”. The questioner rephrased with, “Oh, where are y’all from b****?”
Try looking at exactly why you want to write "Dai" I suspect that you won't find a good reason and that will be why you can''t use it. Hope this helps :)
"Da" is used with the venire word. The phrase usually explains a place where the person has just come from (i.e. I come from the bookstore).
"Di" is used with the essere word. It usually explains a nationality of someone (i.e. I am from Jamaica).
- 670
I gather that venire takes "da"--so it's Leonardo comes from Vinci.
And: Di dove Leonardo? Leonardo di Vinci. Let's go visit him.
I think. We all need Italian speakers to check this stuff with.
di = of. Di dove sono? = Where am I of? da = from. Da dove vengo? = Where do I come from? I think that's just how they say it.
- 194
In English, ending a sentence with a prepostion is bad. It's the kind of thing up with which I will not put.
There is a mistake in aplication. Appers that it should be a translation
Incorrect English to end a sentence like this, using "from". From where are they should have been accepted. Now it causes me to retype the whole think again. No, grazie.
- 629
According to duolingo: di dove sono and da dove sono mean " where are they from". Makes no sense to me.
