"He misses his family."
Translation:Gli manca la sua famiglia.
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Mancare works like piacere. In English you miss or like somebody, but in Italian they make you miss or like them. The subject in English becomes the object in Italian, and don't forget to conjugate the verb appropriately as well!
- I miss you/Tu mi manchi
- You miss me/Io ti manco
- I miss her/Lei mi manca
- She misses me/Io le manco
891
As if our brains don't have enough to process already, what with deciding the right word, correct placement, right conjugations, etc! :-) The use of 'gli' here really confused me. Thanks for the explanation KayvonX!
It is because you have to see la famiglia as one person (and conjugate verb as 3rd person singular).
However, la famiglia is not considered a 'close family noun' where you can omit the article such a madre (mother), padre (father) and other close, singular family members, so a good idea is to always remember the article.
242
No, it is singular but doesn't count as a close relative for the purpose of omitting the article.
1097
Gli has two meanings. It is the plural of " l'" as in gli elefante used as an article ( which are : a, an, " the" in English ) and later you will see that it is used as the pronoun for "him". DL just surprised us and threw a new usage in without preparing us for it. Hang in there! You are certainly not alone in your confusion.
242
It isn't generic family-related nouns, just "close relatives" - individuals (moms, dads, brothers, uncles, etc.)
1097
I think that is possible, but you never know what DL will accept as correct until you try. Do not worry about losing hearts by making mistakes. You learn more by getting it wrong than by thinking you have gotten it down pat because it always can change. It gets a bit frustrating, but you do learn more from your mistakes. Hang in there.
718
It is difficult to learn from mistakes when there is no answer to why something is a mistake and you're mot properly