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- "Scrivo circa un libro all'an…
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I am having a hard time trying to understand what is the meaning of this sentence ... :\
This is terribly worded. I think they are trying to say, "I write (quasi) a book per year."
I told duolongo that "about" is preferable than around - it is a drop down choice.
Around is a fine translation, and it send the right message across. Nobody writes siting around a book, nobody would think that. But "approximately " would be the best word to use. "About" can actually be confusing, because it could mean that you write something related to a book every year, especially if you use "a" instead of "one", and " every" instead of "per"
I agree. "I write around a book a year" or "I go there around twice a month" - in both cases, it means "about" or "approximately."
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The hen lays about/around an egg a day. He has no cruise control but drives about/around 40 miles an hour.
Why I can't use form "I write about one book for year" it is sound well to me something like " a book per year" or perhaps that expression has different meaning.
"About" is OK, but you wouldn't say "for year" in English. It makes no sense. You can say "I write about a book per year" or "I write about a book a year."
Not really. "I write about one book in a year" specifies it takes me a year to write one (or so) books, while "I write around a book per year" means that nearly each year I write a book. The difference is subtle.
This sentence sounds bad. It should be "almost" or "approximately" insead of the term of "around", I think.
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"Around" can also be used to mean "approximately." Though I'd say it's more likely to be used in casual speech than in formal writing, it's perfectly correct. See Merriam Webster's definition number 6, here: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/around
Approximately and around mean the same thing, so why am I wrong when I put approximately which I prefer to around?
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Circa is so easy to remember as around. It is so close to circle. Children go around a circle Circa 1540, a phrase used by scholars, means the year is uncertain--around 1540. We round numbers up or down.
As for writing a book per year, consider Alexander McCall Smith or Janet Evanovich who each write a popular detective series. My argument for around, which I suppose is from Anglo-Saxon, is the easy cognate circle to circa. Too many years of reading. Approximately however does work nicely in this sentence.
"Quasi" carries a connotation of falsity in English.
I wrote I write "nearly" a book per year and it was wrong. I think this should be an accepted translation.
"I write nearly a book per year" means I write almost that many, but not quite - perhaps four books in five years. "I write "around" a book a year means I average one book a year: for example, in five years I might write four, or five, or six books.
