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- Topic: Italian >
- "A snake is in the newspaper."
"A snake is in the newspaper."
Translation:Un serpente è nel giornale.
38 Comments
happens to me 8 times a week. no worries, it's nothing compared to whenever i get killed by a rabid donkey.
683
"il giornale" = "the newspaper". "in the newspaper" = "nel giornale". It's explained in the "Tips and notes" of "Basics 2" (website).
My vocal translation somehow got accepted with "Un serpente è sul giornale." Can anyone explain why this is an acceptable translaption?
It is not uncommon to say in Italian that things are written on papers/magazines, etc. rather than in them.
It is half correct. Only z or s+constant will be with the article "lo". S+vowel will be "il".
You have given by far the best answer for the difference between nel and nello. Thank you!
- 245
Perfect or, in other words, because I. says il giornale ( nel=in+il) and not lo giornale
Can it mean both that a snake is physically in the newspaper and that it's the subject of the news?
P.S. OK, found it later in the course. The latter would be "sul".
Em português dizemos uma serpente mas em italiano dizemos "un serpente". Não existe diferença entre masculino e feminino? Essa palavra em italiano é comum de dois?
Sim, você pode especificar o gênero dizendo "il serpente maschio" ou "il serpente femmina".
- 245
"Serpent" is a generic name of the Ophidia. "Biscia" (grass/lake snake) is normally smaller and not poisonous (on the contrary of the "vipere" = vipers, e.g.)
"Se trova un serpente nel giornale" was marked wrong. Too French? Or is this possible in Italian?
Edit: oh silly me, I should have tried "Si trova un serpente nel giornale", too late now though. Si and Se seem to be one of those things the Italians have switched round to exactly the opposite way from French as revenge for all those years of invasion and warfare (-:
Does this mean (as it would in English) that in the newspaper there is a story about a snake, or does it mean there is a real snake between some sheets of the newspaper?
- 540
I see it differently to you. The first thing I think of when I read this sentence is that there is actually a snake in between the sheets of the newspaper. In fact, your first interpretation is like the third or fouth thing I would think of. But anyway, I just thought that that was interesting. I would also like to know what the most common meaning of this sentence is.
My keyboard doesn't have the accent key. How do you type the accent on your keyboard?
ah dangit. i always mix up the order of words. accidentally entered "un serpente nel è giornale" instead of "un serpente è nel giornale". any tips on how to aviod this?
- 683
You are aware of what you are doing wrong. It may be enough if you enter your answer less quickly and check it before submitting it.
- 683
nello is for male nouns with the article lo. However, it's il giornale, so it's nel giornale.
