"How many telephones do you have?"
Translation:Quanti telefoni hai?
23 Comments
Because using question word changes the word order of the sentence: Quanti telefoni hai tu? is correct (and accepted by duolingo - I just tried it).
Firstly, it sound better with «hai» coming after «tu»: «Quanti telefoni hai tu?». Secondly, you do not need the «tu» since the verb «avere» is already conjugated for the second person singular.
Is it correct to say that apart from a few exceptions, Italian is SVO? "Arriva il caffe" is one of those exceptions, putting the predicate before the subject.
It is definitely SVO (subject-verb-object in that order, for those who are unfamiliar with the abbreviation). However, I would not call that sentence an exception, as it is perfectly acceptable to say «Il caffè arriva.». I would call «Arriva il caffè» an example of Italian's free word order; it is a lot freer than in English. So, yes, Italian is SVO, but not strictly SVO as English often is.
When you use a question word it changes the word order. You can't say quanti telefoni tu hai? anymore. If you want to include tu (for emphasis) you have to say quanti telefoni hai tu?
Well, in real life, you would not want to use the pronoun all the time; that would reveal that you are not a native speaker. However, Duolingo has been fairly inconsistent with all of that, so I suppose it should not be wrong.
Firstly, it sound better with «hai» coming before «tu»: «Quanti telefoni hai tu?». Secondly, you do not need the «tu» since the verb «avere» is already conjugated for the second person singular.
I feel like they are being way to repetitive with the sentences. I'm learning the sentence, not the words.
Ive always been taught that the verb comes before the noun in a question, yet here its the opposite. Why is that?
Because that sounds weird: "How many the telephones do you have?" If you are not sure how many, you cannot use a definite article. You might, however, get away with «Quanti dei telefoni hai?», in certain occasions.
Thanks for the reply. How would "Quanti dei telefoni hai" be acceptable then? Wouldn't that translate as "How many some telephones do you have?", which doesn't make sense?
I am not quite sure if it would work, but I was thinking of «dei» as in the more literal translation "of the." If a friend is collecting old phones and showing you one from 1994, two from 1995, four from 1996, you may be able to say «Quanti dei telefoni vecchi hai?». Now, that I read that aloud, perhaps it would work just as well (or better) without the «dei». Never mind, then. Haha
