"My toy does not break."
Translation:Il mio giocattolo non si rompe.
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If 'to break' in this case is reflexive why can't DL indicate that in the hints instead of just "rompe"? Wouldn't it be more helpful to list the verb as "rompersi"? Hints are useless and counterproductive if they're not helpful.
I've noticed a lot more things are reflexive in Italian than they are in English.
Mimoking: The verb can be used transitively (w/ an object) as in "We broke the window" or intransitively (w/o an object), in which case it's reflexive in Italian: "It broke". That's the case here.
If DL's going to provide a clue for "breaks" why can't it at least include a note that it's reflexive?
With some exceptions made for singular family members, the possessive usually takes an article.
I noticed that the higher I get in a module, the pickier it gets on spelling. On Level 6 in any module it needs to be pretty much perfect. Also, it depends on the error. If it's an incorrect masc/fem/sing/pl (i.e. grammar) mistake it's often wrong. If you do things like a double "ll" when it should be "l" it passes.
There has to be an subject and an object in a sentence. "I (subject) hit (action) the wall (object)" "I hit" seems to be missing the object "I hit the wall" sounds better (we talking about Italian sentences) so, "the toy breaks", "the ice breaks" these do not mean much in Italian "The toy breaks (but what it breaks? your heart? a kid's arm? NO, it breaks ITSELF (same with that "ice" sentence), so "si" means kind of that "itself") "Il mio giocattolo (subject) non si (object) rompe (action)" "Il ghiaccio (ice) si (itself) rompe (breaks)" I hope it helps
It may be a typo, but if you meant to type "no" then it's incorrect since it must be "non".
I never remember that rompere is reflexive - probably because I don't understand why!
How does a toy break itself? A toy gets broken only if someone, or something, breaks it :o
Gotenks33. Reflexive verbs don't always mean that the subject is intentionally doing the action to itself. German & Italian simply use reflexives as alternatives to the passive voice or to an active sentence with the indefinite subject "one". "The window is (being) opened"/"One opens the window"/"The window opens itself" -- which of course it doesn't literally speaking, it's just how certain languages express this idea. German: Das Fenster wird geöffnet / Man öffnet das Fenster / Das Fenster öffnet sich. Foreign language structures don't always translate literally or word for word into another language.
Man, will I ever get this reflexive stuff? And if I don't, will it make a difference when I visit Italy on vacation?
All you have to memorize is pretty much this:
- mi
- ti
- si
- ci
- vi
- si
Not true. In fact the hardest thing is to memorize (or know) WHEN a verb is reflexive. It is not always self-evident to an English speaker.
I don’t know about you but you can’t memorize all reflexive verbs ( I mean you can but that would be hard and unproductive)
If the verb ends with -si it’s probably a reflexive one.
Plus use some common sense, I do not have much trouble to recognize a reflexive verb and I’m not proficient in Italian.
The list I wrote gives you at least 70% of accuracy when it comes to conjugation of those verbs. The rest is some practice and to be honest not that much as it is not the hardest part of Italian grammar.
the correct answer keeps changing from rompe to rompano each time I change my anwer!! ??
Possessives (from DL Tips):
Italian possessives are in the form definite article (il, la, i, le) + possessive adjective. They agree with the gender and number of the thing they describe:
- My/Mine: "il mio", "la mia", "i miei", "le mie"
- Your/Yours (sing): "il tuo", "la tua", "i tuoi", "le tue"
- His/Hers/Its/Your (formal)/Yours (formal): "il suo", "la sua", "i suoi", "le sue"
- Our/Ours: "il nostro", "la nostra", "i nostri", "le nostre"
- Your/Yours (plur): "il vostro", "la vostra", "i vostri", "le vostre"
- Their/Theirs: "il loro", "la loro", "i loro", "le loro"
il mio cane My dog ("Cane" is masculine singular, so we use "il" and "mio.")
la mia pizza My pizza ("Pizza" is feminine singular, so we use "la" and "mia.")
Even though in English the possessive in the third person (his, her, its) varies based on the owner, remember that in Italian the gender and number are determined by the thing being owned:
il cane di Giulia > il suo cane ("Cane" is masculine, so we use the masculine, even though it is her dog.)
In Italian an article is almost always mandatory before a possessive. The exceptions are:
- It's not used before close family members, in the singular and not modified, e.g. "mio padre" (my father), unless the possessive is "loro" (in which case the article is needed).
- It's optional when the possessive adjective is alone following a form of "essere," e.g. "è mio" (it's mine).
- It's not used in a small number of set phrases, e.g. "casa mia" (my home).
Possessive pronouns (possessives acting as a noun) are formed using the definite article and the possessive. They agree with the object they describe, even if it is not explicitly mentioned in the sentence:
- Dov'è la tua macchina? La mia è qui. Where is your car? Mine is here. (It is understood that "la mia" refers to my car, so it is feminine.)
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To 'il' or not to 'il' - that is the question. I have been penalized for not using it and for using it. (See PLURALS section which does not want it at all in many instances.)
Okay! We si is reflexive, but what does the word si mean. Thank you, in advance.
I would advise you to read Duo Lingo tips before you post your comments:
“In Italian an article is almost always mandatory before a possessive. The exceptions are:
- It's not used before close family members, in the singular and not modified, e.g. "mio padre" (my father), unless the possessive is "loro" (in which case the article is needed).
- It's optional when the possessive adjective is alone following a form of "essere," e.g. "è mio" (it's mine).
- It's not used in a small number of set phrases, e.g. "casa mia" (my home).”
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I would direct your attention to an entire section of lessons (I think it was Food 1 - if memory serves me correctly) where users are actually penalized for using la, i, il (etc) before any of the common nouns for foods. These sections seem to contradict each other.
In this case we are not talking about nouns, but possessive pronouns
The article refers to the pronoun, not noun.
So you are comparing apples to oranges, no wonder you find it inconsistent
