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- Topic: Italian >
- "He stayed in the hotel."
"He stayed in the hotel."
Translation:Lui è stato nell'albergo.
37 Comments
I just had this exercise with a different sentence, but Duolingo translated it the same "è rimasto" instead of " è stato"
1834
In English, we use the same word "stay" to mean slightly different things. Typically when we say we are "staying" at a hotel, it just means that is the place at which we will be accommodated during our trip. In that case, the word "stare" is the right choice.
However, in English we might also ask, "How long are you staying in Italy?" And we might reply by saying, "I'll be staying there 3 days." In his case, "rimanare" is probably closer in meaning to what we are saying in English.
- 781
I guess the situation would dictate whether to use rimanere or stare. Maybe soggiornare is even better. I translated this as lui è rimasto nell'albergo and it was marked wrong..
Did he stay with friends? No, he stayed in the hotel. È stato con gli amici? No, è stato in albergo.
Did he go to the party? No, he stayed in the hotel. (rimanere) Lui è andato alla festa? No, è rimasto in albergo.
Alternatively "Ha soggiornato all'albergo." (like séjourner in French)
Am I wrong?
- 819
Lynn's answer at the top of this thread suggests that she agrees with you that stare would be more appropriate then rimanere in this sentence. Report it if it wasn't accepted.
on a tangent...when do we use "in albergo" vs. "nell'albergo"?? Or are they interchangeable? grazie!
Why would it be nell'albergo? If albergo is masculine singular then isn't the correct form "nel", rather than "nella"?
It is nell'albergo because albergo starts with an vowel, simple as that. Doesn't matter if it is masculine or feminine (nell'anima)
The article L' (with apostrophe) and its plurals precede all masculine and feminine nouns beginning with a vowel.
in + l' = nell'
Grazie! That's the first time that I've seen that written as a rule. I can remember that.
But plurals don't get a l', they get negli instead, right? So if it was albergi, it would be negli albergi, not nell' albergi?
- 621
AlbergHi in the plural, to keep the same pronunciation. Albergi would be pronounced al-ber-gee, like ginocchio ;
- 1834
"State" is present tense. For past participle, you need to use "è stato" for 3rd person masculine singular or "è stata" for 3rd person feminine singular.
- 1649
Is there any consistent way for a non-native speaker to know when to use essere? Hints on hover would be very helpful in this regard.
- 1834
Wxfrog and Audra - "Essere" is the auxiliary verb went the main verb is intransitive (i.e. when the verb does not take a direct object). "Stare" is one of those verbs. You can be/stay AT or IN a place but the being or staying there is not being "done" TO it. Thus, we use essere instead of avere with stare and other intransitive verbs.
Some other common verbs that take essere: andare, venire, arrivare, partire, morire. Typically, there is no direct object with verbs of being and going, hence they are intransitive.
- 1649
So it sounds like unless you're a congenital sentence diagrammer, it's something you need to memorize. I remember in grade school French class, we used a mnemonic set to the tune of "Three Blind Mice." :)
- 1834
I guess I don't see it as that mysterious. English has transitive and intransitive verbs, too. For the most part (with a few exceptions, I think) they are the same verbs.
- 1649
No offense intended - I appreciate your answer. I just don't automatically identify whether a verb is transitive or intransitive as I'm reading, that's all.
- 1834
No offense taken. I'm sure many people would feel the same as you, wxfrog. I'm an author so I'm a bit geeky that way, I guess. ;-)
- 290
July 11 2020 In my view, 'rimasto' = 'remain', as opposed to 'stay', but it depends on the context of the conversation. For example: lui è rimasto nell'albergo" = 'he remained in the hotel', meaning that others with him may gone out somewhere but he chose to 'remain', or 'stay' behind. Without the full context of the conversation it is difficult to determine. I think for this exercise the sentence is infering that he 'stayed' at/in the hotel for accommodation. See comments also by LynnSerafi in this thread.
I hate nell words and 'nell'albergo' is the most horrible phrase ive ever come across in my life
I write down the way DL wants you to say it. Then I'm not stuck for hours trying to work out why something which was right in one lesson is wrong in another.
- 143
I have also been given the example with 'rimasto' used previously. My Italian book suggests 'soggiornato'. How are we supposed to guess which DL wants?
"How are we supposed to guess which DL wants?" You aren't. Just try what you think is correct based on your studies. It is okay if it doesn't match the Duo "answer", as long as you then spend some time researching and figuring out why (the Comments can sometimes - often - help us learn, but there are also many internet sources. Ideally, find a few people who speak Italian (check out Conversation Exchange) and let them help you learn Italian while you help them with their English. Alternatively, just memorize the answer and move on.
