"Lei non ha ancora trent'anni."
Translation:She is still not thirty years old.
60 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
I think you are on the right track.
It has occured to me through an analogy to my native language (which is not a romance language, but often works far better than English for understanding Italian) that ancora means still in positive semtences, but is better translated as yet in negative sentences and probably questions.
Yeah right, Duolingo.. why not use "yet" instead of "still" ?"*#$!!!
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I spoke the whole sentence out loud - correctly - the verbal part of these lessons often doesn't work well.
Yeah refuses to accept me saying "trent'anni" in the spoken exercise - no matter how I do it.
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After two dozen times of trying still fails to accept the verbal for "trent'anni", must be some kind of a bug
Agreed. Not sure how many times I need to repeat before it will let me past this point!
Should "she's not thirty anymore" be correct ? I know that literaly "anymore" is different from "ancora" but the idea of these words in this case is basically the same (?)
I believe the sentence means she's younger than thirty. "Anymore" changes this meaning.
Again, a missed opportunity on this system to explain the significance of the word order and/or negatives, since to an English reader 'she is not still 30' seems a reasonable translation.
I noticed that another correct response was one that used "still". Duolingo collaborators, take note that in English, "still" is never used in negative sentences. It is always replaced by "yet".
Neither did I, even resorted to trying to get it to accept its own pronunciation, but it does not accept "trent'anni" even when Duolingo says it!
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No matter how I say trent'anni it always goes red! Anyone else had difficulties with this?
I agree. It asked me to translate into english and I put 'She is not still thirty', because that's what the word order seemed to suggest. Weird that reversing those two words makes a big difference in the meaning and in my number of hearts.
The fact that in English still needs to be in a certain place doesn't necessarily mean that ancora has to be in the same one. Different languages may have different rules on word order.
I suggest you carefully read Flysalot's comment above.
If you want to use the contracted form, it should be:
She still isn't thirty years old
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Switching the place of 'not' and 'still' does not alter the meaning, and should be acceptable.
It makes a big difference. 'She is still not 30' means she is younger; 'she is not still 30' means she is older. I got it wrong and, like Craig, I would like to know how to say the other one so that I can see the difference in Italian?
I translate the Italian to be "she has not still 30 years".... its seems odd to me. It seems that "ancora" is in an odd grammatic position.
Generally, adverbs (in this case "ancora") go directly after the verb. It is fairly consistent in Italian sentence structure, even though sometimes it doesn't feel intuitive to native English speakers.
In English this doesn't make sense. You do not say this. It should be 'she is not even 30 years old' or 'she is not 30 anymore' depends on what you want to state.
Based on what yuioyuio says above this sentence should be 'not yet' or 'not even'. I agree with you that 'still not' is not an English way to say this. I am still not sure whether this really is the intended meaning. I would love an Italian speaker to confirm that the meaning is that she is younger than 30.
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I originally answered this with "she is not still 30 years old" - my meaning being she is older than that now. Since reading the comments I've realised I've read it wrong. It means she in younger than 30, and my "still" is in the wrong place. The problem is, my answer was accepted. Had I not checked the comments I would have gone on believing this could mean something it cannot, right? In no situation could "lei non ha ancora trent'anni" mean "she is no longer 30 years old", sì?
"Not still" or "Stilll not" - is there enough difference to render one incorrect?
She is not still 30 would mean she has passed that age and is now older.
She is still not 30 would mean she has not yet reached 30 - so she is younger.
Very big difference in English
duo marks any attempts to speak trent'anni wrong, including their own recording. very frustrating
I spoke this sentence correct about a dozen times and it is marked incorrect each time! My husband is Italian and speaks fluently. I said it to him and he said it's correct.
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"Even" is not in the boxes. That's why I keep selecting "still". Is the only world to choose.
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I am stucked here. I had to buy more lives and I keep losing because there is no "yet" or "even" in the boxes. Just "still".
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There is a glitch, it will not accept my answer, I even asked my partner who is from Orvieto to say it and it will not accept him saying, will you fix it please, thank you.
Several times they did not accept my pronunciation. )) And not only this case, but the same sentence with "trent'anni". )))))
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No matter how I say trent'anni it always goes red! It is very annoying. Can you do something with this?
As a native English speaker, I wrote ... 'She is less than 30 years old' - which sounds correct to me. I was surprised at the Duo version. Maybe that particular one is usual in American English??? We all know that Duo gives 'odd' translations sometimes ... and there seems to be no 'redress' :-(
Your 'redress' is to report it. I understand from another discussion forum on duo that the best 'report' is to click "my answer should be accepted" This allows the volunteer that is viewing your report to see what you put and see if he agrees.
Duolingo please fix your site. I have said this sentence 8 times and I have said it accurately but your site is not working
the audio doesn't accept my pronunciation even though every other app does.