"Do you put some sugar in the coffee?"
Translation:Metti dello zucchero nel caffè?
64 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Yes, your answer is wrong. You're not putting sugar in the coffee, but SOME sugar.
Well there's a question! In my first answer I used 'metti' but it was marked as wrong, saying 'vuoi' was correct. So I changed my 2nd attempt to 'vuoi' and guess what? It was wrong! 'Metti' was put as the correct answer! This happens occasionally and I can only assume they're using a less qualified teacher at times.... but my Italian friend says either is acceptable. He'd normally use 'metti'...
"Do you put some sugar in the coffee?" is an ungrammatical and ambiguous English inquiry. It sounds like they're asking if the coffee is served with sugar in it already. The grammatically correct English construction would be, "Do you put sugar in the coffee?" or "Is the coffee pre-sweetened?" Either way, this is an odd inquiry since coffee is typically brewed black.
If the diner wants the waiter to bring him sugar so the diner can add it to his own cup of coffee, he would ask, "May I have sugar with my coffee?"
The diner could also ask the waiter to add sugar to his cup of coffee, "Would you please put some sugar in my coffee?" or " Could you please add sugar?"
Maybe the inquiry is being asked by the waiter. If this is the case, the waiter would ask, "Would you like sugar in your coffee?"
It is important that the English inquiry is correctly written because it affects the correct Italian translation. I'm sure the Italian inquiry for "Is the coffee pre-sweetened?" is different from "Please, put some sugar in my coffee?"
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I took it as a question to a private person re: a personal preference when they drink their coffee, for what its worth
I agree, "Do you put any sugar in the coffee?" or "Do you put sugar in the coffee?" seem to make more sense for the implied situation that they are most likely in a restaurant
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Another possible usage (for saying "in the coffee", rather than "in your/my/their/his/her/our coffee") would be when asking someone how they make Irish coffee (or a similar liqueur coffee recipe).
"un po'di zucchero" = "un poco di zucchero" = (Portuguese) "um pouco de açucar" = "some sugar"
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I believe "some" in this sentence doesn't mean "little", rather "unspecified quantity of", so the correct translation is indeed "dello". There is a big difference between these two meanings. I'm not sure if "algum de açúcar" is appropriate in Portuguese?
Yes, my proposal should really not be accepted. I'm propagating some translation errors from Portuguese-English to English-Italian, once I assume Portuguese ~= Italian. "some sugar" = "algum açucar". Thanks for the replies XD
Metti is to put, but who says that. You would say 'tu prendi lo zucchero nel caffè'.
Haha! Do you put the boy in to stir the ☕ - assuming you want sugar in it!
Opera Russ - it seems you can use either either but Italian's tend to use metti...
"Dello = di + lo" = of the (in this case = some) ("lo" is a definite article that is used before the so-called impure consonants, that is, s+consonant, gn, ps, x or z) , while "dallo = da + lo = from the" (Vengo dallo zoo = I come from the zoo)
dell' = di + l' (when the next word is starting with a vowel, Bevo dell'acqua / I drink some water)
(I know this is very late.) To clarify what dnovinc said, in Italian, using "di" + an article (like il, lo, etc.) becomes the English word some. I was taught in class that it is an unrelated meaning, which makes sense to me, because "of the" is a sepatate phrase than "some" in English. So "some sugar" is "dello zucchero" and "some apples" is "delle mele".
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The correct answer assumes "you" is translated as "one", i.e. third person singular. However, there is nothing in the sentence to indicate that "you" cannot refer to second person singular, or second person plural. I put the latter, and was marked wrong with correct answer given as "should have used lei!"
Why do we need to add "dello" before sugar? Why not say: "Metto lo zucchero nel caffe?"
Confused. Metti is used because of "some" I understand. However because zucchero is singular, surely it should be metto. Like acqua, sugar is measured by volume so doesn't have plural, provided it's all sucrose.
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The formal you should be capitalized though, right? "Lei"? So that makes sense why "lei" shouldn't be accepted, because it isn't the formal you.
It is not a one-to-one translation. In Italian a 'Do' is not required to form a question in this case.
It's simply: "put you sugar in the coffee?" More a kin to have you might imagine Yoda speaking.
I got lost with the way the sentence is constructed. Anyway, i got the right answer coz obviously the word sport is not coffee smh
I answered "Metti un po di zucchero nel caffe" and was marked wrong although I know its correct. Growing up its how it was spoken to me.
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"Un po" means a little...different to "some". DL wants you to understand these nuances and broaden your vocabulary.
The question should be different if our answer “Metti un po' di zucchero nel tuo caffè? is considered wrong.
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Not really a mistake, but when I answered "Metti dello zucchero nel caffè?" I was told another correct answer was "Metti dello zucchero nel caffè?". I'm still trying to work out that one...