- Forum >
- Topic: Italian >
- "Lui è particolare."
37 Comments
particolare, to me, is closer to the english word "particular" than "peculiar" is. Peculiar means "strange", or "(very) odd", while particular means "(very) specific".
Which is the Italian one closer to, when used here?
I hear it all the time referring to someone who is odd, special, or peculiar, rarely if ever meaning "particular." For "fussy" Italians (I think) would more often say meticoloso, pignolo, schizzinoso. I've come to think of it as a false friend.
In this case peculiar is closer.
When you say someone is "particolare" you are using an adjective to describe him. You aren't saying he's specific... Would you ever use "particular" to describe a person? :P You are saying he's quite odd.
This is the way "particolare" is used many times.
You can use particular to describe a person, especially if they were fussy about what they wanted to eat, for example.
You would say that they are "particular about what they like to eat". Meaning that they have a very specific (but not necessarily odd) type of food (or style of cooking) that they want. Or even if they only eat fresh food, never frozen, then they they are particular about how the food is served.
In that case, particular is not a good definition for the nuance, as in English one could say - I like that particular type of shoe. Having special and particular as a hint totally threw me off - no way I could foresee that the correct translation is "peculiar." Particular does not mean peculiar. To say "He is particular about whom he dates." is another meaning which implies he is careful about choosing.
In this case perhaps, someone non English speaking created the sentence and hints.
1607
In one instance, "peculiar" does not mean odd: "belonging exclusively to or being specific to one particular entity", as in "The ability to swim in the ocean is peculiar to iguanas in the Galapagos Islands". That is, no other species of iguana anywhere on earth is known to have the ability to swim in the ocean.
Other than that, it means "odd, or strange".
Peculiar note: A "peculiar" (noun) is a parish in England which is not subject to the rule of the diocese where it is located, but is still subject to the rule of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the current monarch of the UK.
I'll keep it in my mind for peculiar (odd), though. If that's how it is mainly used, then that's how I will use it.
- 1172
According to Merriam -Webster.com:
Particular - A specific among similar items/persons etc, - or somebody (overly) concerned with detail
Peculiar - Different from normal, odd, strange
According to WordReference.com:
Particular = Particolare, specifico, preciso, meticoloso
Peculiar = Strano, bizzaro, originale, particolare, insolito
I do occasionally refer to a person as being a "particular man/woman". It carries the meaning that someone is specific about what he wants, to an almost eccentric degree.
- 670
I may be described as particular; as indeed I am; but I would feel offended if I was described as peculiar.
I had to ask my Sicilian friend about this. "He is unique" was his suggestion.
I think I'll just pray that when I go to Italy I don't meet anyone with two noses or anyone who never eats food that's been frozen. And if I do I might say "È tempo bello oggi!
Pleased to be learning Italian but coming from English, this is a strange translation to me.
And I say this with utmost respect to the "other" language. I think as English has and continues to have such a strong cultural influence, we sometimes forget other languages have different rules etc.
Why should it make sense to a native English speaker.... I put it partly down to the arrogance and aristocratic nature of England lol
hmm it accepted "strano" from italian to english, but the other way round it didn't accept "strange". Strange is more common in english but va bene!
As a language teacher, I come up against the word "particular" again and again, loosed translated from the Italian "particolare". There is no easy answer to this one: in Italian, the meaning is often relative, and is anything but precise. Its meaning can change subtly, depending on the context. I would avoid using this word in a phrase out of context. Without the context, you can't really know what a person means, you can only speculate...
Which it does, but not always. =/ Sometimes it means peculiar.
[Edit] Plus links so, should anyone wish, they can look at particolare in various contexts:
- 404
In this topic we also had "ho un accordo particulare con lui". In this case particular meant special. Thus context or idiomatic understanding of Italian is critical here. Not just word by word. Lesson learned, keep on reading!
"strange" isn't synonymous with "peculiar", especially when a cognate is "strano" which IS accepted?
I agree with ¨Mabby¨, and to answer ¨gnignel¨ yes I would us the work particular to describe a person. ¨peculiare¨ is peculiar. I feel in this sentence particular is closer.
"odd' wasns't accepted and yet 'peculiar' and 'odd' are in my mind synonymous.
is it usual for an infinitive to follow an auxiluary rather than a modal verb ? re the "clutter" comment my question is not answered below, further more it is a resonable question.
John, No. If an auxiliary is used, it results in a compound past tense and you'd use the past participle with it. If you're referring to the given sentence above, you may be confusing the form of the adjective with that of an infinitive. But particolare is an adjective following the verb 'to be'.
- 1476
This is wrong! When in Italy, our hotel commented on the preferences of their "peculiar guests",at which all the English guests fell about laughing!
- 444
My college Italian & English dictionary, penned by my Italian professor, has "peculiare" as the Italian for "peculiar" in English. I'd say this is an error, esp. as "particolare" means "particular" in English.
I used the word 'weird' which is a synonym of 'peculiar' but it didn't accept it
