"Mio padre fa l'avvocato."
Translation:My father is a lawyer.
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When I was learning Spanish, the explanation that was given is you can either express ones life's work as a vocation/avvocation, or as a profession/job. To express it as a vocation/avvocation, you use the construction "Mio padre fa (does) l'avvocato", which would literally translate as something like "My father, he does the lawyering". To express is as a profession/job, you use the construction "Mio padre è un'avvocato." This is more like what we do in English, and translates very literally as "my father is a lawyer". I find when constructing these sentences, it helps to think of the "to do" definition of "fare" instead of the "to make".
It seems that in the Romance languages (well, at least for Spanish and Italian) you can express any profession using the "fare" method, whereas in English we tend to only use this construction for professions like teaching, nursing, serving, etc. Basically, the professions where what one "does" is also what they "are".
Are you talking about a Spanish way of talking about a specific occupation using hacer? I've seen hacer used with trabajo, of course, and quite a few activities like hiking. But I've never seen Mi padre hace abogado, or anything like that. Am I missing the parallel you are making, or is that regional usage?
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I'm Not Sure I Know A Difference Between A Vocation And A Profession, So When Would You Use One From Instead Of The Other? Or Are They Interchangeable?
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Where's the 'un'?? I can only see 'l'avvocato' which I thought meant 'the lawyer' not 'a lawyer' (or attorney in this case).
There are a couple of ways to talk about professions in Italian. You can either use 'fare' (to do/make) or 'essere' (to be). When you use 'fare', this is the equation: fare + (definite article) + (job) = 'to be a + job". When you use 'essere', this is the equation: essere + (job) = "to be a + job". When using 'essere', you don't use the indefinite article like you do in English. So, you can either say "Mio padre fa l'avvocato" or "Mio padre è avvocato". They both mean "My father is a lawyer".
There are a couple of ways to talk about professions in Italian. You can either use 'fare' (to do/make) or 'essere' (to be). When you use 'fare', this is the equation: fare + (definite article) + (job) = 'to be a + job". When you use 'essere', this is the equation: essere + (job) = "to be a + job". When using 'essere', you don't use the indefinite article like you do in English. So, you can either say "Mio padre fa l'avvocato" or "Mio padre è avvocato". They both mean "My father is a lawyer".
For your reading pleasure, my university textbook "Da Capo" says this:
The indefinite article is omitted after the verbs ESSERE and DIVENTARE before unmodified nouns including profession, nationality, religion, political affiliation, titles, and marital status.
Giancarlo vuole diventare medico = Giancarlo wants to become a doctor.
Enrico era avvocato; era un bravo avvocato = Henry was a lawyer; he was a good lawyer.
Lei era cattolica e lui era protestante = She was a Catholic and he was a Protestant.
È sposato o è scapolo? = Is he married or is he a bachelor?
Note: FARE + definite article + profession is an alternative to ESSERE + profession.
Enrico era avvocato. Enrico faceva l'avvocato.
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I think I might have already asked this before...... But why is it not "the attorney", does it have to do with the verb "fa"??
- EDIT Looks like it becomes an "a"; sort of answered my own question.
"Mio padre fa l'avvocato" o "Mio padre è un avvocato" those are two sentence constructions that I know of for professions. They both translate to "My father is an attorney."
Just remember it as two possibilities:
- fare + definite article + profession (Lui fa il dottore.)
- essere + indefinite article + profession (Lui è un dottore.)
Am I getting this right? I may not be understanding the below comments, as well.. but is the use of 'fare' or 'fa,' in this case, used to indicate that he is A lawyer just as the alternative 'Mio padre è un avvocato'? Are they both meaning the exact same thing and are interchangeable? Are they both acceptable in the Italian language? (as, I believe, dnovinc stated).
Yes, using 'fare' is an idiomatic way to talk about professions but it's still valid and common. There are a couple of ways to talk about professions in Italian. You can either use 'fare' (to do/make) or 'essere' (to be). When you use 'fare', this is the equation: fare + (definite article) + (job) = 'to be a + job". When you use 'essere', this is the equation: essere + (job) = "to be a + job". When using 'essere', you don't use the indefinite article like you do in English. So, you can either say "Mio padre fa l'avvocato" or "Mio padre è avvocato". They both mean "My father is a lawyer".
You don't understand why the sentence is structured like that? If so, I hope this helps. There are a couple of ways to talk about professions in Italian. You can either use 'fare' (to do/make) or 'essere' (to be). When you use 'fare', this is the equation: fare + (definite article) + (job) = 'to be a + job". When you use 'essere', this is the equation: essere + (job) = "to be a + job". When using 'essere', you don't use the indefinite article like you do in English. So, you can either say "Mio padre fa l'avvocato" or "Mio padre è avvocato". They both mean "My father is a lawyer".
It's special for Family.
In Italian, we don't need to put the definite article again only before the singular family noun. You don't need to say "il mio padre" but "mio padre". And also,
mia madre/mamma
mio fratello -- i miei fratelli
mia sorella -- le mie sorelle
mio marito
mia zia --> le mie zie
...etc
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In this sentence l'avvocato is given and in Italian La is used for "The" before feminine words but in translation it is showing "an advocate" as a right answer, the converted into an how?
This "crazy program" is actually correct. There are a couple of ways to talk about professions in Italian. You can either use 'fare' (to do/make) or 'essere' (to be). When you use 'fare', this is the equation: fare + (definite article) + (job) = 'to be a + job". When you use 'essere', this is the equation: essere + (job) = "to be a + job". When using 'essere', you don't use the indefinite article like you do in English. So, you can either say "Mio padre fa l'avvocato" or "Mio padre è avvocato". They both mean "My father is a lawyer".
Yes, that is correct, but only if you translate literally. There are a couple of ways to talk about professions in Italian. You can either use 'fare' (to do/make) or 'essere' (to be). When you use 'fare', this is the equation: fare + (definite article) + (job) = 'to be a + job". When you use 'essere', this is the equation: essere + (job) = "to be a + job". When using 'essere', you don't use the indefinite article like you do in English. So, you can either say "Mio padre fa l'avvocato" or "Mio padre è avvocato". They both mean "My father is a lawyer".
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I admire your patience and persistence. It has helped a great deal. Good luck in your career! May I 'friend' you?
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Why is solicitor markef incorrect? Solicitor is more usual than lawyer in English and is, essentially, the same profession
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Not Gonna Lie, At First I Though "Avvocato" Mean "Avocado", And Was Confused As To Why You'd Call Your Father An Avocado.
Your comment got me to thinking. Avocados actually originated from Mexico, but the Spanish word for avocado, aguacate is actually the farthest from the English word of any of these languages. The name comes from a Nahatl word, but this source seems to imply that it was indeed influenced by the word advocate.
https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/avocado
That link doesn't mention it, but you can find articles all over the web with the salacious detail that the Nahatl word for avocado actually means testicle.
You can suggest that. In American English solicitor only means someone who solicits, as in "no solicitors involved. We only use lawyer or attorney (at law). The only acception is the term solicitor general with is a state position or, when in all caps, refers to the position directly below the Attorney General in the US Government.
My understanding is that when you use the verb fare to talk about your profession you are generally talking in general terms, so that would always translate as "a", even though the Italian expression will always use the definite article. I don't know whether you would use fare in an expression like I am the lawyer for the defense, or some other expression where "the" would be appropriate. But if you could, then you would translate it as the. This is one case where you have to determine the translation by how you would express that meaning in English. When the languages use different rules, they sometimes don't have a consistent translation.
True. But fa doesn't mean is. It comes from fare, not essere. This is somewhat idiomatic. Someone mentioned that this is a common way to talk about being a lawyer specifically. In some ways this may actually be closer to saying "practices law", although it's not really any more obvious. But with fare, you use the article.
Fa comes, of course, from fare, to make or to do. Apparently it is almost always used with avvocato, which means I have seen fa l'avvocato translated as "practices law", although it is also used where practices may not be appropriate. I don't think it's ever really wrong, but I think it's more appropriate with "professions" than simple occupations. But we ask every one What do you do? They can just answer I do lawyer, where we couldn't.
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Sorry! No mater how many times the lessons ruin my flow by demanding "a" instead of "the" it is wrong. I now did it, as you wanted, it's still not acceptable.