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- "Mio padre fa l'avvocato."
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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?
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".
Maybe this has already been answered here and I didn't understand it, but can someone please explain why the use of 'fa' turns l' into a?
fare + (definite article) + (job) = 'to be a + job". EXAMPLE: faccio l'avvocato = I am an attorney
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.
It's most likely wrong because l'avvocato = the lawyer. When you're referring to an advocate in relation to the law, I believe it is "l'avvocato difensore".
How would you say "My father IS the lawyer" - If i'm not trying to tell someone what my father does, but rather that the guy over there, the lawyer, well that's my father - my father IS the lawyer.
I would think it would be: "Mio padre è l'avvocato" (as opposed to: "...è un avvocato" which would be "...is A lawyer").
--Mio padre è l'avvocato (là) = My father is the lawyer (overthere)
--Mio padre è un avvocato/Mio padre fa l'avvocato = My father is a lawyer.
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".
why do we say : "mio padre" and not "il mio padre" ? Is there a rule for that ? Thank you
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
I still don't understand why they put "fa" in it. Can someone please explain this?
fare + (definite article) + (job) = 'to be a + job". EXAMPLE: faccio l'avvocato = I am an attorney
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?
As far as I know, and correct me if I'm wrong natives, but l'avvocato means attorney, solicitor, barrister, and lawyer.
This makes no sense. L'avvocato should mean "the lawyer" yet this crazy program says it is a lawyer. Aaarrggh.
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".
I wrote my father is a lawyer and got it wrong??? Why isn’t it un’ instead of l’?
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Because the way they express this in Italian literally means “My father does the (work of a) lawyer”. It’s not a literal translation from English.
Well, "padre" means "father", not "dad" (which is papà), so maybe that's why it was marked wrong. A bit pedantic, I know, but Duo is like that sometimes.
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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
Why is this not translated "My father is the lawyer." The l' should be translated the not a.
- 558
Literally, it says something like “My father does (the work of) the lawyer”. It’s just a way to express “My father is a lawyer” in Italian.
Thank you. That does make sense, but the inconsistency in translating the articles is confusing. Google Translate translates "My father is a lawyer" as "Mio padre è un avvocato," which makes more sense to me and is a true translation.
- 558
Yes, I agree. Consistency is key when you’re trying to learn a language like this. You can translate it like how Google Translate did, but without the “un”. It is better to say “Mio padre è avvocato”.
l'avvocato is the lawyer. The sentence would read 'my father is a the lawyer.' Does not sound good.
Not Gonna Lie, At First I Though "Avvocato" Mean "Avocado", And Was Confused As To Why You'd Call Your Father An Avocado.
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Italian = Avvocato
French = Advocate
Spanish = Abogato
Portugese = advogado
I advocate avocados!
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.
Without context, how can one know if "avvocato" stands for "attorney" or "lawyer"? A bit confusing from duo.
To be honest, there isn't a whole lot of difference between "attorney" and "lawyer".
Exactly. The difference between a lawyer and an attorney is not known by most laymen, so they are colloquial synonyms. It's sort of like "classical" music. A musician or a musicologist would say that classical music was music composed in the classical period that fell between the Baroque and Romantic periods. But the general understanding of classical music would include all those periods.
Have you reported it? This site always uses American English, but will accept British forms when suggested as long as they don't directly conflict with American usage. Solicitor should be fine, in fact I think you get one for solicitation. Sorry, bad joke.
Yes, we could all use a few more laughs these days. I am also under stay at home orders. I suspect some new expression showing empathy and shared problems will emerge from all this, but until one does, I guess I'm left with Keep the faith.
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like, people in Britain refer to lawyers as lawyers, only some of which are solicitors. The terms barrister and advocate are also used, but lawyer is a perfectly common term in all forms of British English.
I was annoyed at the time so perhaps I should have just said solicitor needs to be accepted too.
