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- "Vado a letto alle undici."
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"I'm going to bed at 11" ought to be acceptable. In other duolingo answers a progressive translation is often given as an acceptable alternative. How about a little consistency!
I think the sentence is specifically "I go to bed at 11" to show how it's a daily routine/habit for that person.
Hey guys, By now you are fluent so help me out. My understanding, someone please correct me if i am wrong: I am going to bed - Sto andando a letto I go to bed - Vado a letto I read somewhere that present continuous/progressive tenses in Italian always take "stare" e.g Stanno piangendo? - Are they crying?
Yes, I agree. Both forms of the present should be acceptable as they are elsewhere in the course
In agree with Germanlehrelsu. The meaning would be clear from the context. the sentence could imply a regular occurrence (DL translation) or a intention on a particular occasion (I am going ....).
I go "to sleep", not just "to bed", should be acceptable. That's the meaning of it.
But that then would have to be «Vado a dormire alle undici.» Duolingo cares more about specific words and their meaning, not generalized sense of the sentence.
Actually, I've spoken to a native Italian speaker and she said they never use the present simple tense when talking in the present continuous. They're distinct, like in English. It's not this one that needs to change, it's all the other phrases on DL that accept simple and cont. to be interchangeable that need correcting.
Of course that's possible. Night-shift worker getting home in the morning and going to bed. Context would naturally clarify if it were morning or evening. Out of context, I think the assumption is evening.
Thanks! Haven't even thought of that. Though if we were to specifically say 11PM, what would be the more common way to say it, 11 (with context) or 23?
Well, to be absolutely clear it'd be 'alle 23'. In most real life situations you've got a context, so that's what I count on.
I have just been looking at "sono la quattordici" - it is two in the afternoon, and "bevo il caffee alle tredici" - I drink coffee at 1 p.m., and the explanation was that Italians use the 24 hour clock, so this really should be 11 a.m. What about a bit of consistency, Duo?
BraemeJeal: I think it should be "sono LE quattordici". But that aside you're right, in a translation "AM" or "in the morning" should/could have been included to make it clear since it's out of context. The time of 11 am vs 11 pm would be obvious for anyone using the 24 hour system, but as you suggest, not for others or out of context since in informal speech it's the 12 hour system that's used --mornings or afternoons/evenings. Another way of expressing it to avoid ambiguity would be to use the phrases 'di mattina' (am) or 'di sera' (pm) with 'alle undici."
"Alle undici" is implied to be "alle undici ore", literally "at the eleven hours", so the contraction "alle" has to agree with ore's number and gender, even though "ore" is just understood.
