"Prima il meccanico prendeva molto di più."
Translation:Before, the mechanic used to charge a lot more.
25 Comments
More or less: before the mechanic's fee was much higher. It is implied that he was taking much more ( money)
Oh, right, thanks. This isn't a great English translation then - "previously" would be a much clearer word choice than "before".
I think with a comma, "before" is OK in British English. But the suggested translation when I tried to translate the Italian phrase was "way more", which definitely is not OK in British English.
English way of saying this would be :
"At first the mechanic took a lot more."
I used PREVIOUSLY ...etc. & of course it was marked wrong. However, IMO previously sounds better in English than before.
what about throwing a spanner (sorry) in the works and assume he was taking in a much more work/cars to repair? Trying to make good English translation is a bit of a guessing game and I suppose is only half of trying to read and write good Italian
(American English speaker) If it's about money, you wouldn't say "many." You would say "more" (money). But I don't think you would say this in English anyhow - you would say he charged a lot more
Exactly. You would say "... he CHARGED a lot more..." in English. The meaning in Italian clearly indicates the fee the mechanic charges.Their English translation: "...was taking a lot more..." is ambiguous in English in a manner that the Italian version simply is not. They are wrong on this one.
I'm Italian speaker and I suspected that this sentence is not clear or used in the same meaning in English. Now it is clear. Thanks.
many is used with count nouns. Money is a non-count noun. Though you can actually count money. But that's the way it is.
I agree with the reasons given, but without context it's hard to know. I thought it was referring to cars, in which case many more would be fine.
I think that " the mechanic took on a lot more" is pretty good but it was declined. In translating, we try to make sense of what is there because we are given only a fragment of a complex sentence.
"way more" is a very colloquial expression, I would describe it as slang myself and would never use it. Where I live, it is hardly used and, if it appeared, it would have a slightly outmoded air.
Please -- teach first, then criticize. Do not spring idioms on us without first teaching them.
