- Forum >
- Topic: Italian >
- "Ho paura che mio figlio non …
"Ho paura che mio figlio non ricordi la nonna."
Translation:I am afraid that my son does not remember his grandmother.
30 Comments
I reported this sentence because I think it should be: "Ho paura che mio figlio non ricordA la (sua) nonna."
unless this is present subjunctive tense ?? in that case ricordi could be okay...
Yes it's congiuntivo presente (present subjunctive). Ho paura che + subjunctive.
thanks for this - but of course a major bungle by DL since this tense hasn't yet been dealt with - I'll report it for that.
btw I think this sentence is not from present subjunctive skill. It was shown first in some other skill and that is why this is a bit confusing.
It is present subjunctive. The Ho paura expresses emotion/uncertainty the clue is Che which often has subjunctive after it
As far as I now, relatives can't have both the article and the genitive pronomen.
liam.mulla , Elakvarg I think you are right, mio padre, il padre not both. I am not sure how close the relation has to be for this rule to apply
This English sentence states for an absolute fact that the son does not remember his grandmother. If the speaker is worried whether or not the son will remember his grandmother, another formulation must be used.
Either: "I am afraid that my son may not remember..." Or even, if you want to get the pure English subjunctive in: "I fear lest my son not remember his grandmother." (For some reason I actually tried the latter; it was of course rejected.)
I wrote "I fear" instead of I am afraid. That should not be a problem. More likely it was marked wrong because I used the proper English subjunctive form "my son might not remember" instead of Duolingo's present tense translation: "does not remember". Duo is wrong to mark this better translation as incorrect.
Very poor to bring this in at this stage - I have no idea what the subjunctive is in any language.
The subjunctive stresses a lot of people but one you get in to it is pretty easy as there is so little changes, 1st 2nd and 3rd person are all the same. You just need to learn when to use it, emotion uncertainty etc. The easiest flag to look for is following "che" ho paura che, credo che, and other little words ending in che. Certainty, ie sono sicura che would take the infinitive
I was marked wrong with this sentence: I have a fear that my son does not remember his grandmother. Is there some difference in the literal translation of Ho paura ? I have a fear versus I am afraid.
I would think it is more literally I have fear, an emotion, = I am afraid, rather than I have a fear= a noun
349
Does Italian use 'ho paura che...' in the same way as we sometimes use "I'm afraid that..." in English, as a polite way to say something which the listener won't really want to hear? Absolutely nothing to do with actual fear. e.g. I'm afraid that sugar has ants in, I'm afraid you are wrong,I'm afraid he's dead, I'm afraid I've lost the plot etc etc.
I wondered exactly the same thing when I came across the example "Ho paura che i genitori ci chiamino". So you must be right: as in English, nothing at all to do with real fear.
It isnt good English. I would be more likely to say " I fear that/am afraid that, or I have a fear that
