- Forum >
- Topic: Italian >
- "Non ho neanche un fratello."
65 Comments
Why is this not "I don't have even one brother" or "I don't even have a brother"?
Sorry, when you write a date like that I don't know if it's US or UK format.
97
"I don't even have a brother," was accepted Aug 2018
" . . . and that I don't intend to have a brother, not even of any kind." (Oscar Wilde)
I've read all these comments and conclude that I will never understand 'neanche'
@darkpeak Don't worry... you can use "neanche/nemmeno/neppure", all of them are interchangeable in a negative sentence of course. "Non ho neanche/nemmeno/neppure un fratello". Hope it's helpful.
This is the answer provided to me, and it is very awkward and weird. Including the ""even have" would make sense in specific discussions where one is making a point. Such as, "You say you met my two brothers? I don't even have ONE brother!" I can't think of any time when "I don't have a brother" wouldn't be the best way to make the point.
- 2052
I agree. To me, saying 'I don't have ONE brother' ... in English could be followed by the statement "I have TWO". Which is the opposite of Italian neanche. In English clearly it has to be "not even" or "not ... any"
Even adds emphasis. "Your brother hit me in the face". -- "I don't even have a brother!"
I've put in "I haven't got a brother as well" - basically the same thing, but FAR from any accepted answer :|
What is the difference between anche and neanche. The hover over says both are "even." Are they interchangeable?
Maybe it has to do with some rule about negations saying that if there is a negation in the sentence every bit must have a negation?
Somebody else may phrase the rule in a better way please, I have not seen it explicitly yet (I'm just inferring from some comments).
I thought that when specifying "one" (as opposed to "a") the correct usage was "uno".
Italian does not distinguish between "one" and "a." It either case you use the indefinite article (un, una, un') before a noun (one X). If it stands alone, you use "uno" or "una" depending on the gender of the thing:
Vuoi un biscotto? Sì, ne voglio uno. Do you want a/one cookie? Yes, I want one. (Here "uno" is masculine because "biscotto" is masculine.)
Vuoi una caramella? Sì, ne voglio una. Do you want a/one candy? Yes, I want one. (Here "una" is feminine because "caramella" is feminine.)
If it doesn't refer to a specific thing (say you're just counting or something), you would use "uno."
The best and most frequent usage of "neanche" in daily life is shown here with examples. http://www.adgblog.it/2011/03/10/quando-si-usa-anchio-neanchio-anche-a-me-neanche-a-me/
What is the purpose of neanche if it does not mean "even" in the sentence? I put "I do not have even one brother" and it was marked wrong... September 9th.
Me too. But "neanche" is translated elsewhere as " not even". I've reported it!
As neanche really means "not even" or "don't even" the given answer seems to be a good translation.
Apart from being a little archaic, I think "I haven't even a brother" is a correct translation? My understanding of neanche is basically "not even".
The most frequent usage of "neanche" in daily life is shown here. http://www.adgblog.it/2011/03/10/quando-si-usa-anchio-neanchio-anche-a-me-neanche-a-me/
- 1356
I wouldn't expect it to. What you wrote rather means
- "I do not have a brother yet", or
- "I still don't have a brother".
Better phrased though, that would be
- "Non ho un fratello ancora", or
- "Ancora non ho un fratello".
- 58
My answer of 'I do not have a brother either' marked as incorrect. Correct answer given as 'I do not have brothers either', yet un fratello is singular surely.
"I have not even one brother." Seems grammatically much prefered over "I don't have one brother" - this sounds like the narrator has not zero brothers, not ine brother, but 2 or more. Doesn't the inclusion of neanche mean 'not even' or 'neither'?
- 681
I gave the same answer. The answer proposed was "I have not got one brother". This is bad English and would have been changed by my English teacher at school. The verb 'to get' is often misused, except by English teachers. 'I have not even one brother' seems fine to me.
Negative sentences in English require an auxiliary verb. Although "have" can be an auxiliary, in this case most speakers would treat it as non-auxiliary. You then need to add "do": "I do not have even one brother".
Sentences like this cause a lot of trouble, and none of the moderators seem to be able to clarify.
How dare they say "I haven't even one brother" is incorrect? "I don't have" is the same!
Indeed. I'll mark you back up as I think you've been harshly 'down-marked' there. Very shabby treatment. How dare they indeed!
Is the Italian really emphasising "one", or is it just "I don't even have a brother" without any emphasis?
Even though I'm very fresh with Italian but to me it sounds like it shouldn't be "one brother" but "a brother" instead, i mean i believe "uno" means one and un means a...
- 1356
That is something totally different, wouldn't you agree?
In Italian that would be Non ho mai avuto un fratello, if one intended to say that their mother never gave birth to a male sibling, or Non avevo mai un fratello, meaning that one did not grow up having a brother.
Instead, the Italian phrase means either "I don't even have a brother" or "I don't have a single brother, not even one".
- 14
I even do not have a brother. - Why's that not accepted? Seems I'm getting English lessons as well :(
- 936
Oops, you are right! Now I am no longer sure whether I made the mistake when I verified my answer with Duolingo, or whether I made the mistake while putting my comment here. I suspect that I tried to enter "I don't either have a brother", which would have been better have been expressed "Neither do I have a brother". Thanks for answering my question, though!
