"L'uomo tira il coltello."
Translation:The man throws the knife.
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When does "tirare" mean "pull", and when does it mean "throw"? Thanks.
Your question is quite old, so I guess you have already figured it out. Still there's no answer, so just in case someone is interested: "tirare" means both "pull" and "throw". Only context can help discerning. To avoid ambiguities, you can use synonyms, like "lanciare" (a bit -- just a bit -- more formal) and "gettare" (which can be used when you are not really aiming at anything in particular)
Thank you for this answer! Although the question was pretty old, there are lots of new people around who have the same problems as the former students had.
I'm guessing that this term comes either from fishing or drawing an arrow, where pull and throw can mean the action of a rod or a bow. I just think the action you would take with a fishing rod is what tirare means. Which is either pulling or throwing.
I got curious and looked it up and it's a very old word. It came to Italian from vulgar Latin tirō, tirāre, but it is much older and possibly ultimately from Proto-Germanic teraną meaning to tear, tear away, rip or snatch off, pull violently, tug.
If context is what helps us to discern whether pull or throw is the translation, then it seems to me that either would be acceptable.
Yes, I'm one of those new students, and I had the same question. Thanks for contributing.
I speak Spanish and Italian is not too different. For us it is the same pull and throw. I mean the same word "tirar" has 2 different meanings. I suppose that it is the same in Italian with the verb "tirare"
Exactly my thoughts! I would bet it would make an enormous difference in a trial!
Anybody else thinking of this? http://www.cbs.com/shows/i_love_lucy/video/1998955157/i-love-lucy-i-speak-italian
I know I'm replying ridiculously late, but you can try the Chrome extension Hola Better Internet. It basically tells websites you're in a different country than you really are. You can pick which country you want to appear to be viewing the page from.
It's not late nor ridiculous! It's good to know that someone wastes times with us...Thanks!
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LOL. I have Hola, so I could watch the video, except that I also have AdBlocker Plus and they won't let me watch it unless I unblock the ad they want me to watch first. You have to love the internet!
If you mean late as in late at night, then people can read it tomorrow or they might be in a different time zone. If you mean late as in 6 months late, than at least other people can read it.
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When I first encountered " tirare" the hover showed " pull out " as an acceptable translation. I therefore translated this as " The man pulls out the knife" and lost a heart. On hovering over "tira" in this sentence it is translated as throws. It seem to be advisable to hover over every highlighted word as the meaning can change from sentence to sentence.
I would love if duolingo was completely consistent too and I do get frustrated when I lose a heart too. Then I try to remember that. failing is not the important thing the primary objective is learning and I used the annoyances to help me to learn. Luckily I smelled a rat when my first instinct was to translate to 'The man pulls the knife' but it seemed a little too gory or violent so I peeked... Not that throwing the knife is entirely without violent connotations. Anyway, to help me learn, the next time I see a door in Italy that I should PULL to open, I'll be temped to THROW it open instead. There's nothing like a bit of theatre to get attention!!.
Wow. This came right after the one with "capisci?" Duolingo is telling me a story.
Ah, I already understood! The man is a circus performer! He is a knife thrower!
Can you only discern the use of "tirare" for pull or throw based on context or is there another way to identify?
Yes, Luke. However, getta is more commonly used in southern italia. Northern use tira a lot more. Just have to know which type of Italian you speak to!
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Tira=pull or pick & getta=turn or spin. That was common with Mia Nonna Siciliana. Aremina was stir, move or hurry...I really appreciate DuoLingo. Not to mention the people and the comments :)
I recognized the meaning of "tira" from Moonstruck.... "non tirare! non tirare!" the old man yells to his dogs who are pulling on their leashes too hard...
Yes ! when a boyfriend invites his beloved one to have a tiramisu cake somewhere and suddenly his other girlfriend appears then tirare (to throw) has all things to do with tiramisu :P
Actually, tiramisu literally means pick-me-up. Tira (it pulls), mi (me), su (up). Even wiki agrees... :-) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiramisu
In English, you can say "the man pulls a knife on me, so I pulled out my gun".
In Italian that would be "L'uomo mi ha puntato un coltello, così ho tirato fuori la mia pistola".
I'd like to give people lingots for their contributions, but I don't know how.
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Now that's what tiro meeeeaaans! This Italian commentator, Mauricio forgothiscognome, always says that when a calciotore shoots.
He could have thrown an axe, so I am relieved. Unless this sentence is used for humorous effect (and consequently, it calls for so many witty responses from the students), I don't really understand why this choice of a sentence. If they want us to remember the word "knife", they should have used it frequently enough in previous lessons. In this case, we are in process of learning verbs, aren't we? So, instead of having us focus on the verb, they shift our attention to the noun and, in turn, to the situation. I don't think it is serious enough and makes the system rather chaotic. It still has its benefits, however, with all its visible flaws.
I thought 'tira' meant pull up? at least it did on the sentence prior to this one...
"The man pulls the knife", would/should work, so should, "the man throws the knife". How does one discern context?
If it is on purpose for any reason, then the man throws the knife, but if it is by mishandling the knife; then you say the man DROPS the knife to the ground.
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The man draws ... is accepted. Well done.
Italy is not wild West, where Indians throw there knifes. The honorable Signore at least draw his stiletto and put it in the other, but mostly he uses his lupara.
Did Duo accept pull? I didn't try it. It fits the context. They use tira su la coperta
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tira means pulls, and getta means throws.... so either the Italian version shown here is wrong, or the English version is I have never heard anyone use the word 'tira' to mean throws it has always meant pull...and while I am improving my Italian, I am of Italian heritage and grew up hearing it from others and dialect at home...so this sentence does not make sense
Men pull knives as much as throw them so....... This is aggravating