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- Topic: Italian >
- "Andammo a pescare al lago."
42 Comments
1177
"AT the lake" is what I would say and was marked correct for. "TO the lake" doesn't sound right at all to me, but "IN the lake" sounds kinda alright, since technically your fishing lure/hook would be in the water, in the lake.
We went "fishing" in the lake sounds even more natural. Rare in my part of the english speaking world to hear "i went to fish this weekend". Or "gone to fish"
- 493
I came to look if anyone had written about this as I thought it might give problems. I will add another. 'Let's fish the lake' - (several places, fish move around). We went fishing in the lake, not in the sea or in the river. Maybe this started once upon a time as 'fishing in the'(from our boat in the .... and no longer mentioned). Possibly 'fish the lake , etc' [is from the banks]. People go fishing and I can see some people fishing... .
- 493
But... 'We went to the lake to fish'. You have to get to the lake before you can fish. Native speaker UK.
- 493
But.. If you say 'We went fishing AT the lake' that implies to me that while you were at the lake you fished, not that your purpose in going was to fish.
The way you put it I think you'd say "andammo al lago a pescare" = we went to the lake (with the intent of) fishing. Then it's clear that you're going to the lake. But the way the Duolingo sentence is, the "al lago" refers to the pescare, so you're fishing at or in the lake
We went fishing IN the lake is totally wrong. In means In even in italian. Al lago is motion complement so it requires "to" , implying a direction
The English translation is wrong.
We went fishing to the lake.
Meglio ancora
We went to the lake, fishing.
- 314
Bruno, both of your suggested English translations above sound really odd!
Possibly "We went to the lake to fish."
Or "We went fishing at the lake."
I agree. I also would reverse the phrase to make it more natural. "We went to the lake to fish". I would never say "We went to fish in the lake" unless I was scuba diving or something. "On the lake" is even better than "in"
"To the lake" is different. Then you are talking about the trip, which is why you have to put it right after "went". "At the lake" just talks about the general area. "In the lake" focuses on where the act of fishing takes place. "On the lake" indicates you're doing it in a boat on the surface of the water. The last three are all correct, but shift the perspective slightly.
- 33
So in which situation are we exactly. As I understand it really depends on the subject!!!. I am still confused.
Your translation is good, though I think DL's equally so. However I would only say 'ON the lake' if I was going out in a boat to do the fishing.
The preterit tense, is a single past event. Frankly, the sentence does not give that value, although by stretching one's imagination, you could say it is a one off event in a particular lake. However, since the preterit is mainly confined to the written text, and does not have an everyday use, it is appropriate.
Here is used "fishing" and "to fish" was also correct. That is good news but contradicts a Big X that I received on a previously lesson regarding the mix of a gerund with an infinitive.
I would translate this as "let's go fish at the lake" but i got it right.
I would certainly believe that "we went in the lake to fish" would be an acceptable answer as well, since it speaks of the same action in the same place.
Passato remoto? On Duolingo's level 4 . Really? What a joke is this program sometimes!
- 493
FISHING IN THE LAKE - is English, is acceptable, is correct. Sounds odd? Now you point it out, yes but still correct. See my comments above. We went in the lake to fish is not correct here. In English it would imply swimming and a speargun. WE WENT FISHING TO THE LAKE is Wrong. First you go, then you fish. [you are asking for 'fishing to the lake' to be correct English; it isn't] Please see my other comments above. Native speaker: UK.
I wrote (native English speaker): "We went fishing at the lake" The gerund (gerundio) form would be more common usage here and "at" is equally acceptable. Also, since it's passato remoto, "we had gone" would have been acceptable as well but I'm certain the app wouldn't have accepted it.
