"Lui ha le sue dita sul tavolo."
Translation:He has his fingers on the table.
27 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
There's diti
too, but according to some translation note I read in Wiktionary, dita
is used for the fingers considered colectively and diti
for the fingers considered individually. Would like to see an example of that, though...
Using "diti" as plural means considering each individual finger in the group, whereas "dita" means all the fingers as a sole entity (http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/diti-o-dita_(La_grammatica_italiana)/). "Diti" is no longer used and if you use it in a conversation chances are that it will be pointed out as a mistake.
Collectively: "le dita della mano" = "the fingers of the hand"
Individually: "i diti indici" = 'the index fingers"; "i diti medi" = "the middle fingers"; "i diti anulari" = "the ring fingers". My web source "Centro Studi Italiani" www.locuta.com/2plurali did not have a word for "the little fingers"; I could not find it in Reverso, either.
Who knows??
427
What about toes? Why can't he have his toes on the table? (Linguistically, I mean; not politely. ;-)
1793
Is this literal, or is it an expression to describe someone who is forthright and honest, not cheating (doing something under the table)?