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- Topic: Italian >
- "Lui si è sentito bene."
30 Comments
This sentence would not be used in normal English.
Even if "bene" was translated as "good":
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He is feeling well / good
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He was feeling good
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He felt good
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He used to feel well
He has felt is just plain awkward.
I agree it is not a common usage but the sentence is not competely without merit: In the past, he has felt well after taking the medicine.
Lots of things can't be translated as is.. My father told me there are 19(!) forms of time. But as long as you understood the meaning and the usage, I think it's good enough :)
919
Yeah, I put "he has felt better", but of course that is wrong as would be "meglio" instead of "bene".
- 111
'He heard well' is wrong. Is this because the 'si' means he needs to do something to himself? Would 'he heard himself well' be acceptable?
Usually when 'sentire' is in the reflexive form 'sentirsi' it refers to how you feel.
Essere is used for reflexive verbs (sentirsi, to feel, mettersi, to put on...), and for most intransitive verbs (no direct object) and verbs of motion.
- 597
I used "He was feeling well" which I think was marked wrong correctly, but I can't explain why. Obviously, there is no simple correspondence between the forms that express the past in Italian and English.
Similarly for 'He has been feeling well'. Since Italian doesn't differentiate between simple present and present continuous, these different forms of the present perfect should be indistinguishable in Italian
Without context some of these sentences seem ridiculous. The hover hints dont help at all.
What is the difference between "Luis si è sentito bene" and "Luis si ha sentito bene"?
We use " ..è sentito" when it refers to feelings, and "..ha sentito" when it's about hearing. And don't forget to use the reflexsive "si" when it's about feelings. Please correct me if I am wrong.
I dont really understand this sentance at all...would this use of si be idiomatic?
It is a reflexive verb, sentirsi, meaning to feel. The subject of the reflexive verb is also the object of it. Read about them here: http://italian.about.com/od/verbs/a/italian-verbs-reflexive.htm
He feels the fabric -> sente il tessuto (not reflexive)
He feels well -> He [himself] felt well -> si sente bene
I don't get it. Some use ha and others use è at the beginning of the verb. How to distinct them?
Movement related verbs usually take essere/è/sono etc. For example, Io sono andata, lui è tornato.
Verbs not in this category generally use avere/avete/ha etc., such as Io ho bevuto, lei ha parlato.
This rule should work for the most part, but you'll have to just learn the exceptions by memory.
A bit about it at http://www.effectivelanguagelearning.com/free-language-lessons/italian/grammar/verbs
I wrote "He has been feeling well." I got marked wrong, but that translation is actually more accurate, and in English "he has felt well" sound awkward.
How can sentita mean heard and sentito mean felt? Heard and felt (touch) are two different things! Very confused!!
That's true, "Sentire" is defined by "to hear" and "to feel" in English, but you will differentiate them based on context. English has several verbs like this too, like "take off" or "take out". Different phrases will point to the meaning, like "senti?" = "are you listening?" or like "Mi sento bene" = "I feel good"
If anyone needs help understanding "si" and the sentence structure, you have to understand that sentirsi, which is a reflexive verb. Exactly like in French, a reflexive verb in the past tense uses the verb "to be" *essere rather than "to have" avere. So like in French, Il s'est senti bien = He felt good, in Italian it's no different. Lui si è sentito bene
I answered "He, himself, felt well". As oppossd to someone else. I dont really get the "he has felt well" as a sentence.
