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So, this sentence can mean 1. He loses his keys; 2. She loses her keys; 3. He loses her keys; 4. She loses his keys. How do we know which when there's no pronoun?
Yes, this sentence can be translated using any of your four sentences. As I said, without context there is no way to know, therefore we can use any of them.
Yes, duo now shows the translation as "he loses her keys." (and I answered just now 'she loses her keys' and was appropriately marked correct. :-) I am prepared for context and immersion; thank you duo for teaching me!
Andrew: In the absence of a clear context, a lot of these sentences sound absurd, illogical, or unlikely. Without that context, "le sue" can mean her, his, or its. Duo above gives 'her'. I agree that keys would normally belong to someone, so the most logical translations would be "S/he loses his/her keys". (The subject of 'perde' is also ambiguous). As for "its" -- if the keys belonged to an object then "its" is not only plausible, but also the best choice: "Why can't we open the piggy bank? Well, duh, she lost ITS keys! :-(
Is "key" masculine or feminine? if the plural is with an 'i' at the end, then why is it not i suoi chiavi?
Maybe, but at times it's still all Greek to me! Thanks for all your helpful explanations. There much appreciated. Ciao!
How do you know that it's not She loses her keys? Where does it say that it's a man?
Without context or subject pronoun (lui, lei) we don't know, it could be "he" or "she".
Yes, it all depends on the context. There is no other way, we must know what the object of the conversation is.
You confirm the saying that 'any text without a context is a pretext'.
Because it's the past tense and 'perde' is present tense. So "loses" not "lost", no matter who the subject is.
I think it's because in most of these exercises this 3rd person form is assumed to be 'he' or 'she'. If the formal 'you' is meant, usually the pronoun "Lei" would be included for clarity -- (though granted, here it could also be taken as 'she' since it'd be the first word in the sentence). In addition, the lower case "sue" would refer back to a 3rd person subject, not to "you" -- otherwise it'd be capitalized "Sue" (though I understand that capitalization for the formal 'you' isn't always obligatory.)
Given the right context, I believe that's right -- or even "You lose his keys,"
Hahaha Her loses her keys :( She loses her keys or He loses his keys***....the correct ones :)
Sajad, your answer is correct but it's not the only correct answer given the lack of a clearer context. See the other correct answers above.
Would the hearer assume the person who lost the keys is also the same person who owns or is it actually ambiguous?
I suspect that the listener would know because the sentence would be part of a larger context.
RamonAnaton: See my comment right above to Maateus or my comment to Brenda at the end. Without a clear subject, it can be He or She and without a spicific context it can be 'her keys or his keys" In other words it can be: He loses her keys or She loses his keys or any combination, even It loses its keys/his keys/her keys.
sunnyvfc1: Not necessarily. "Perde" is 3rd person: he, she, it, and in fact you formal. Without a pronoun to clarify the subject, it can mean all of those. Duo has simply given you 1 of those options. The same is true of "sue": it can mean his, her, or its. When it means Your formal it's usually capitalized to distinguish it from the 3rd person possessives, but not always. Given the ambiguity of the verb and possessive the sentence can mean any set of those variables I mention, e.g. He loses her keys or She loses his keys -- as well as their own. I'm sure other users have pointed this out in their own posts.
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and who is " IT " when it says ... it loses her keys is the right answer ? ; I said she loses her keys and it said I was wrong ... dah .......
mercede777: the answer shown above is "She loses her keys." That said, "perde' could be he, she, or it. "le sue..." could be 'his, her, or its" Which answer is most logical depends on context, "it" being admittedly the least logical, but grammatically possible, as e.g. if referring to a rental company, real estate firm, automobile agency, etc.
- 1945
"Lost" is past tense. Right now we're just learning the present tense.
"Lost" would be "perdeva".
https://www.italian-verbs.com/italian-verbs/conjugation.php?parola=perdere
'sue' can mean 'her', 'his,' or 'its'. I'm sure there are any number of scenarios possible where 'its' would work: He loses the keys to his luggage, i.e., its keys. He loses the keys to his safe, i.e., its keys. etc.
He loses her keys. Wow, that transgender self-acknowledgement escalated quickly
- 1945
I lost his keys. Therefore we are the same person. That is the only possible explanation.
Brenda...Yes, out of context it's ambiguous. It could be "He loses his keys"; "He loses her keys"; She loses her keys"; and "She loses his keys".
I disagree. Out of context, perde can be he, she, even it (a business e.g.) and le sue...can be his, her, or its. You need a clear context to narrow it down and eliminate the other possibilities.
