"Are the new generations different from the old ones?"
Translation:Le nuove generazioni sono diverse dalle vecchie?
48 Comments
Just a quick question... Why is "Sono le nuove generazioni diverse da quelle vecchie?" not accepted here?
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I'd be very interested to know this too. I guess I should do some independent reading, but I find it interesting that in so many languages the conjugated verb comes first in questions, but that this does not appear to be the case in Italian.
In English we change the word order depending on whether it is a statement or a question (e.g. are you vs you are). In Italian they don't - the word order stays the same.
Putting sono at the front of the sentence doesn't make sense because it wouldn't make sense as a statement.
Yes, it is modifying "le generazioni" which is actually plural form of feminine noun "la generazione", therefore we have diverse.
EDIT: Nouns ending in -e may be masculine or feminine. The gender of these nouns must be memorized.
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I think (but I'm just a learner too) that words ending "-zione" are feminine, such as generazione, stazione and televizione?
Generally, yes, for -ione words. There must be a cheat sheet for this topic somewhere. I have one for French (on paper).
Be careful: televisione doesn't have a Z.
That is incorrect, StanKing2. As stuart.hol2 said, «-zione» (and «-sione») words are feminine. However, «-ione» and «-one» words are masculine: «il maglione», «lo ione», «il pedone», etc.
All italian words ending in -sione or -zione are feminine. Note that some italian words end in -ione but without an "s" or "z" and this rule does not necessarily apply. For instance "rione" (district) is masculine and uses "il" and "ragione" (reason) is feminine, using "la."
Yes, it is ;) I think it is the same if you write it in English, is it not? "Generations news" sounds totally wrong too...
But English almost always puts the adjective before the noun, but italian often puts the noun first. Is nuovo an adjective that normally precedes the noun?
There are certain adjectives in Italian that come before nouns; these include all determiners, numbers (quantifiers), and the following adjectives: «vecchio», «nuovo», «grande», and «piccolo».
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I don't think that's a hard and fast rule, e.g. Ponte Vecchio in Florence is not Vecchio Ponte
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The order for these types of adjectives are dependant on the emphasis the speaker wishes to convey. In your example of the "old bridge" in Firenze, the emphasis is certainly on the "old." Therefore one would expect the name to be, "Pointe Vecchio." However, you might say, "Dopo la sinistra, passerai sopra un vecchio ponte."
I want to know this, too. How can we decide when to put the adjective BEFORE the noun?
You could try to apply the French rule, BAGS: adjectives of beauty, age, goodness, and size go before the noun.
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Stan, that is brilliant! Thanks for the pneumonic! I actually just got this one wrong for putting "nuove" second. I knew certain adjectives COULD come first. I didn't know they HAD to. And BAGS is a great way to remember which ones. Thanks. I'd throw you a lingot if it gave me the option here.
Yes, me too! Nuovo sometimes comes after the noun, doesn't it? So when is it correct to put it before and when after?
There was a translation for this "old ones" thing earlier which used "quelli". Something like: "...sono diverse dalle quelle di vecchie"...? Could someone make it more precise?
Maybe you are referring to: "le nuove generazioni sono diverse da quelle vecchie?" or "le nuove generazioni sono diverse dalle vecchie?". It is possible because "generations" are implicit for "the old ones", it is obvious that you are talking about "generations". I don't know if it is more clear, now. Sadly my English is not very good ^^
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In italian many questions are written like a statement plus a question mark.
In speech the only difference is the intonation, which is more recognizable than that of Duolingo
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I thought when you were talking about "ones" you needed "quegli". Why is "Le nuove generazioni sono diverse da quegli vecchio" wrong?
Quel, quei, quegli, quelle, and quella are all demonstrative adjectives that are placed in front of the words to which they refer.
Simply put, in your example, it is attached to the word "vecchio" which firstly should be vecchie. Also, since "quegli" is attached to "vecchie" it should be "quelle."
But even if it were a word that would need "quegli" like "stivali" (boots) it would still only require "quei" to be attached to "vecchi" because the demonstrative adjectives are to compliment the word they are attached to, not the original object.
Your example should be an acceptable way to translate the sentence, however, with the correct suffixes.
According to my Websters Dictionary, 'diverso/a' is 'different' and 'diverse/i' is 'several.' So, I'm confused on this one. Could someone enlighten me?
Would "Sono diverse da quelle vecchie le nuove generazioni?" be grammatically correct? It's not currently accepted. Is that because the construction doesn't sound natural?
I dont like how the correct answers cover up my incorrect ones. I want to see what i had done uncorrectly!
IvyDean1, I use DL on a laptop and have not noticed the problem. Perhaps it is peculiar to either the phone or tablet you are using. If you are using a phone, try going to 'settings' and changing the font size. Just guessing, but that might work.
