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- "Quali sono?"
36 Comments
Since "sono" can also mean "I am," couldn't this sentence be translated as "Which am I?"
While sono is the verb conjugation of essere for io (I), it is also the conjugation for loro (they). In this case, since quali is a plural, sono should be refering to they instead of I. My confusion though, is that the "correct" translation seems too literal to make sense to me. I wrote down "What are they?" But well, English is not my native language either, so it could be a problem with my understanding of English......
There is a slight difference between "what" and "which ones." When you say "what are they?" you don't know what they are. You see them, but can't identify them. "Look at those round things. What are they?" When you say "Which ones are they?" you see a group of thing and want to know which objects/people out of the group. "Look at those sweaters" "Which ones?" The "What" translation of "quale/quali", from my understanding, is when you don't know what thing the person is talking about. "Look, a whale!" "What whale? I don't see one." Does that make sense? Someone, please correct me if I'm wrong.
Thank you. I appreciate you pointing out the clue of 'quali' being plural so I should use 'loro'. Thank heavens for these discussion pages....
I guess so... imagine a board game in which you have some pieces that are "you". Q: "Which [ones] am I?". A: "the green ones!". Does it make sense?
Surely "which ones" should suffice? For example, I would argue that "six of those twelve eggs belong to me" "-which ones?" is far more natural for me.
I completely agree. I wrote down the same; I don't understand why it's wrong, especially since both responses, the Italian and the English, are both two words long.
EXACTLY! "are they" in the English response is NOWHERE to be found, or even implied! This is a MAJOR Duo Duuuhhhh.
I was just about to ask if that's a proper translation too. If DuoLingo counts it as wrong then I'm curious to know why as well.
It is because "quali" is Italian plural form of English's "which", if it was "What are they?", it would be "Che cosa sono?". Read mistaF's comment to understand more.
I put "Which are?" (ones being understood) but of course DuoLingo did not like this translation. In English "which" can be the subject, but it does change the meaning. It requires previous context.
QualE sono gives me a wrong answer straight... how annoying DUOLINGO can be sometimes...
Anyone else just get these wrong because they keep writing in the wrong language?
It says Quali can be translated as 'what' but when I put "what are they" it marked it as wrong
What is meant with which ones? Isn't something missing for it to be a conclusive sentence?
If you ask "which ones are they," you are asking somebody to pick out a group of things from a group. In other words, you're basically asking which of the things in front of you are actually the things that you had talked about.
Example:
John and Susan walk over to a carton of eggs. "I have six eggs in this carton," John says as he points towards the full carton of twelve eggs. "Which ones are they?" asks Susan. "These six eggs," replies John, while indicating the first, six eggs in the carton with his hand.
Sometimes I wonder if any Italian-langauge speakers are involved with Duolingo...certain phrases and translations are so awkward.
My (rather limited) Italian dictionary gives which or what as the translation for quali. I have looked through these comments and cannot find any reason why "what are they?" should not be accepted.
it can be quale ? qual in general changes with the gender and number it could be qual - quali - qualo - quala?
"whose are they" if you're not going to accept "whose" don't put it in the hints. This is getting monotonous DL.
OK, so the way this is worded is a bit confusing, even in English. If I say, "Which two are they", I would need an actual number of 2 in the sentence. Maybe this term is used in Italian more often, but I still think it needs to be reworded not to be confusing.
Very difficult pronouciations to understand. The SLOW version sounds like sumu! I am reporting.
