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- "Ho un litro d'olio in cucina…
38 Comments
certain common places omit the definite article when used with "in" to indicate you are in that place. Cucina is one of them.
I used to work with a guy that was Italian, and he could not stand the cooking show Marianne Esposito had called "Ciao, Italia!", because in every single episode, she would say "let's go nella cucina". He said it hurt his ears.
417
in italian, the rule to omit the definite article is valid for all places of the house (and others)
- the bottle is in the kitchen = la bottiglia è in cucina
- the bottle is in the bathroom = la bottiglia è in bagno
- the bottle is in the cellar = la bottiglia è in cantina
- the bottle is in the yard = la bottiglia è in cortile
- the demonstration is in the square = la manifestazione è in piazza
- He works at the bank = Lui lavora in banca (not "...alla banca")
- We go to the pool = Noi andiamo in piscina (not "...alla piscina")
but if you use the possessive adjective or who owns the room...
- the bottle is in my kitchen = la bottiglia è nella mia cucina
- the bottle is in your bathroom = la bottiglia è nel tuo bagno
- the bottle is in the John's cellar = la bottiglia è nella cantina di John
- the bottle is in the neighbor's yard = la bottiglia è nel cortile del vicino
- 162
I just wanted to add a particular case: "in my bedroom" in Italian can be "nella mia camera" but also "in camera mia".
But "in my bedroom" means exactly "nella mia camera da letto". In general, room is "camera", or "stanza"... "living room" is "soggiorno", "dining room" is "camera da pranzo", "guest room" is "camera per gli ospiti" and so on.
Duolingo, please be consistent with the acceptance of British English spelling. My correct (wink, wink) spelling of 'litre' was rejected in favour of the US one, 'liter', (which to be frank I find barbaric). My rendering of the Italian phrase was correct, yet my answer was rejected on account of my CORRECT spelling of 'litre'. It is the Americans who deviate from the rest of the Anglophone world on this topic and therefore it is they who should be marked down, if indeed anyone should be.
Looks fine to this American. On the other hand, the spelling in your comment looks odd. Not wrong, but odd.
My answer was " I have a liter of oil in the kitchen.". But duolingo wants "my" before the kitchen.
It is mystery. There is another frase Non ho niente in cucina and Duo translates it as I have nothing in MY kitchen. In this exercise I've put my in front of kitchen, and it went wrong. Where is the truth? Should be there my or the or nothing at all? Thanks
- 417
I have the same problem but in the english sentence
if you say to me "non ho niente in cucina", for me (as italian) it is clear that you are talking about your kitchen
My question:
if you say "I have nothing in the kitchen" (without "my") is it clear that you are talking about your kitchen or is "my" necessary?
thanks in advance for your reply
(English speaker talking) I can not imagine ever saying ''There is nothing in kitchen'' (no pronoun or article). We would understand, but it would sound totally odd. You can certainly say '' there is nothing in the kitchen'' that would work perfectly and it would be clear that you are talking, by default, about your own kitchen,. "There is nothing in my kitchen." works equally well and is more specific. We will all be crazy before we are done.
(English Native Speaker From New York). I do agree with John Grunewald, although I have heard people say things like: "I'm in the process of moving house", "I have to clean room" or "I'm in bathroom". First person I have ever heard use these terms was a woman from England. Then recently I moved to a different part of America (San Antonio, Texas) where I have heard others say phrases similar, if not the same, as the ones I've mentioned. I have never heard or used these terms my whole life growing up in the Northeastern part of the country. I don't believe it's incorrect english, just very odd sounding at first because it's not very common amongst most english speakers (atleast here in America). Hope this sheds more kight onto the situation.
When you said she was from England, it reminded me of a similar one: Americans say 'in THE hospital,' British say 'in hospital.'
The answer is up the thread a bit, in two posts, one by GreyB and one by Pierugofoz.
- 41
Why would people downvote your help here ? I'm only being system permitted to upvote you one level so have lingot aswell.
I'm Singaporean. We sit for GCE English examinations in Singapore, thus we write British English. It is very natural of us to spell these measurements ending with "-tre" instead of "-ter".
Having said that, it is not too difficult to pay attend to the different spelling of many words, i.e.
"neighbour"
"neighbor"
"favourite"
"favorite"
... to name a few.
Anyway, I believe DL has fixed the algorithm to accept the spelling variants.
• Ho un litro d'olio in cucina.
• [ I have a liter of oil in the kitchen. ]
• [ I have a litre of oil in the kitchen. ]
I was vaguely amused that this translation was accepted too -
• Quanti chilogrammi?
• [ How many kilograms? ]
• [ How many kilo? ]
That's cool! "Kilo" could mean "kilogramme" or "kilometre".
Anyhow, we are here to learn Italian. And which is the better lesson - the riches of the different cultures or how some parts of the world might spell a particular word?
Enjoy DL e-learning.
:) KK
ottobre 2019
"of oil".... you contract the D with olio instead of di olio I think because "di olio" has two vowels next to each other, i and o, so you just say d'olio. I think.
We never say "a insect" in English. I'm sure that when people use Duolingo to learn English, they would get marked wrong if they said "a insect".
Similarly, in Italian, the "di" is contracted when the next word begins with a vowel. Like "olio" which begins with a vowel. So grammatically "di olio" is incorrect. "D'olio" is correct for the same reason that "an insect" is correct.
(Please note that this rule does not apply to several last names, like di Angelo.)
- 656
I can't hear the word "un" in the recording. It says: "Ho litro d'olio . . ." Is it necessary to say it?
Ho un litro d' olio in cucina
I have a liter of oil in my kitchen.
Why should we use (my) in the translated text, and there is no (mio) in the original?
Because it's required in English, but not in Italian. Translating everything word for word gets you confused.
- 41
I found CreyB's post 6 years ago at the very top of this thread and the next two posts in response to his post very helpful, take a look and see what you think.
