"Il cuoco cucina con qualunque ingrediente."
Translation:The cook cooks with any ingredient.
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I think then you would have to say "with whatever ingredients are available", which would not be an accurate translation. It would be sloppy (English) English just to say "with whatever ingredients".
I agree that Duolingo's English version is strange... but you can't concisely translate the idea into English using "whatever," as paulmacd pointed out.
I thought "whatever ingredients" also made sense in this context but it was marked wrong.
Ms marygbaker, It also gives 'whatever' as a translation hint. I attempted "whichever" and got it DL wrong. 17Aug15
I'm finding these lessons a bit worrisome for this reason. Approximately 10% of my time I spend wondering if I should be using the singular or plural in English!
I think that "any ingredient" and "any ingredients" have slightly different senses (in English). "any ingredient" means for each (single) ingredient he can find a way to cook with it. "any ingredients" means that for each set of ingredients he can cook them. I'm not sure if the senses are the same in Italian, but unless there's a specific rule (alcun and nessun always take singular for instance), I'd match the number (pluralness) of the Italian word (here ingrediente not ingredienti) to the English word.
"With whatever ingredients (are available/are called for by the recipe) makes a lot more sense, especially since "whatever" is given as one of the possible meanings in the hints, than the two correct options shown.
If I interpret Collins correctly whatever ingredient should be equally correct as any ingredient: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/italian-english/qualunque
Also, the answer it gives me is "with either ingredients" and I don't understand how that it's correct at all.
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a few sentences back qualunque was translated as whichever. Why can't it be used in this sentence?
mzmalvina- I think it could, especially if a phrase like "...with whichever ingredient 'is available'" is added. As it stands I think there's a difference between the two: 'any' is broader and would presumably include the option to use any one of all ingredients while 'whichever' is somewhat restrictive, meaning there's a narrower choice available.
I agree that "with whatever ingredients" is sloppy English, but we all understand it. Given that Duolingo think "I have zero pants" is good English, there seems to be real inconsistency in approach.
it marked ordinary ingredients wrong. I just dont get it. It has ordinary in the little advisor, but whenever i try to use i lose a heart. I cant trust these little advisors anymore
With "qualunque" and "qualsiasi," the meaning depends on the placement. If placed before the noun, they mean "any in a series of possibilities." If placed after, they take a pejorative tone and mean something like "ordinary, not special."
In the little advisor (drop down hints or hover hints) you should always choose the first hint. In this case there is only one: "any" unless it has been change since you wrote. Other times there are: "any, common, ordinary". Still "any" is first.
"Any" can also be used in positive sentences, if that's what you meant. "Do you have any (or some) beer?" for example.
Acutally, "any" is used when there is doubt about the existence of the commodity. That is why saying that it is for negatives and questions is usually a good explanation. But if, for example, you offer someone some coffee, it will be a question with "some" (Do you want some coffee). That is because in this case I know I have the coffee! If I cannot find the coffee, I might ask my husband, "Do we have any coffee?" as its existence is negligible. (I hope that makes sense, and btw I think I need a coffee now!)
Is the pronunciation correct on here for "qualunque"? Sounds like the last syllable isn't pronounced...
in this same exercise, another prompt was "qualunque verdura" and it translated as "whichever vegetable", yet "qualunque ingrediente" cannot translate to "whichever ingredient". Not sure whether this is just an oversight on DL''s part, or there is some subtle difference which I'm not aware of . Reported.
Perhaps it's a r-e-a-l-l-y simple dish with only one ingredient and with that ingredient changing based upon 'whichever ingredient' happens to be available on any given day: eggplant one day, okra the next, etc. Think "Italian-Cajun Cooking for Dummies 101".
I think "whatever" or "whichever" should be accepted for "qualunque".
I used "whichever" for "qualunque" and was marked wrong. For some reason Duolingo does not understand that "whichever" and "whatever" in American English is the same as "any", at least in this case.
I think alcuno/alcuna/alcun (singular) is almost always only used in negative sentences. e.g "Non ho alcuno dolore" = "I don't have any pain", "Non ho alcun desiderio di discutere con voi."= "I have no desire to argue with you", " Treccani, however suggests that it can sometimes be used in positive sentences: https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/alcuno. In any case, "ingrediente" is plural so you would have to use "alcuni" (plural) which would be fine in a positive sentence.