31 Comments
when you say the former, you have an individual carrot (or artichoke or cauliflower) in mind, which is your only one, maybe in a flowerpot. Highly unlikely situation.
But, I believe, you can say: "My corn grows over there in the field." (Not "corns").
That's because 'corn' is uncountable (a mass noun), so whether you mean one stalk or many stalks of corn, you must use the singular "corn". Likewise, "verdura" in Italian counts as one individual vegetable or many vegetables.
However, you would say, "My cabbages grow over there in the field" if you meant more than one cabbage, or, "My vegetables grow over there in that field" if you meant more than one vegetable.
Actually, to say "My cabbage grows over there in the field" would also be correct, because you're referring to the plant type, not an individual plant... but "My cabbages" would explicitly indicate multiple plants of the cabbage type.
I'm sure you probably realize that, just commenting for non-native English speakers that may find this confusing.
In my understanding, "verdura" is in fact a mass noun meaning something onv the lines of "greenery" (verd-). This appears to be a common construct in the languages I am familiar with. I'd imagine the synonym "ortaggio" would be used for a single vegetable. Native speakers please confirm though!
the Greenery grows would be OK .. "the greens grow" (now offered as correct) is silly
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I agree, although "The greens grow" does make sense in English (but I wouldn't translate "greens" with "verdura"). Especially in the American South, greens refers to a variety of leafy vegetables (never referred to as green) and includes such things as turnip greens, kale, collards, etc. Greens are cooked a bit like one would cook rapini in Italian cuisine.
Moreover, look at the verb, cresce. Since the generic term for vegetables is singular, I guess the verb stays singular also.
Reminds me of the famous "Man and people" by the Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset.
For the English, vegetables are "men", whereas for the Italians "verdura" is a people.
Earlier, someone mentioned that "verdura" is a generic term for vegetables.
Why is la vedura "vegetables"? A singular noun, vedura , a plural, vegetables. Please explain
Every language has little quirks and exceptions and so forth that you have to learn, in this case 'la verdura' (and in fact la frutta) are used to refer to vegetables in general (and fruit for frutta) instead of a single vegetable. The 'why' of it may be lost in the mists of time, or known to language specialists, for now it's just easier for you to remember that's how it is done.
In fact it may be easier for you to think of it with fruit since we treat fruit that way. We don't say "I'm going to buy fruit' and mean only a single fruit. I think the term is 'mass noun' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_noun
Thanks! I am not a native speaker, so sometimes it is hard for me to understand these "ups", "downs", "outs" and "ins".
Also, in English "grow up" tends to mean "reach maturity," usually used when speaking of people, although we may say something like "Wow! That plant/bush/tree grew up overnight!" to express surprise at how quickly something appeared....
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Or "The vines grew up the walls of the house" which is a literal meaning of a plant growing in the upwards direction.
"creche" in english and french; where young children are nurtured and taken care of...
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I cannot understand how la verdura is a plural. Can anyone help? I think vegetable but am told vegetables.
Translation offered is now "the greens grow"... this would not be said in England.. the Greenery grows would be OK
ortaggio/ortaggi, if you want plural :) „La verdura“ is formally singular working as an uncountable (like „bread“, „fish“ and „fruit“ in Eng). An example phrase from a dictionary is: Bisognerebbe mangiare molta verdura per restare in forma. You have to eat a lot of vegetables to stay in shape.
is it true that cresce would be pronounced like "cresse" (not cres tshe)? or I heard it wrong?
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Ok, so verdura is generic for vegetables. That begs the question, how DO you say "the vegetable grows" in italian?
I really feel like I hear an extra vowel after "verdura" in the recording, as if it were "la verdura è cresce". Strange.
