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- Topic: Italian >
- "Sono già venuto qui."
62 Comments
259
i get this wrong everytime as i just can't stop myself as, i have already come here is such bad english!!
Yes. Because, as others have pointed out, you would never say it. You would either say, I've already been here/I've been here before; or I have already arrived here/I've already got here.
I agree with most of those options. PLEASE - Never say, "I've already got here" that is just painful.
I think "I've come here before" would also be a viable option (at least here in the US). To me it sounds about the same as "I've been here before." "I already came here" also doesn't sound wrong to me (in the context of, say, "Why don't you want to eat at this restaurant?" "I already came here last week."). "I have already come here" doesn't sound right at all, though.
Poor Duo owl can't win! If it's a literal translation people some complain. If it's a non-literal translation other people complain! Really Do should have both when they both are helpful. Until that time perhaps a good rule of thumb if an English sentence is odd/weird/wrong is that you are seeing a LITERAL translation. Be grateful! Use it for what it is. And then remember with it your OWN non-literal translation. Don't worry about mistakes! Keeping going with the flow of Italian and you will reach the blessed isle of competency in the language! Then get an Italian pen/skype friend and become more competent in Italian. Then save for a good holiday in Italy visiting your Italian pen/skype friend and Italians will often be happy solve your language problems and help you become more fluent! The way is long, but the view is often beautiful!
When you get something wrong by accident, appreciate the view of what you've learned and what you are learning!
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Allowing a poor translation is one thing. Teaching it as a preferred translation and "correcting" better ones is another, and is quite annoying. But Duo has turned a deaf ear to this subtlety.
Ideally, Duolingo could support 2 translations per sentence: a literal one and an idiomatic one.
I can't imagine a context in which I would phrase a sentence like that in English, well not a polite one :-)
What on earth is it supposed to mean? "I've already been here" as in "been here before" or.... "I've already arrived" might make sense - as somebody saying on the phone "Where are you? I'm already at the restaurant".
Of course I understand that the point is totally grammatical and about the difference in the use of forms of "to be" and "to have" in the present perfect, but still..
I think it is supposed to be "I have already been here."
"I came (have been) here before" is more in the past and these sentences seem to be recent history...
Agreed. Quite often the English is nonsense. Hopefully, someone is paying attention to the forums and is auditing the corrections we are all making, but I'm not seeing much evidence of that, are you? It's discouraging.
the system does work - I reported another sentence option for another question, and duolingo just sent me an email to say that it is now an option. So the key is to click on the report button and give your translation!
You should report errors and suggestions, that is the most effective way to be listened.
Because then it would be venuti or venute. If you are female then you would say 'venuta' instead of 'venuto'
Are there any Italian native speakers on here. I would just like to ask if you would actually say this because the English sentence is really pretty poor and no one, in the UK at least, would ever say " I have already come here." Actually I'm not sure what the sentence means, does it mean, I have already arrived or does it mean I have been here before. I'm referring to the English sentence.
This Italian sentence is usual. The alternative "Sono già stato qui" is also usual.
Nice picture. Complement: "vivere" may use either "avere" or "essere" as auxiliary verb.
Just a slight difference: "Sono jia' venuto qui" -- "I have already come here" -- maybe I arrived half an hour ago and am waiting for the others.
"Sono appena venuto qui" -- I have just come here a few seconds ago.
I think the Duolingo Course trains us to distinguish "appena" - "just" from "jia'" - "already" here.
Are you happier with it now?
That's fine in terms of understanding what the Italian means, but the fact remains that just we don't use 'come' like that in English; it's incorrect and sounds unspeakably foreign.
You would use 'arrive'. I've just arrived here, I arrived half an hour ago. in fact I think the occasions on which you'd say 'I have come' are very limited...eg 'I have come here in order to. ... do something' ; 'I have come here with an open mind'; but absolutely never, 'I have come here 5 minutes ago'.
when do we use essere + verb, and when do we use avere + verb? whats the difference? :/
Can someone explain why there is no need for "è" here? I'm very confused about past perfect verbs in general (not very good with English grammar, much less learning the grammar of another language...). It's difficult for me to identify reflexive vs. transitive vs. intransitive and remember when to use essere or avere, etc.
Yes, I agree with most of you: I have no idea what that sentence is meant to convey! As a native British English speaker, I would never say such a sentence. Id be more likely to say, "I've already been here" or "I've been here before".
In English it must be translated as I am already here. I have already been here or I am already arriving here. It makes no sense unless it is something not of this world..
Well, I agree, but "I am already here" is present tense and the sentence in this lesson is passato prossimo. I think the best English translation is "I have already been here" or "I have come here before." Very aggravating!
The clue is in the verb ending, which changes according to number and gender when the auxiliary verb is "essere". So when you see the ending "-o", you know it's masculine singular. The subject "they" would require "venuti".
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monika.jiang If you had read the previous posts you'd have known. But here goes again. In this case you have to show gender and singular or plural. for "they" you would use "venuti" for masculine plural or "venute" for feminine plural. Italian is strange that way.
I thought "sono" can also mean "they are". Could this sentence not mean "they have already come/arrived here?"
No, because the verb ending "-o" tells you the subject is masculine singular. "They have come" would be "sono venuti".
The recording is uneven. I couldn't hear the "qui" in the end, even though I was actively listening for it!
- 1020
'I came here before' is accepted so I don't understand why 'I have been here before' isn't.
This sentence should read "I have already "been" here. Using "come" which is "present tense" and the adverb "already" in this context "the past tense" is definitely incorrect and needs to be updated.
Geez, I can't stand this sentence! There are very few ways for it to make sense in English. Can't we just get rid of it? :)
It's grammatically correct, but it is not idiomatic indeed. Better less literal translations have already been suggested years ago in previous comments, but nothing has changed.
