"Ciò che loro mi hanno detto non è vero."
Translation:What they told me is not true.
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I can explain this! Although I am relatively new to Italian, this is identical to Spanish:
"Ciò che loro mi hanno detto non è vero." Best translates to: "[That which] they have said [to] me is not true"
"Ciò" is used to indicate a thing, possibly an abstract noun. In this sentence it therefore references "that which" has been said to the speaker.
In Spanish "Ciò che" is "Lo que". Lo means "it/he/the" depending on context.
I would just remember "ciò que" separate from its literal meaning for now and treat it as "that which"
@Italian speakers: Am I correct in this assumption?
1035
I am really grateful for you putting the equivalent word in Spanish, because many people here study multiple languages, so it's easier to just know that it means "lo" in Spanish ;)
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I assumed this too (because I also am decent at Spanish) but I'm still very confused as to when to use ciò rather than quel (because I've seen ciò che and quel che mean the same thing).
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It accepts "what they said to me is not true", but not "what they said to me was not true". I think "was" is correct here, since they said it to me in the past.
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The “is not true” refers to it being not true currently, not whether it was true or not at the time they said it. It is completely valid to have this sentence be partially in past tense and partially in present tense. Assuming Italian makes that distinction too, it is not correct to use “was” in the translation, considering that the original says “non è vero” in the present tense.
987
Crumbs! I still find the full speed diction too fast to catch all the words. It worries me - guess (even if Covid laws are relaxed) I'll be putting off the Italian holiday for a l-o-n-g time!