"She eats chicken but does not eat fish."

Translation: Lei mangia pollo ma non mangia pesce.

[holly.barl]

Can anyone clarify the proper usage of bensi, ma, pero...?

[s_augustyn]

On another lesson an Italian speaker said that bensì is only used after a negative statement. Otherwise you would use ma. I believe that pero is more like however than but, obviously lots of overlap.

[Ehsan_Mehmed]

Grazie

[slab2]

I'm italian and "bensì" is uncommon, we use in its place "ma" (but) this is the most used.
"pero" is the pear tree :) "però" is very similar at "ma" but this is used in less cases, for example: "i don't study english but italian" in italian is "non studio inglese ma italiano" use però in this case is wrong

[Lister778451]

it is used in fewer cases. (Fewer is part of several, as in 'fewer eggs'. Less is part of one, as in 'less cheese')

[ClaraShaw]

Why do you need to repeat "mangia"? I wrote Lei mangia pollo ma non pesce" -- seems fine to me. Is it really wrong to not repeat the verb?

[Pier_Golfoz]

I'm italian
Your sentence (Lei mangia pollo ma non pesce) is correct and it means the same thing.

PS: for information only (maybe DL disagrees)
if you are wondering if you can put the article, the response is "yes"
You can put the article everywhere and the meaning doesn't change
- Lei mangia il pollo ma non mangia il pesce
- Lei mangia pollo ma non mangia il pesce
- Lei mangia il pollo ma non mangia pesce

[wishingforreason]

I thought so too, It is still being marked as wrong as of December 22. I will report it...

[Joe294179]

The word "eat" was used twice, so I imagine they want the word "mangia" used twice.

[Dr.Moir1]

It's still being marked wrong, as of COVID 2020!

[PATRICKPIZ1]

and will always be wrong because it isn't a translation of the sentence on offer. two things: the italian sentence was created first and is the baseline to which you must return. second, duo isn't asking for a paraphrase, nor the meaning; doesn't want an editor or improver--just a translator. how can it judge progress if you don't adhere to some baseline?

[JimmyJames2021]

So how can we be sure when we are talking about something specific (the chicken that we have previously talked about) or something in general (all chicken that we eat or could potentially eat)? Wouldn't both of these be indicated by the definite article "il"?
Also, the two ideas "She is eating fish"(She is eating some fish at this moment) and "She eats fish"(In general, fish is a part of her diet), aren't they expressed differently in Italian? Lei mangia pesce vs. Lei mangia il pesce.

[Pier_Golfoz]

• We eat chicken = Noi mangiamo pollo and Noi mangiamo il pollo
• We eat the chicken = Noi mangiamo il pollo

•  She is eating fish = Lei sta mangiado (il) pesce and Lei mangia (il) pesce
•  She eats fish = Lei mangia (il) pesce

[HandsomeRob5]

If she eats chicken then shouldnt it be polli? If she eats A chicken then pollo?

[PATRICKPIZ1]

no, because this is about the thing that represents the class or category.

[GFrancalanci]

Sono d'accordo. Evitare la ripetizione del verbo non è assolutamente un errore. Al contrario, esprime una padronanza della lingua decisamente superiore.

[guigliamo]

"Mangia il pollo ma lei non mangia pesce" is marked as wrong. Pretty sure it should be right. No?

[sammydoodles]

I got this wrong too when I put 'lei' in front of both verbs, I believe it's because 'lei' should be at the start of the sentence if used, otherwise omitted from the sentence as a whole.

[OnlyHeadshot3Z]

Yes it is.
Saying this as italian

[CasperoValare]

Duolingo seems to dislike putting lei, lui, etc. before "non". I'm not Italian so I don't know whether that's an actual rule.

[destradam]

bensì also means but? it was marked wrong

[Tallman69]

I'm certain DL has used "bensì" in an identical situation. Why would it be wrong? Can anyone explain the use of "bensì" vs "ma"? And apparently "peró", which I haven't personally been introduced, yet.

[Chel451498]

"Ma" translates as 'but' and is very commonly used/heard. "Bensì" is less common (in my experience) and takes on more of the meaning 'but rather' or 'rather'.

You got me with peró. :-)

[Maxmalla]

I see here a lot of question and I have no tie to answer but the correct translation in Italian is Lei mangia pollo ma non pesce because the Italian delete thew second verb that is the same.
Could be correct also "Lei mangia pollo ma non mangia pesce" but the statement isn't use because isn't correct or better it is grammatically correct but not stylistically.

[Ronald966424]

So using bensi is still correct

[PATRICKPIZ1]

probably not. if the sentence was "she doesn't eat fish, but chicken." then you would use 'bensì'. negative main clause 'bensì' qualifying clause.

[SolomonPierce]

Do you need to restate the verb following a conjunction? I wrote "Lei mangia pollo ma non pesce". Should that have been accepted?

[GFrancalanci]

"Lei mangia pollo ma non pesce" è una tradizione assolutamente corretta e meriterebbe di essere accettata.

[JosephT.Madawela]

I thought it was dello pollo rather than il pollo

[Pier_Golfoz]

Lei mangia dell̶o̶ pollo ("del" not "dello") = she eats some chicken.
IMHO should be accepted

[MitchellDe201488]

Okay, so what are the slight differences? I was gathering from earlier exercises that 2) and 3) are basically the same, and adding "il" in Italian does not have the same meaning as adding "the" in English. Is that correct?

[Pier_Golfoz]

• the italian sentence "Lei mangia il pollo" can be translated as:
  1) she eats the chicken (specific chicken)
  2) she eats chicken

• the italian sentence "Lei mangia pollo" can only be translated as: "she eats chicken"

• the English sentence "she eats the chicken" can only be translated as: "Lei mangia il pollo"

• the English sentence "she eats chicken" can be translated as:
  1) Lei mangia il pollo
  2) Lei mangia pollo

[Brenda586085]

why is wrong to use bensi in this sentence

[Tallman69]

https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/1140357/ma-vs-bens%C3%AC

[Ramon432421]

Throughout this entire lesson, "but" is bensi, bensi, bensi, and then suddenly here it's "ma."

[Plasmina]

Why is it wrong: Lei mangia pollo però non mangia pesce. Isn't però = ma?

[RussellChr]

The first option shouldn't really be included in the answer I think. It doesn't mention if its a he or she

[Ally1329]

I wrote "lei mangia pollo ma lei non mangia pesce". Why isn't it correct????

[Tallman69]

You're missing your articles, for one. Romance languages rarely omit them, unlike Germanic languages, like English. Also, your second pronoun isn't needed, albeit technically correct. This sentence would sound best written, "Lei mangia il pollo ma non mangia il pesce."

[PATRICKPIZ1]

using th definite article would be correct, but omitting both is also correct. ally's sentence is wrong because the english sentence does not have a stated subject in the second clause. and while you can either state the subject or not in italian sentences, to translate the english to italian you would have to insert a word that isn't there.

[Helen525464]

I also omitted the second "mangia", in line with a similar example in the lesson, but it was marked incorrect....

[PATRICKPIZ1]

similar but not the same.

[jennifer299745]

When I translated ' but ' as 'ma' previously it was marked wrong, therefore I translated 'but' specially as 'bensi' though I have rarely seen ut used. But , this tine , bensi is incorrect and 'ma ' must be used. Ve ry strange

[SilviaGema2]

She è tradotto come ella, o, lei.
Forse You sarebbe tradotto come Lei

[SarahHarri794288]

Why are using ma instead of bensi for but

[pineapplerind]

On another lesson an Italian speaker said that bensì is only used after a negative statement, also bensì is rarely used