41 Comments
In English, "What are the positives" is equivalent to all other translations. Not sure why it was wrong.
Probably because this sentence is teaching the word for sides/aspects. Why ignore a whole noun and expect to be marked correct?
Because they are extraneous in this language. Demonstrating an understanding shouldn't entail communicating like a Neanderthal.
Probably just duolingo being literal. Report it as correct if you try it again. Maybe you will eventually convince them.
It seems like half the time it wants to be literal and the other half it only accepts the colloquial phrases.
Yeah... I find a good strategy is to translate it literally first and, if it doesn't approximate an English sentence that makes sense, start looking at synonymous variants. I say approximate because I think people seem to get more frustrated when the literal translation is acceptable English but doesn't match their own personal preferences or colloquialisms, and they get marked wrong for putting those preferences as the answer when the lesson is geared toward teaching a specific usage. Someone below said "What are the pros" should be correct, and maybe it's synonymous, but this sentence and the section it's in are obviously trying to teach the word "lati," not just general communication. What frustrates me is when there is more than one literal translation and DL only accepts one (e.g. only accepting sir and not mister for signore), or flip flops on which one it accepts (e.g. veggies and vegetables for verdura). But then I remember that DL is free AND the best out there, so I shut up and continue my lesson :)
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The sentence is in the "directions" section. I LATI is plural of IL LATO. The usage is "side/sides". Thus, 'what are the positive sides'. 04Aug15
I wonder if "pros" would be accepted. That's much more common in English, from my experience, than positives aspects or positives, etc.
"What are the advantages?" does not seem to work, and all the suggestions are really awkward.
Same comment as above. It's a good translation, just not literal enough for duo (yet).
Why is "what are the positives" wrong? The objective of Duolingo shouldn't be to translate sentences literally but in the way that sounds most like a native speaker. I'd never say "what are the positive facts/aspects" etc in English. You should at least expand the list of acceptable answers for this exercise.
Duo is not a translation program. It is trying to teach you Italian words and grammar. In this case it is trying to teach the meanings of "il lato." A translation that leaves out the word you are expected to learn is pointless.
Sometimes the answers need to be exact and other times not so...isn't this supposed to be “which are the positive sides"?
Duolingo accepts that literal translation, though it seems not to make sense, doesn't it?
I agree that "Positive aspects" would be the most sensible answer. However, my answer of "Plus points" means the same in English but was marked wrong. The answer given is "Plus parts" and I don't agree this is good English.
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"Quali" is the subject and "i lati positivi" follow the verb as the complement, so it needs to be "What are the positive aspects?"
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"Qual/Quale/Quali" is defined by the dictionary as "which", but in translating into English it's often used when we would use "what". "Qual è il tuo nome?" (What is your name?) "Qual è il tuo numero di telefono?" (What is your phone number?) "Quale" is used to ask "what" among the various choices is the answer. "Che/Cosa/Che cosa" is used to define something. "Che cos'è?" (What is it?)
Why not "What are the positive sides?" "Side" was one of the choices, yet it was marked wrong.
i think it should be aspetti, we are supposed to be learning directions here.
sometimes if your answer does not agree with the answer given by DL you have to ascertain for yourself if you have understood the meaning of the sentence, rather than argue the point. Makes life a lot easier.
The audio is not working here. Has anyone else had a problem with this? I've reported it.
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I rarely say this when seeking directions unless arriving by mistake and hopelessly lost in the roughest part of town many miles away from our hotel. Perhaps it could be placed in another section.
"Positive points " is very natural; English but DL deems it wrong. Reported 15.11.14
Except for some disagreement over synonyms -- accepted or not -- the sentence makes sense in that we always talk about things having both positive aspects and negative aspects -- or pros and cons, positives and negatives, etc. I don't understand your saying it makes no sense at all.
