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- "Il bambino non vedeva l'ora …
"Il bambino non vedeva l'ora di andare a casa."
Translation:The baby could not wait to go home.
45 Comments
It's an expression that means I can't wait to or I look forward to: http://www.wordreference.com/iten/vedere
To add a bit more context... In English, the expression "looking forward to" is used frequently and casually. My Italian friend told me that "non vedere l'ora di" is stronger, and more meaningful. You wouldn't use it unless there's a good reason. Probably "can't wait" is a bit closer in urgency.
Yeah, "non veder l'ora di <sth>" kind of suggests (at least in the Spanish version) that you're uncomfortable/suffering in some way because you have to wait until something happens.
Thanks, you just taught me a Spanish phrase I'd never heard even after being in a Spanish speaking country nearly 3 years. :)
No veo la hora de probarla con mis colegas del trabajo.
You're welcome :) Of course, in your case "can't wait" is a better translation :D A rather flexible expression :)
Sorry, let me rephrase that: the idea is that you are expectant: you can't wait for that time to come. The reason doesn't have to be negative, as I suggested.
People do seem to say it a lot. I wonder what you would say for the not quite so excited urgency, as in I look forward to, rather than I can't wait. Secondo me most people I come across talk in superlatives most of the time
>>most people I come across talk in superlatives most of the time
You mean Italians confusedbeetle?
I do indeed, Maybe I meet some very enthusiastic Italians, every thing is ".bellissima, ottimo " most of my English friends are much more muted. "It's quite nice" The contrast can be funny. I asked my Italian teacher was there a less excited phrase and she said no. She gets very excited too
ah, yes. I have noticed the same - and I spend a fair bit of time in Italy. To tell the truth it gets to me a bit (but maybe I'm getting old and grumpy) - I feel like slapping some of them with a wet fish and telling them to use a more precise nuanced word than bellissima which really expresses genuine feeling. Worst instance was once when a horse (clearly too delicate for the loaded cart it had been pulling all day in the heat of a local festa) collapsed in the shafts of the cart it was still attached to. I thought it was dead. Then the poor beast managed to struggle back up but still looked as if it was dying. From several of the crowd came cries of "bellissima" at its spirit. I rather thought someone should have been prosecuted. Sorry, mini rant over - feel like one of those schoolteachers which told us infants not to over-use the word "nice" :(
1296
I find it very confusing as I am often corrected differently to the translation on the discussion page. My corrected version was 'The baby could not see the time to go home' whereas here it says 'The baby could not wait to go home'. Totally different meanings. Any thoughts on this gratefully received.
- 1674
It's italian idiomatic expression. Literal "do not see the time" = Meaning "can't wait to". You just have to learn them.
non vedere l'ora di ... - to look forward to
non vediamo l'ora di vederti - we look forward to seeing you
non vediamo l'ora di incontrarti - we looking forward to meeting you
The idiomatic expression "Non vedo l'ora" means " I can't wait/am looking forward to " See the other comments in this thread
yes it does cause some confusion, on the other hand maybe it is a good thing to throw one in from time to time so we can absorb them gradually
After coming back to this lesson many months later, I was going to make the same comment I made earlier!
Idioms like this really could use an introduction first. I really don't understand why they don't consider that.
Mixing in "expressions" and slang is not the best way to teach someone a new language.
This expression is so ubiquitous in Italy that I think it is a very good way to learn it, just toss it in to the mix, that way we remember it. I fir one would never remember a whole list of common sayings. Drip them in, especially if a direct translation makes no sense. Every Italian I have met uses this phrase
Thank You for the reply. I wrote that remark out of frustration. I hope I didn't offend anyone.
In the house would be "nella casa" but "a casa" means to the house, for instance after returning from a trip.
I wrote was looking forward to going home and it was marked as incorrect with a perfectly horrible English translation. I learned was looking forward to in my Italian lessons. Couldn't wait is also ok, but not this terrible translation which is completely wrong.
- 1962
You pardon if I say a thing: somebody finds strange that in the translate Duolingo suggests "cannot wait" at the present instead of the past "couldn't wait/could not wait"? (My English is bad because I am Italian motherlanguage. Sorry)
Hi Stefano, I am not quite sure what you are saying. Are you saying that Duo has suggested the present tense somewhere instead​ of the imperfetto?
Could this also mean "time to go home"? Like "the baby couldn't wait until it was time to go home"?
O.K they told us that is an idiomatic expression but we still can use another explanation like "the boy didn't see the hour to go home".
(American English speaker) But apparently it would never mean that in Italian.
Exactly. And this phrase is used so often it needs learning. If we had a whole separate section on idiomatic expressions, I for one would remember none of them. Same with vocab lists, in one ear out the other. This way wakes the brain up a bit and if it annoys us, we are more likely to commit to memory, a bit like really annoying TV ads!
That's how we learn them though, given that duolingo doesn't actually have a separate teaching mode.
I quite like it, this phrase is used all the time so is a really good one to get in the head
I feel your pain, but I suppose we have to be exposed to new idiomatic expressions at some point. As Ricky points out, there is no teaching mode here. We just have to struggle with unknown or new words phrases. From reading the other comments, this is a good one to know.
I used to think I knew quite a lot of this stuff. I've since learned that I know less each day. Soon I will know nothing.
