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- Topic: Italian >
- "I eat chocolate ice cream."
"I eat chocolate ice cream."
Translation:Mangio il gelato al cioccolato.
30 Comments
OK, the definite article is to be repeated before each noun - hence, il gelato
Why is it wrong to say "mangio il gelato di cioccolato"? I thought both Di and Al means "for" in english
There must be a rule requiring use of the definite article in Italian at times when the noun is used for (some/generic) ice cream [in above example], as opposed to the (specific) ice cream. I've been trying to discover a pattern/rule, but haven't been able to do so.
That's exactly it. When you are talking about the generic idea, you use an article. That tells people you are talking about the general idea of something. "Mangio il gelato" just means "I eat ice cream". Similar concepts are used when saying "I like sports" [Mi piace lo sport] or "I like cats" [mi piace il gatto].
Because it is not literal translation of English. Nouns in Italian require an article before, therefore, you should put the article (il) before the noun (gelato). Chocolate ice cream translates as gelato al cioccolato because it is ice cream with chocolate in it, it is not made of chocolate (not in the sense of it being its base). A substitute in English could be chocolate flavoured ice cream.
Ummm I'm still unclear about definite article use in this context. How would one differentiate between eating ice cream generally, "I eat ice cream" which, if I understand correctly should be "Mangio il gelato" and eating a specific ice cream, "I am eating the ice cream" also "Mangio il gelato"?
I understand that "il" is the definite article and they must be repeated before each noun, but I am still very confused about "al" and it's purpose.
I think al is used as of. So a literal translation of gelato al cioccolato would be ice cream of chocolate. Spanish is similiar.
Yes, it's mainly used with food: "Spaghetti al ragù", "Pasta all'arrabbiata". I guess it's just something that one needs to learn by heart.
al = a + il
so, you just need to determine when you need to use 'a' or whatever proposition you think is appropriate, and then add it together woth the appropriate article for your noun. Here are two helpful links:
So i cant put de cioccolato? Am i just mixing up spanish with it? Or ia al cioccolato the only proper way of saying it?
al is correct here . I do not know Spanish, but in Italian, if the noun is actually the base of the thing being made, then you use 'di'
la zuppa di funghi
Whereas, if the noun is just describing a type, (think flavor-added) then you use 'a'
il gelato al ciocolato
here are helpful details:
Because cream and ice cream are two different things. Although you probably could put chocolate ice cream in your coffee if you wanted to. Might be good.
Why does it make me get I wrong if I only got one letter off? Couldn't it be" almost correct"?
Yeah, sometimes duo can be a bit too critical. Have a lingot, and keep on practicing ;-)
Ok I say: "Io mangio cioccolato gelato" - and it says I am wrong! It is so frustrating having to remember to say "il" when it doesn't say "the" in the english translation :/
Well, "io mangio cioccolato gelato" actually means: "I eat frozen chocolate". It is not a problem with "il" :-)
The 'al' is in the wrong place. It should be after 'cioccolato'. 'Mangiare' is a transitive verbs, which means that it cannot be followed by prepositions such as 'a' or 'di'. 'al' is the contraction of 'a' + 'il' so it doesn't belong after 'mangio'.
