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- "Allora chi?"
54 Comments
Allora is v.v.common to preface a sentence, like our anyway, so, well, mmm, etc. I must try them next time. Italian equivalents include be', bene, dunque, ...
'Then' can mean a particular time in the past or in the future. Translate with 'allora' for the past and 'poi' or 'dopo' for the future.
I believe the more proper English is "Then whom" which is seen as incorrect by the app.
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"Whom" is a legitimate word; however, in my experience the use of whom has been largly abandonded by younger generations. Even in college writting classes taken decades ago, it was suggested to avoid the use of the word "whom." The average person will spend more time wondering if you said it correctly and be distracted from what it is that you are trying to communicate.
We're not all young, and if we are being gramamtically correct, then whom should be accepted. It is perfectly correct English!
So is who.
"Then" isn't a preposition, though, so your failed intuition for "whom" shows why the word "who" is better here.
Not just younger generations: even in the King James Bible, the word "whom" is occasionally used where it shouldn't have been. That shows that even back then, it was only used by pillocks trying to sound posh.
No - even though "whom" has not been used much for many years, it would still have been incorrect in this case if we still used it these days. You would use it as the object of a sentence (with whom, to whom), but not as the subject like in the sentence "Who is it?" That is effectively what you are saying with "Then who?"
Doubly incorrect.
"Then" is not a preposition or anything that would call for "whom", and any linguist would argue that "who" is objectively more proper than "whom" in any case.
I am still trying to figure out how to use this type of question correctly. Could someone please reply with a situation (or two) in which one might reply "Allora chi?" Thank you!
We hear someone at the door, and I say to my husband "it's not the mailman" "Non e' il postino" and my husband responds, "Allora chi?" " Then who (is it?)"
There's a famous saying: "if not me, then who? If not now, when?". Great questions to ask when something needs doing or delegating. Who can translate it for me?
Se non io, allora chi? Se non adesso, allora quando?
(But it sounds to me you can omit the both allora words here. They might make you sound a bit nervous and impatient)
From my time in Italy, "Allora" sounded like a general interjection meaning "okay, then" or "well, then." Can anyone give me a better idea of what it is used for?
I assume 'allora' is the French 'alors' whereas 'poi' is more like 'puis' or 'ensuite'. 'Then' is just too broad in English.
Allora means So, Then. E allora? Then what? It's also an expression. "In that case, let's go" "Allora, andiamo." or "Then let's go" Look in www.treccani.it under vocabolo.
I had an Italian teacher who tended to start every new part of a lesson, say after a discussion on a particular point, with allora. Toward the end of one lesson someone called out "fifty" and she asked what he meant. Somewhat shamefacedly he admitted he had been counting the number of times she had used "allora" during the course of the lesson. She took this in good part and even told the joke against herself to other students. I am not sure if it would be called a pleonasm but it appears to be very common usage
It's sometimes used in the context of 'Umm," before a sentence. You could also say it means 'well,'
Well, who? ought to be accepted. Sometimes you'll hear, "well then..." but 'well' alone in a context like this, is equivalent to 'then'.
The use of "allora" in Italy might be different depending on region/dialect. In Florence (Firenze) I hear it used as a filler word meaning "so" or similar.... example: "Allora, andiamo adesso".
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That certainly makes sense as I have heard it used is restaurants when particularly good dishes are served and tureens lifted to showcase the food. Certainly a long way from the English word 'Then'.
Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar ? Chi ha rubato i biscotti dal barattolo dei biscotti ? Was it you ? Era esso si ? Couldn't be non poteva essere Then who ? Allora chi ? Is this right ?
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I was wondering about allora as "well, (pause) then"...., is this not the case, as my experience with Italian speakers seemed to imprint this in my understand of "allora".
This reminds me of an old song... 'Then who? Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?' :)
It's a follow-up: "If not me, ..."; "So it wasn't her, ..."; "So you didn't do it, ..." etc. There are any number of scenarios where someone would say this, assuming a more complete context.
You're on your own on that one! :-) Anything I'd come up with I'm afraid would just sound cheesy.
why wouldn't it take, "well then who?" that is a perfectly reasonable translation. p1: "ma noi non vorremmo andare" p2: ..."allora chi"
Chi ha rubato il biscotto dal barattolo di biscotti? Non io! Allora chi?
