"Che cos'è popolare?"
Translation:What is popular?
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From "A Reference Grammar of Modern Italian" (Maiden and Robusttelli, 2000, p. 143) "che" and "cosa" and "che cosa" all three mean "what" in English. You see "cosa" more in the north and "che" more in the south, but there's little difference between them.
So you can think of "che cosa" as a single word that means "what" and think of "che" or "cosa" as abbreviations of that. (Che actually has a few restrictions when used alone, but let's not go there.)
Wow, this is a very, very excellent thing to have stumbled upon. Thanks!
I still like to think of it (correctly or otherwise) as literally "what thing," and shortenings of that.
Grazie mille, mio amico.
This has been bothering me for a while. Thank you again!
Grazie! Grazie! Grazie! Can you teach me italian? Do you reccomend that book?
I think it literally means "what thing is popular'. Please correct me anyone if I'm wrong.
But in Spanish "cosa" means "thing" in Italian both words "che cosa" means "what".
That's because it's incorrect in English. (It's not grammatically or syntactically incorrect, it's just never, ever said.)
unless someone says "this such-and-such thing is popular" and someone else can't hear it very well and says "what thing is popular?" just for clarification.
I have heard this sentence said in real life. It's slightly awkward, but I wouldn't call it "incorrect".
That is exactly what I wrote as the translation but was marked wrong 10-28-2019
Okay, if this isn't how you say "What thing is popular", how on earth would you say that?
According to google translate (not the best source to use) "cosa" as a noun means "thing". However, I think "what thing" is apart of "che cosa" and "che cos'è". Thing is omitted because it's already assumed that you're asking about a something. So in essence "che cos'è populare" should really be "what (known or unknown 'thing') is popular"
Of course I could be wrong because my command of the Italian language is between novice and intermediate at best, yet It does make sense though.
How come "(che) cos' e poplare" translates to "what is popular", but on the previous question of translating "what is popular now", I got marked off for "Cos' e (populare ora)" and it told me to use "cosa e"?
Most of the discussions here are about the same "cosa" haha! So how would someone ask, "what thing is popular?" --> "Che cosa cos'e populare?"NOPE! In spanish "Que cosa es popular?" would literally translate to "what thing is popular?" and if you wanted to say "what is popular you would ask, "Que es popular o quizas qual es mas popular de todo, todo depende en que lo que quieres comunicar." Literal translation versus intended translation, I don't think it's wrong to translate things literally. Cause the goal here is not to learn english, but to learn italian, and it helps to learn it literally with the knowledge that you wouldn't use it necessarily in that form in english.
In this context, how can you tell if the subject is singular or plural?
1751
popolare applies to singular nouns
è is singular as well
A plural form would be - che cose sono popolari?
Popular: adjective Adapted to or indicative of the understanding and taste of the majority
Or
Popolare: aggetivo Adattato o indicativo della comprensione e del gusto della maggioranza
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Reminds me of King George III and, true or not, his "What what" expressions. "We mustn't accept a visitor what what."
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Where did I go wrong in my answer «ché cosa è popolare?» BECAUSE in the previous question the answer was «cosa è popolare» ? Is it that when ''che'' and ''cosa'' are together and followed by ''è'' there's a change in meaning or function?