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- "La donna mangia lo zucchero."
155 Comments
No I'm just learning bits of them at a time. I think a strong basis in many languages means if I want to learn one later in life it will be easier.
232
Yeah to be fair I learnt little bits of lots on Duolingo - Dutch helps with German and viceversa, Spanish (my native tongue) helps with Italian, Portugese and French, and Esperanto was helpful to get me used to grammar and structures found in different languages. The only downsides are that you never fully learn one language but you can kind of get the point across when aboard, and that you constantly end up mixing languages - going to Germany for the first time and speaking with a Dutch accent kept everyone guessing what was wrong with me
Do you have to say "lo zucchero"? Can you say "La donna mangia zucchero" instead?
Literal translation from Italian la donna mangia lo zucchero is the woman eats the sugar which is not a really developed tense (which specific sugar is she eating is missing). Better would be without the/lo. If both versions are still not accepted, simply report it using the flag. DL contributors will certainly update this exercise someday.
In italian as well: it is not about natural or artificial language here, it is all about understanding structure and grammar of a new language by translating word by word. This is the reason why DL insists in literal translations.
i thought "sugar" here had already mentioned before, and using "lo" is more acceptable than if we don't use it
think of a situation, a woman with jar of sugar. the jar has been there since beginning and the woman just EAT IT. i think this sentence refers to that kind of situation
Is the word "mangia" an exception to the rule? I thought when you were saying a verb with a singular noun... it ended in "e"? For example La donna beve? Am I wrong?
- 106
There are three different endings for verbs: "are"(e.g. mangiare); "ere"(bere); "ire"(finire). You will soon see that conjugating Italian verbs (except for a few irregular ones) is a walk in the park compared to nearly every other language....the endings are pretty much identical, AND they tell you which person it is (e.g. "noi mangiamo=we eat"...."IAMO" always is 1st person plural, so Italian frequently drops the pronoun)
mangiare (to eat) is in a different family of verbs than bere (to drink) and leggere (to read) that we've seen previously, so the conjugation is different.
i dont get why someone would want only sugare they must have it with something else!
It could be an Italian eating habit – I used to wolf down sugar cubes when I was a teenager if the cafe owner wasn't looking. It seemed kinda cool at the time. Is this sort of thing common in Italy?
I figure its like in english when we dont eat anything with sugar in it. You could also say she eats (food with) sugar in it.
I am really confused, difference between gli and il and lo and i and le and la ?!!
- 106
They are all just the Italian article "the", but in Italian (as in most languages except English),the article must agree with the noun. Here goes: masuline, singular = il. (This becomes "lo" if the masc. sing. noun begins with a "z" or "s-impure". For example "lo ZOO", "lo SBAGLIO" etc.) Feminine singular = la. Masculine plural = i (il cane: the dog; i cani: the dogs). Feminine plural = le (la gonna: the skirt; le gonne: the skirts). "Gli" is the plural of "lo". Whenever a noun begins with a vowel (uomo), the article is contracted, so it becomes "l'uomo". Therefore "l'uomo" will be "gli uomini" (the man --->the men). Hope this helps.
So if "gli" is the plural of "lo", and "lo" comes before "zoo", is it "gli zoo"? for more than one zoo?
Why ‘gli uomini’? This suggests if not contracted it would be ‘lo’ ‘uomo’, but ‘uomo’ starts with neither a Z or an S.
- 326
Gli is also used for masculine plurals that start with a vowel. So l'uomo becomes gli uomini.
"Lo" is the masculine article instead of "il" when the next word starts with "Z" or "S + consonant" (lo zucchero - the sugar - instead of "il zucchero")
Shouldn't it be "The woman eats THE sugar" since there's a "lo" before "zucchero"? And is it correct if I just said "La donna mangia zucchero"?
I did the same, based on a comment on a previous exercise, however, I believe that, strictly "La donna mangia lo zucchero" translates as "The woman eats sugar" and "La donna mangia zucchero" translates as "The woman eats the sugar". In other words English and Italian make opposite use of the definite article.
- 996
That is incorrect.
Italian and English use the definite article in the same way.
The only difference is that in Italian you can use the definite article even with the partitive (a part of the whole).
Depending on the context, 'the woman eats sugar' can be translated as both la donna mangia zucchero and la donna mangia lo zucchero.
But 'the woman eats the sugar' can only be translated as la donna mangia lo zucchero.
The direct translation to English can also be "The woman eats the sugar";however, a previous question asked for the translation of "La donna mangia zucchero" and "The woman eats the sugar" was incorrect. Is the article not necessary in some cases?
Why is it not "the woman eats the sugar?" And is it lo in stead of il because this is an accusative sentence?
I go by sound recognition it works for me.. For instance lo zucchero il zucchero. Right away I hear lo zucchero as correct
No. In Italian, it's much simpler; I mean why does English language make one vowel sound in many ways? Try googling "ghoti"
because when the masculine noun starts with a vowel, l' is used instead of il.
- 555
Lady is signora. Like every person you meet won't be a gentleman or lady, depending on how you see them.
Hey fr big S/O to all you guys who post the technicals about the language in the comment section. I always screenshot it for later. You guys are the real heroes
So this 'lo' is sometimes the, is, to the... When the sentence changes, the 'lo' s meaning is changing. This is only my observation, is it true?
"lo" can be a definite article: "the", in front of words starting with "z" or "s + consonant". Examples: "lo zaino" = the backpack or "lo squalo" = the shark.
"lo" is also a pronoun, meaning "it" or "him". Examples: "Guardalo" = "Guarda + lo" meaning "Look at him" or "Look at it". "Non lo so" = literally, "I do not know (it)." but typically translated "I don't know".
"lo" never means "is". I don't think it ever means "to the".
Location in the sentence is a big clue as well as context. Definite articles usually go in front of the noun they are describing. Pronouns usually go in front of the verb. Sometimes they can follow the verb (for example, "Guardalo" but then they attach to the verb. It will get clearer as you progress through the lessons. Good luck.
In Italian is just "La donna mangia zucchero" correct? Is "the" not implied, or do you still have to put "lo" there?
In english articles are important, but in italian I didn't get it with these examples. Because sometimes we use nouns without articles. So, are they important in italian?
Can you just say "MANGIA ZUCCHERO" without article "LO" in front of the noun? Or, why is there "LO" in this sentence?
lo means “the”，but in English translation，there is no “the”，so why the sentence has lo ?
"La donna mangia lo zucchero."
The woman eats sugar or The woman eats the sugar ?
- 793
The translation forgot to translate the word "...lo..." . it has to be "...the"sugar.
Friendly Kleanthes
- 567
"The woman eats the sugar." Literal translation should be accepted. This is not about good form. Same is accepted in Japanese and other languages.
I can't understabd the differace between il and lo .. i mean both mean The ?!
- 555
? Woman is one person. Women is more than one.
If you meant in Italian, donna is woman and donne is women.
Im really confused.how should i use verbs with he,she,they,we,and... can someone help me. ..
Why, if when hovered over, the meaning "that" which it says "lo" may mean, does not work?
Am confused about these sentence La donna mangia lo zucchero an it translated The womem eats suger an what about the io in the sentence because it represent I in Italian language
I is io, this is lo (letter L rather than letter I). It is one of the words meaning 'the'.
Lo zucchero should be: the sugar. So the answer should be: the woman eats the sugar. Am i wrong ?
Yes, I still new but I think the correct translation is the sugar, am i correct?
It doesn't matter if its sugar or / the sugar it's not fair to say it's wrong
- 793
It is also not fair for the student to question the foreign language teacher because then there is NO school. You may have questions or doubts, but these can not be expressed as a Minister's statement!
Friendly Kleanthes
Why does it have io then. U should take it out of there it has no point to be there
- 996
There is no io in this sentence.
There is a lo which is Italian for 'the' in front of nouns starting with "z".
Why some verbs end with e (lui beve, lei scrive) while others do it with a (lui ha, lei mangia) ?
I think it's great that Duolingo does speaking as well because when or if you go to Italy, you have to speak the language not just write it.
- 996
Ha ha ha.
For the records, most Italians say this word in an incorrect way: /ˈdzukkero/ instead of the correct /ˈtsukkero/.
But wot I am confused doesn't "lo" mean" it"? THERE WASN'T ANY "IT" IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION XIJSJDJAJKAD
- 996
When in front of a verb, lo is a direct object and means 'him or it'.
Same for la, li, and le.
Ex.:
io lo vedo -> 'I see him'
io la vedo -> 'I see her'
io li vedo -> 'I see them (male objects)'
io le vedo -> 'I see them (female objects)'
Why is there an emphasis in the "lo" with translation if "the" is not in the answer? I know it is not exactly necessary but if the emphasis is there...
