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- Topic: Italian >
- "They are fish."
"They are fish."
Translation:Sono pesci.
67 Comments
It would be better as "Essi sono pesci." But Italian frequently drops the subject pronoun, so just "Sono pesci" is the most common way to say it.
Yes, why not loro sono pesci? It's not pesce,but pesci. Plural,you know
To quote:
It would be better as "Essi sono pesci." But Italian frequently drops the subject pronoun, so just "Sono pesci" is the most common way to say it.
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/632883?comment_id=35012340
In Italian, "essi" is generally used instead of "loro" when talking about non-humans or objects.
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/632883?comment_id=40734198
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/632883?comment_id=41637144
Thanks for the explanation of the differentiation between 'loro' and 'essi/e'. I think I read somewhere that 'loro' originally stood for 'your lordships', which could hardly be non-human.
In Italian, "essi" is generally used instead of "loro" when talking about non-humans or objects.
230
In these kind of phrases, like the famous "I'm an apple" in Dutch course, I see it like they're talking about a play were people act like stuff. Animals, food, whatever. If this what the case and there is a group of people acting like fish, would it be "loro sono pesci" or would you use another word?
Thanks in advance.
If that were the case, then yes, since you're talking about people "loro" would be the appropriate pronoun. But the subject pronoun is generally optional in Italian, so regardless whether you're referring to actual fish or people dressed up as fish, you can never go wrong with just "Sono pesci".
And before you ask, this sentence here is referring to actual fish.
- 230
Yes, yes, of course it's referring to actual fish. I was just curious if it would be "loro" or another word in this specific context. And yes, it's like in Spanish and you don't need to say "loro", "ellos/ellas" in Spanish.
Thanks for your reply!
You're welcome! There was someone else who was trying to justify "loro should be accepted" by saying "What if it's people in fish costumes" and of course the course contributors don't do those hypothetical word games.
it is called l'articolo partitivo (del, dello, della, dei, degli, delle). it is used when we don't know the amount. could be translated as 'some': 'prendi delle mele' - take some apples. 'compra del pane'; 'ho dei libri interessanti'
- 255
Essi is rarely used for anything, loro sono pesci should be accepted even if not preferred
According to f.formica, course contributor and native Italian speaker:
I wouldn’t accept “loro sono pesci” because it feels too unnatural to hear: it might work with something like “loro sono i miei pesci” - if someone was showing off their aquarium.
Therefore the best translation is simply "Sono pesci".
it is not properly wrong, but it is not used. In italian you don't have to put the subjects always. Ex: we are here = (noi) Siamo qui.
io sono = I am
tu sei = you are (s)
lui/lei è = he/she is
noi siamo = we are
voi siete = you are (pl)
loro sono = they are
It seems from the discussions above that there used to be a word for 'they' called either 'esse' or 'essi' for female / male type words that do not refer to humans, which have since fallen away.
Now they just drop the word 'loro' if it is not referring to an object or animals.
- 304
Why we use pesci but the translate id fish? So what's the differences between peaci and pesce?
un pesce
due pesci
Please see the other comments on this page for more details.
I thought they was Loro. Why doesn't this one have a tip to show us why it is Sono instead of Loro?
I agree - they should explain it in the tips. We have learned "Loro" is they and "sono" is are.
It's not "instead of". The subject pronoun is optional in Italian, and "loro" is for people. "Essi sono pesci" is better, but simply "Sono pesci" is just fine. That way, you don't have to worry about using the wrong pronoun.
It's true that "not preferred" and "incorrect" are not synonyms, but there is overlap. At least one of the volunteer course contributors is a native Italian speaker, and he has confirmed that "loro" is only for people. If anything, it would be "Essi sono pesci", but it is far more common to leave the subject pronoun out entirely, and that is what this lesson is teaching.
The previous question was exactly the same (Plurals) and when I answered Sono Pesce it was marked correct while the same answer was marked wrong here.
Pesce is singular, pesci is plural. It's possible the correction algorithm hiccupped.
This was a nice lesson in why you wouldn't use loro, but must I lose a heart here?
While this was a useful lesson on the use of loro, I don't think I should be penalized a heart like this.
You're asking too much of the correction algorithm. You inserted a word that's not in the answer.
Loro sono pesci. You say that Italian frequently drops the subject pronoun. Does that make it incorrect to use it?
"loro" is only for humans. If you want to include the subject pronoun here, it needs to be "Essi sono pesci".
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Like others, I think "loro sono pesci" should have been acceptable. I understand that Italian often drops the direct object. But Duolingo is not consistent with when they do it and when they don't.
Were you also able to read the other replies that explain how "loro" is not the right pronoun here?
- 36
Thanks for reaching out to me Rae.F. I didn't know that "loro" was used mostly (only) for humans. Did you ever see the movie, "A fish called Wanda"? If Wanda had a brother, I wonder if we could say, "Loro sono pesci."
I actually had a similar thought. If, in a fairy tale, a prince and a princess were turned into fish by an evil wizard, would you say "loro" or "essi"?
