26 Comments
This sentence doesn't sound natural in english. "It's a real zoo here" sounds more right. Not sure if I should report it or not.
Thank you. I translated it in my head, because I had the audio exercise, not the translation exercise. I thought "here is really a zoo"--what does that mean? But your comment, "it's a real zoo (in) here," allowed me to understand what they were trying to communicate. I do think the English translation they give is confusing and weird. I'm a native American-English speaker with a degree including quite a lot of communication studies, and their translation only confused me.
A lot of people get wrapped up and mad sometimes at the funky sentences in DL. I try not to, when I realize what a fun, free and great thing it really is. However, this is the first time I think DL has created a mess. This should honestly be removed from all lessons. No one speaks that way.
here really is a zoo. not accepted. the correct ones sound weird to me. what does this sentence mean?
I agree with you. In a thousand years I would not have guessed DLs 'correct' translation
This sentence made no sense to me until I thought about it in idiomatic terms. Zoo can sometimes be used to describe a messy or chaotic environment and I think I'm that context it fits better. Does this use of zoo cross over to Italian?
I do not know if they use "zoo" to describe a mess, but "casino" is used for the actual casino as well as for chaos, but pronounced in different ways.
Maybe "here REALLY is a zoo" to stress there really is a 'physical' zoo around the corner when you're walking with someone who's not familiar with the neighbourhood you're in.
Yes you have a point. Maybe it should accept your better translation as well as the more literal but less natural. I don't think the English one is wrong as such, but yours is more expressive and natural.
1730
I think that translation should have a different word order in the Italian original. Like the English distinction "a real zoo" versus "really a zoo". My preferred variant would be "there is really a zoo here" but that would need a c'é in the Italian original...
The answer given to me was: "This it is really a zoo". Sorry, i think it should be: " This is really a zoo.". Am i wrong??
- 26
I don't understand the english or italian translation. Can some one please break it down for me?
- 1105
Espygur, the statement "Here it is really a zoo" is a little odd sounding to my American English ear, but I could understand what the speaker meant if I knew what place "here" referred to. Example: Someone says to you, "You think you've got problems? You should see where I live. It's a zoo." Your friend takes you to where he lives, and right there, in cages all around his house, are wild animals. Now you get it--"Here it is really a zoo! You weren't exaggerating." But this example seems a little farfetched. If instead you went to the Black Friday sales (the day after Thanksgiving Day when hoards of crazy people stampede retail stores for smoking hot deals), you might stand back and observe, "Here it really is a zoo"--metaphorically. Personally, I would more likely say, "This place is a (three ring) circus." Maybe Italians prefer to say zoo instead of circus?
- 1124
Since I thought "Here it is really a zoo" sounded awkward I tried "Here it really is a zoo", which was not accepted. Can anybody explain why?
- 1105
Fredrick, I think the word order "... it really is..." vs. "...it is really..." implies a difference in emphasis. "It really is suggests" doubt came before, but the fact is now confirmed, while "It really is" suggests not that the fact was doubted, but that it may have been understated. Just between you and me, the English sentence sounds odd--a little contrived.
- 154
The answer I was given as correct ' here it is really one zoo' baffles me further. I really don't think this will be on my 'must have' list of phrases
This translation is not anything an English speaker would say. It would be more like "this s a real zoo".
Absolute nonsense as an English sentence . Here it is really a zoo - what, as opposed to a hotel, or a shop?
You might say " This is really a zoo" if you came across somewhere that said it was something else but there were loads of animals around and to all intents and purposes it looked like a zoo. I think the meaning must be "Here really is a zoo!!" meaning it's a really impressive zoo, or, "this really is a zoo".
I thought Duo was talking about the DL community. An owl has some insight.
