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- Topic: Italian >
- "Ho un po' di fame."
88 Comments
It's difficult to decide how literally to translate these sentences. To make good English from the Italian text you can end up with an 'incorrect' answer
You were marked wrong simply because it's incorrect. Have you ever said in English "I have a little bit of hunger"? You have to translate the sentence into something that makes sense, you're not a robot to translate every single word automatically and literally lmao
352
"I am a bit hungry" was counted incorrect, but the English words "a little" and "a bit" have the same meanings. That is not a robot speaking English; it's an informal way of saying "a little". Both are acceptable in English and the lesson is asking us to translate to English, in this instance, not the other way around. You do see my point?
I think as I go along into the program that there are a lot of coding errors. I will not complain as it IS free, but I agree that it is frustrating. You should know that the software is speaking British English as that is more acceptable in the EU! Try thinking in Italian rather than translating. I believe that is where I am going wrong.
Exactly. That's why you really must think in the target language rather than translating from the other.
- 1052
So true, especially with Italian. The thinking is different. With Italian, it's "I have hunger", and not "I am hungry." You have to re-think, and get out of your own English mindset.
Agree. The closest translation in english would be 'I have a bit of an appetite', but that would never be accepted as 'appetite' strictly translates as 'appetito'. The deficiencies of Duo!
Actually, the closest translation would be "I am a little hungry", because that's simply how one would say it. You don't have to look for the literal meanings; most of the time they are wrong, at least with languages like spanish or italian.
If typos like "dont" are accepted instead of "don't", then so shall the typos like "po" instead of "po'" should be accepted.
I know the correct form is po'. But it's just a little frustrating to see it count wrong just because i felt lazy to reach the apostrophe.
Assuming you properly know your native language and assuming you know a language you are learning are two different things.
- 197
I tried the apostrophe but they want a special accent mark like the ...e, meaning it is.... They accept the e without accent mark but not .. un po..
I can't get passed that un po. I always have to quit session.
- 998
It's the same apostrophe as in "it's", "can't", "don't".
Also, no spaces between po and '.
- 352
If you are on a phone or tablet, just hold down the letter (o) on the keyboard and your options should come up. Hope this works.
- 998
It is grammatically correct, yet it doesn't sound right. I guess it's because "ho un po' di fame" is an expression.
- 401
No, poco means a 'little' but in a negative sense, Ho un poco di fame would mean 'I have little hunger' meaning not really hungry at all.
- 277
In any language there is a common translation and a literal one, just because duo wants a specific answer which most of the time is pure guess work doesn't make the other wrong. If any of you are lucky enough to go to these countries to try out your linguistic skills you'll find the natives in any country will generally know what you mean, being understood is the most important thing, don't get hung up on perfection, most people will appreciate you trying.
- 998
Because that's not English. Your hunger is never little. You need to refer to it using sentences such as 'I am slightly hungry'.
thats not true.. i would use i have a little hunger. or i am hungry... if its more it instantly becomes i am starving...
It might be correct sentence but no one actually says "I have hunger" instead of "I'm hungry"...
Famished means very hungry. Ho fame means I'm hungry, or literally "I have hunger". (fame=hunger). Famine in English is obviously a lot more extreme than hunger and wouldn't be used in everyday language...
I'd disagree. Have you never heard anyone say "I'm starving". Yes, it is an overstatement; unless you want to argue that 'famished' is somehow worse than 'starving'.
I am starting to notice the similarities between Italien and Dutch. In Dutch you say 'ik heb honger' litterly saying 'i have hunger' like in the sentence here.
- 107
"I have a little hunger" is not an incorrect translation. We don't generally say that in English that way, but it isn't wrong.
- 998
It may not be incorrect in English but it doesn't match the Italian sentence.
If you choose to use such an odd sentence like "I have a little hunger", then you are not saying "I am a little hungry" and the Italian sentence cannot be ho un po' di fame.
Yes, I was constantly being yelled at by my Italian friends that there is no such word in Italian as "de" lol. After much beating of my head, I finally just learned that there is "da" or "di" but no "de". :-) Good luck!
- 998
"de" is not current Italian. It is only used in some sentences ("Il giornalista de La Repubblica"). If you hear it in Italy, then the speaker is probably speaking one of the many local languages (dialects).
@iVixey We don't have po, better we have Po, (without apostrophe), but it's a river, the longest in Italy.
@PinkHill552 I'm hungry a little bit means "sono un po' affamato", but also "ho un po' di fame" and if it's correct in English, but I would think it's better "I'm a little bit hungry", then you can use it. I'm not a native English speaker, so I can't be helpful... Italian yes, English no.
i wonder what will it take to unsub from discussion. it's been ten times already and i am still getting notifications. how on earth do i unsub someone tell me please this is stupid.
- 998
At the very top of this page, tap or click on "Following Discussion". That will unsubscribe you from this thread.
thanks man, unfortunately, i swear to god, it's already unfollowed. and i still get notifications. the button for me actually says "follow discussion". ¯_(ツ)_/¯
- 407
English native speaker: I am a bit hungry (accepted by DL) gets the 'little' idea in. Previous comments... "I am hungry a little" is not an English idiom.
- 339
I wrote, "I have a little hunger." and it was marked wrong. They say the correct answer is, "I am a little hungry." Then why didn't it begin with "Sono" or "Io sono"? "Ho" is "I have", so is my answer incorrect compared with their "I am" translation?
- 998
Because Italian and English have different way of expressing the feeling of being hungry.
Italians say that they have the feeling where's English speakers are feeling that they are hungry.
Translating word by word is not always the best strategy and after this exercise you will also remember the correct way to say it in Italian.
- 998
No.
Io sono fame doesn't mean anything.
I know that it's a difficult matter, but the use of avere instead of essere is not negotiable in these expressions: ho fame, ho sete, ho freddo/caldo.
- 352
I got it incorrect by writing. " I am a "bit" hungry", which in English has the same meaning as a little hungry. Why?? If I were translating to Italian from English, THEN I would understand why I could only use un pó! But in English the meanings are the same? Go figure!
Italian translate shows that you don't need the "di" to mean the exact same thing.
But did you spell everything correctly? We can't help you if we don't know exactly what you wrote. We need to see it with our own eyes.
@Qbz10... no, it doesn't make any sense. Sto is from the verb stare (stay, but there are other verbs), so you say... I stay a bit hungry... maybe in English it means something, but not in Italian.
Con ustedes no se sabe como responder, en ingles yo se aue se dice I'm pero capas me salia malo
hungry is an adjective, but a noun is needed
hunger is the noun ...
So: I have a little hunger is possible, but not the normal or idiomatic way to say this.
In idiomatic English, a person is more likely to be hungry (I am a little hungry) than to have hunger.
(As an adjective, in your sentence, hungry is waiting for a noun after it, for example: I have a little hungry horse.)
I have a little hungry is the literal translation of this sentence. The reason it's not correct is because English and Italian express the concept of feeling hungry differently.
In English we use the verb to be because we think of "hungry" is something you are - ie. I am hungry, he is hungry, we are hungry, etc. In Italian they use the verb avere (to have) because they think of "hungry" as something you have - ie. Ho fame, lui ha fame, abbiamo fame, etc
That's why you can't translate the sentence "Ho un po' di fame" as "I have a little hungry" but you have to translate it as "I am a little hungry".
@David260430 No, no sense... po is wrong without the apostrophe... we have Po (without apostrophe, but it's a river). You have to use the verb "avere" (to have)... io ho un po' fame or better io ho un po' di fame...
- 345
The English translation is beyond strange. I'd never ever use "little hungry". A bit hungry, however, could work on this case..
I am = "io sono", ho un = "I have a". Shouldn't it be "Io sono un po' di fame"??
- 998
You are trying to translate literally from English to Italian. But this is an expression and Italian uses "avere fame" instead of "to be hungry". The same goes for how age is expressed (It: "ho 18 anni", En: "I am 19 y. o.").
There is actually a form that matches the English one. It's "essere affamato" ("sono/sei/è/siamo/siete/sono affamato/a/i/e".
I think it's like "I have hunger". Fame, like in French faim, means hunger. Hungry is feeling hunger, hence I am hungry = " I am feeling hunger"
Nooo! Because that's not how Italians say it. Just accept the idiomatic elements of another language.
