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abbastanza is an adverb?Or an adjective and it takes the type of the noun(feminine or masculine)?
We = subject (pronoun) Have = verb Time = object (noun) Enough = adjective
In common English we usually put the adjective before the noun so we would say "we have enough time" in everyday speech. Also, "I have a red car" and not "I have a car red"
If used in a poetic sense though, you may hear or read something like "we have time enough to spare" but you will not hear it used often and probably never in everyday speech.
930
I quite disagree. Hearing someone, in the US at least, say that there is "time enough" is not at all uncommon. Even sportscasters can be heard to say on occasion that a team has time enough to make one last play. And, no, those same people do not say a "car red" (even though those self-driving cars are getting pretty smart;-).
I would agree. It's not incorrect, but you will rarely see it except in older literature or poetry
- 376
Well, now I am curious! What are dome regions in England (asks the American)?
Because "abbastanza" does not mean "a lot". "Molto" means "a lot". "Abbastanza" means "enough" or "quite."
Abbiamo molto tempo - we have a lot of time.
Abbiamo abbastanza tempo - we have enough time.
La macchina è abbastanza moderna - the car is quite modern.
(Abbastanza is invariant -í.e. it does not change it's ending when used as an adjective.)
There are a few Italian words that get across different levels of quantity
molto - a lot
più - more
poco - a little bit (can be abbreviated to po' )
e.g. Ho solo un po' di tempo - I only have a little bit of time.
meno - less
abbastanza - enough
sufficiente - sufficient
(Think of abbastanza and sufficiente as synonyms in Italian just as enough and sufficient are synonyms in English. Different words with different meanings that are synonyms of each other.)
parecchio - quite a lot
qualsiasi - any, just any
tanto - so much, so many
qualche - some, a few (the word that follows is singular but the meaning is plural)
e.g. Ho qualche giorno - I have a few days
alcuno - some, a few (the word that follows is plural and the meaning is plural)
e.g. Ho alcuni giorni - I have a few days
(Be careful here what you mean. If you mean that you ONLY have a few days, then you must use poco and not alcuno)
e.g. Ho solo pochi giorni - I only have a few days
Coupled with these is often the pronoun "ne" which means "of it" or "of them."
e.g.
Hai abbastanza tempo? - do you have enough time?
Sì, ne ho molto - yes I have a lot of it.
No, ne ho solo un po' - no, I only have a little bit of it.
Sì, ne ho abbastanza - yes, I have enough of it.
There is also a verb in Italian "bastare" that means "enough" in the sense of "something suffices."
e.g.
Questa cosa non basta - This thing is not enough (does not suffice)
Queste cose non bastano - These things are not enough (do not suffice)
Il tempo non basta - The time is not enough (It is not enough time)
If you go to a shop in Italy and buy something, you will often hear the person behind the counter say "Basta?" She is asking if you have everything that you want or if you want anything else.
If you don't know what to say, and you have everything that you want, you can just say "Sì, grazie" or "Yes, thank you."
