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- Topic: Italian >
- "Io mangio la bistecca."
25 Comments
When I clicked on 'bistecca' to see the translation, all I got back was 'bistecca'.. Anyone else have this problem?
Manzo (beef) is a type of meat, bistecca (steak) is a cut of meat. For example, you can have a bistecca di maiale ... and that has nothing to do with manzo :)
I won't take "beef steak" as an acceptable answer, yet English-Italian dictionaries quote it as the correct translation for bistecca.
You get marked wrong here for being more accurate with the answer. That's Duolingo, and it's a common thing on many courses. Simply not enough fair and reasonable tolerance in the English answers in any course.
998
A bistecca is a 'steak' (any kind: beef, pork) whereas 'beef steak' is a bistecca di manzo.
Your translation is incorrect and Duolingo is right around in not accepting it.
Might it also be: I am eating the steak. When is it necessary to use an article with an item to indicate the entire universe of such things, as opposed to the meat before me now? i.e., why is it not I am eating the steak, as opposed to I (engage in such activity) eat steak....?
"I eat" and "I am eating" are two present tenses. They have slightly different meanings in English. In Italian, and in other Romance languages, there is only one present tense. "Mangio" covers the meaning of "I eat" and "I am eating".
- 998
Think of this situation: one pie and one steak are on the table. Your friend eats the pie, what do you eat? "I eat the steak", "Mangio la bistecca"
Fun fact: the etymology of bistecca is beef steak. However, the word can apply to any type of steak, e.g. bistecca di cavallo.
- 998
Because 'beefsteak' is a steak from beef, whereas bistecca is a steak from any kind of meat (bistecca di manzo/maiale/agnello)
