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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 :)
But the funny thing is that the I. "bistecca" comes from the I. pronunciation of "beef" (= bi)+ steak (stec) +ca.... (steak comes from G. Stück = piece, slice) and DL says that "bistecca" can not be translated with "beefsteak"!
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".
I am just a beginner in Italian, but I know grammar. This is the Italian gerund or gerundio. This form is much less used in Italian than English. I am eating translates simply to mangio. I am quoting a site, "English native speakers tend to overuse this form." I suggest you don't.
419
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.
Why "beefsteak" (from which the I. "bistecca comes) is wrong? "Steak", "probably from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse steik "roast meat," related to steikja "to roast on a spit", does not specify which kind of meat is roasted, and in I. , basically, a "bistecca" is a steak of beef.
- 419
Because 'beefsteak' is a steak from beef, whereas bistecca is a steak from any kind of meat (bistecca di manzo/maiale/agnello)
:D... e lo strano è che la bistecca è detta così pronunciando all' "italiana" "beef - steak" (bif-ste(i)c), in quanto la fetta di carne (steak) era principalmente di manzo (beef)!
Because "fetta"( = slice), understood, is feminine. A "bistecca" is a slice of roasted (steak) beef (or other kind of meat)
I hear mangia
