128 Comments
Well this is pretty grim. I remember when the lessons were more light-hearted and the only thing that was dead was the ant in the sugar.
But then again, nothing beats 'ero morto' a few lessons earlier. Applicable to zombies perhaps.
Sì. Even more grim than 'Sei Morto.' that I came across a few moments ago. All that needs is an exclamation mark, to sound like a line from a cheap Gangster movie.
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I can only hope that it was a random adjective generator creating the unfortunate sentence.
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If you truly want to learn a new language you need to understand that the world is not always light-hearted sometimes it is grim. You should be able to deal with both in your new language as you are with your native language. If you can't deal with the grim stuff don't pick up a newspaper.
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Thank you, I did not know that. The word seems to have several meanings: pain, suffering, misfortune, calamity, misery, any strong feeling, as well as passion. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CF%80%CE%AC%CE%B8%CE%BF%CF%82
Ah alright, I'm pretty sure it was used to express pain mostly in earlier years, in ancient greek. Even today that meaning remains in some phrases now that I think of it, for example "Πάθη (plural of the word Pathos) του Ιησού (of Jesus)", as in the difficulties that Jesus endured. But because I'm greek myself I know we use it mostly as in "passion" nowadays!
According to the root of the word you're actually not too far off. The Greek word pathos has to do with feelings, and pathetic being used about something that arouses feelings, is definitely fitting for this situation. If you, however use the more modern understanding of the word, as something that is miserably inadequate or contemptable I would say you've missed your target.
I don't know what Duo's obsession with death is about, but this is one very dark sentence!
Duolingo seems to draw a lot of their later sentences from detective novels. Earlier sentences seem to come from children's books. I have now read two Italian gialli (mysteries) and I do think they're a good place to start--especially since Duo gets you ready for them. :-)
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Could you recommend some titles or authors, please, GregHullender? I know people who are learning English tend to read Agatha Christie rather than the more modern murder mysteries (e.g. Ian Rankin) because the vocabulary is more formal. Do you do choose those sort of novels in Italian?
I recommend reading Umberto Eco in Italian if you really want an easy start. Oh, sorry, I meant to say, "If you want to discourage yourself and give up." I should have started small. O, hubris! You have brought me low again!
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You can also practice by reading magazine articles...on my FB page I follow Italian magazines on subjects I enjoy reading about such as music, film, and fashion. My son reads recording engineering articles. The fun part is reading the comments on the articles by regular Italians!
I subscribe to a beautiful magazine called Panoramitalia. They mail them to Ottawa and Montreal, but it may be available online. It is amazing because most articles are in English, French and Italian, reflecting our beautiful city of Montreal. So you don't have to keep looking up words, etc. The columns of the articles are side by side in each of the 3 languages. Some are just in Italian as well. The articles are mostly about Italy and Italian people. The magazine is free around the 2 cities mentioned or it costs $30 Canadian for 3 years. Go to www.panoramitalia.com. But magazines are great because the articles are shorter and reflect real life.
In class we had to read a short giallo that was called Mistero a Roma, but I don't know if it's widely available, it was given to us from a textbook sort of format...
I agree with people here... this is a depressing sentence! Along with the "Sono uomini morti" I got a few questions back.
Actually the phrase "they are dead men" is a very common expression that doesn't mean the men are dead. The expression means that if those people act in a certain way, they will be figuratively dead. For example, if a group of people decide to go to their micro managing or inflexible boss and suggest a different way of doing things or criticize his/her ideas - one would predict out loud :oh boy, they are dead men. Very common, very useful expression.
Actually, life can be a very beautiful thing. I agree, not for everyone and I'm aware there are people who lead difficult lives. And I've lived my share of pain so please don't tell me to "get used to it". It was a comment not to be taken literally.
If you ever manage to forget the world for a moment, then yes, it is indeed beautiful.
Pretty cheery :-( To illustrate the adjective "morto" DL couldn't have written "The 110 year old DEAD grandfather with 50 grandchildren and 30 great grandchildren, having died after consuming a large bowl of gnocchi and a bottle of chianti, with a town-full of friends and family present, lived a long and happy life and will be missed by most if not all of Italy and greater parts of Europe?" Uffa!
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Or if it's a sentence about me: "Police discovered a dead body yesterday but have as of yet been unable to identify the sex of the individual as, according to first hand testimony by an office at the scene of the ordeal, the corpse appears to have been promptly consumed by the owner's 13 kittens." In fact, translating that sentence should be the very first sentence everyone is presented with when they do their very first Duo lesson. Without hints.
Kate...I love your sentence....and it would allow DL to introduce other fun sentences involving cats, which have a huge fan base among foreign language students, especially lovers of italian: Gatti appassionati del mondo: unite!
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Throw in that fact that the body was found in the fridge of a girl with way too many boyfriends during December next to a boot that appears to have been harboring a snake at one point and you got a common narrative in DL .
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We're on Duo. Duo should be it's own little form of insanity. One that involves things dying (plumbers, guys, the husband). Like if something makes you go "WTF did I just read/translate?" it should be called getting Duolingo'd.
Good pt on your last post - earning a lingot! Ciao - I'm going to have a glass of oil now to help me wake up. Oh, and my horse is getting hungry for his morning rice.
Priceless!! After the gnocchi & chianti, he must have had a smile on his face. :-)
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Generally, "bambina" is used until age 12-13, which then becomes "ragazza" unitl marriageable (27- 30) which then becomes "donna" (woman); similar range for men. Of course, "bambina/o" can be used to describe one's sweetheart or child ("La bambina mia si è sposata!" My little girl got married!) or as derisive term for an immature individual ("Lui è nulla ma un gran bambino!" - He's nothing but a big baby).
Because the girl is dead, we would say, the dead girl "was" her daughter as well.
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Unless she just died and the mother found at the crime scene that the girl was killed by her lover in a murder-suicide. At which point the dead girl "is" her daughter. Slightly relevant to today's events BTW (in the U.S.).
'Bambina' has often been translated by Duo as "baby girl", but this time it wouldn't accept it...
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Hey, may you avoid these gloomy sentences please??? Think about the motivation of people... If you do insist, you may establish a separate topic named 'Sad things in our live' for such 'optimistic' clauses..
This is a horrible sentence. People have no heart. I lost my daughter and time after time I get examples such as the one discussed here.
Ludo, I agree. It's probably not so much that the folks at DL have no heart, it's more likely they just weren't thinking. Report it. I'm so sorry for your loss.
I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. You are correct, it is insensitive at best.
cjsedin: I see your point, but the sentence isn't saying, "the girl died" it's using 'morta' as an adjective. The dead girl IS his/her daughter. Present tense.
Read the post above of the man whose daughter died. There are better illustrations of the word.
Too sad for me too. There are many other ways to teach these words than to remind people of losing their daughters.
I'm "happy" to find that all of the discussion here is this morbid sentence. Duo, really.
ma che siete cretini, ma perche fate questi esempi da imparare? non e' per niente gentile (come stiamo studiando sta parola in queste lezioni). Fate altri esempi, imbecili.
Grazie, to all for further reading suggestions , great help as is reading so many questions and answers.
I had the same question! After looking into it a bit, I think that if it was saying "your daughter" instead of "his/her/its daughter", "sua" would be capitalized ("Sua figlia" vs. "sua figlia".)
Not is but was - she is no longer. So either 'the dead girl was her daughter' or 'the dead girl had been her daughter'.
John...Your translations are incorrect on both counts. Of course the daughter's dead or as you say, "no longer", but the verb is present tense, so "The dead girl IS her daughter." Also, it could very well be 'his daughter'. Out of context, it's unclear. In either case, it'd be 'sua figlia'. That doesn't change. Also, it can't be "had been" since that's past perfect and would have read: ...e' stata...
Amazed that Duo did not accept "the dead child is her girl". Figlia = girl too. Perhaps to lighten the morbid tone by adding the usual frustration? Disappointing.
When coming up with coping skills, definitely don't add Duolingo to your list of things to get your mind off mourning the death of your child. Ffs.
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We are learning a language!! Knqqowing how to express the dark side is just as important as knowing how to express the light and flowery side. Anyone who is upset by this sentence should never read a newspaper.
Surely the dead girl was her daughter. It is required to go into the past tense at the moment of death. I was watching some Motorsport recently when a driver was tragically killed during the race. The commentators immediately changed to past tense when referring to him.
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Yes a grim sentence but it makes us sit up and pay closer attention than we might otherwise do.
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It's a startling sentence, at least in English, but I have to admit, I admire its unadorned candor.
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... siete ossessionati da questo aggettivo ... o vi divertite così tanto a farci fare scongiuri ... su scongiuri ... su scongiuri (avete capito a cosa alludo ... vero ???) mentre facciamo l'esercizio ??? ... finitela ... non siete né divertenti ... né particolarmente spiritosi ... lo scherzo è bello finché dura poco ... e lo si può chiamare scherzo ... quando ridono tutti ... non quando ride solo chi lo fa ... in questo caso si chiama VIOLENZA
There are so many dark comments in duolingo. Is the writer trying to tell us that he or she is a murderer?
