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- "La bambina morta è sua figli…
183 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.
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But then again, nothing beats 'ero morto' a few lessons earlier. Applicable to zombies perhaps.
- 1714
Sadly/grimly enough too many people love sugar enough to eat themselves to death just the same (in present day), though it just might take 10+ years to do it.
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.
- 1197
I can only hope that it was a random adjective generator creating the unfortunate sentence.
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.
But does it always have to involve a little child??? Kind of grim.
- 112
Duolingo presents us with a useful sentence which appears in newspapers every day and students freak out, saying it's grim and depressing! They want to live in a bubble of pussycats and smiles! But Italy is a REAL country with all of the same ordinary aspects of life as other countries have. Grow up! Italy is not a la-la land!
- 1047
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!
- 33
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. :-)
- 160
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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It's been five years, but thanks for this. Bookmarked!
For my first book in Italian, I think I'll look for a biography of Silvio Berlusconi. It's got to be fun, lively and exciting.
- 1150
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...
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!
- 1390
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.
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.
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!
- 1390
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 .
Not to mention the fact that one of said signorina's boyfriends is a former museum manager who spent time in jail along with his sister for stealing a tiger from the zoo and is now selling refrigerators into which people can comfortably enter.
- 1390
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.
Priceless!! After the gnocchi & chianti, he must have had a smile on his face. :-)
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.
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.
- 1557
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..
- 1047
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.
- 1390
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.).
Too sad for me too. There are many other ways to teach these words than to remind people of losing their daughters.
Good grief. Why the morbid sentences? Is it to push us to purchase the paid version?
- 285
I hate being forced to write and translate this sentence over and over. I wish they have it removed.
- 547
My gosh...why Duolingo doesn't change this sentence? It's so hard just to think about it....
'Bambina' has often been translated by Duo as "baby girl", but this time it wouldn't accept it...
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.
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.
This translation... while it's understandable and technically correct... it sounds very callous and rude. We'd usually talk around such an emotional loss -- "The deceased is her daughter." or even just "She's the mother."
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.
- 188
Isn't it bad enough to use it once in a lesson, but using it twice is really inexcusable.
- 835
You know? I used Italian at work in Europe for a few years and I think that they'd probably be more subtle than this. The French would use the word décédée for the girl in an article. A little euphemism wouldn't be uncalled for here. But I've got kids so that one sounds very cold.
I'm "happy" to find that all of the discussion here is this morbid sentence. Duo, really.
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".)
There are so many dark comments in duolingo. Is the writer trying to tell us that he or she is a murderer?
Read the post above of the man whose daughter died. There are better illustrations of the word.
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...
- 614
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.
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.
- 1834
Yes a grim sentence but it makes us sit up and pay closer attention than we might otherwise do.
It's a startling sentence, at least in English, but I have to admit, I admire its unadorned candor.
- 2237
... 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
We have to learn to understand and say everything in Italian. This is part of the everyday life.
Theres a lot of death and racemixing being pushed on duolingo. Whats your agenda, you degenerate owl?
- 436
Whatever happened to 'La plume da ma tante'? Ah, yes another language I didn't quite master. Hope i never need to use this..
I don't think this is a good exercise for people who have daughters who have died. Especially since it is so repetitive.
- 363
Nothing wrong with learning the word for "to die" but why repeat it multiple times in every lesson and almost always with people, men, children? So, teach the word and move on. But if Duolingo just wants to be morbid, fine, but don't thrust it upon everyone else.
