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- "Noi scriviamo agli uomini."
34 Comments
382
Since gli uomini is the men, would that make agli uomini - to the men? I put "We write to men" as the translation and it was marked incorrect.
We're writing the men...the "to" is redundant in English, and therefore optional. I had an argument with an English teacher who claimed that one could never have an indirect object without a direct object. I won the argument with this sentence. (It's cheating...I know. The direct object is understood...we wrote a letter or a note.)
14
At least in the Australian version of English, we don't "write (a person)" but "write TO (a person)". The former seems to be acceptable in America.
It's acceptable English. The indirective object in English is observed from word order, and the "to" is often understood. In a sentence like, "He wrote his parents last night," I teach my students to ask questions: "Who wrote"? He did...He is the subject. "Wrote what?" ...a letter or some form of communication. That's the direct object, in this case, unspoken but understood. "Wrote to whom?" ...to his parents. That's the indirect object, with "to" understood. In German, the noun gets an ending to indicate its use...English jettisoned all endings but the genitive, now called "possessive"...'s or s'.
342
I heard this man say, "Non scriviamo agli uomini. I wish the woman's voice was used a little more.