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- "Non sapendo dire no alla mad…
"Non sapendo dire no alla madre, finisco col fare tutto quello che dice."
Translation:Not knowing how to say no to my mother, I end up doing everything that she says.
45 Comments
1226
Non sapendo = Not knowing
dire no alla madre = to say no to the mother (~my mother)
finisco col fare = I end up with doing
tutto quello che dice = all this that she says
~ Not knowing how to say no to my mother, I end up doing everything she says
684
and of course we are in a situation where there is no context. I must admit i was thrown here, as the definite article is dropped in the possessive for family members, yet a definite article without a possessive adjective is understood as one's (the speaker's) mother. Quite tricky.
684
I've stopped doing them now after a couple of disheartening wipe-outs. Had three in a row the other day, trying to mend fractured skills. Preferring now a slower, but infinitely less stressful progress towards the daily goal. Not too bothered about getting relegated either, so long as i keep my hand in.
Apparently “finire CON la/ COL...” (or PER) is an idiom meaning “to end up [doing something- infinitive]” because circumstances forced you to. “Finire A [infinitive]” means ending up doing the thing because you exhausted all other possibilities - “end of the line.”
“I finish doing” would’ve been “finisco di fare”
116
"all that she asks" should be OK, but "all what she asks" is not standard English. The use of "what" in this way is usually regarded as "uneducated English". This may help: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/107073/use-of-what-vs-that (though I found the answer given difficult to follow).
116
1) "mama" is informal. "mother" is formal. (2) " I finish doing everything that she says" suggests that you complete the tasks that she tells you to do. "I end up doing everything that she says" means that you do what she wants (even if you don't really want to).
Even accepting the formal/informal reason for DL wanting the one over the other, I have grave doubts DL believes that "end up doing" is more emphatically a rejection of wanting to do anything than is "finish doing", not to the point that it was a make/break point of a gerund lesson. But, thanks for the time you took. Have a lingot.
1337
I was marked wrong for leaving out the word "that" in this translation. The "that" is optional in this English sentence and many writing instructors urge its omission.
302
Being a native English speaker I would not use the word that in the sentence. Generally happy with Duolingo but do struggle with their English at times
116
I didn't know it was a suggestion (presumably you mean by DL). If it is, then I would have thought that it is a mistake by DL, unless it is an idiomatic use in which case apologies if my comment was wrong.