"Lei è come sua mamma."
Translation:She is like her mom.
58 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Yes, I just read a comment saying that "mamma"" and papa" require articles while "madre" and "padre" so... could someone explain?
There's a rule that you don't put an article in front of singular family members (ex: mia madre, tuo padre, nostra sorella, etc.) but you add the article when there's an adjective/modification (la tua sorella piccola) and "mamma" and "papa" are considered endearing terms for parents, so they act grammatically as if they're modified by an adjective :)
You are required to use an article when using the diminutives of family member's names. Sua madre = correct. La sua mamma = correct. Sua mamma = incorrect. Just because even some Italians say "sua mamma" doesn't it grammatically correct.
So duo is wrong here? "Lei è come sua mamma." should be "Lei è come LA sua mamma." ?
Technically, "mamma" is a diminutive form and should take the article, but in practice you will find that very frequently it is said without ("mia mamma" and not "la mia mamma," for example).
When you report these things they get changed. I've seen it happen many times.
In this context, though, "sua" refers to "lei", although I suppose it could mean "She is like his mom", but that'd be less likely.
I'm not sure what you mean here. "sua" is the possessive article here for "mamma". The feminine form "sua" is used because "mamma" is feminine. The gender form of "sua" in this sentence has no relation to "lei". Other than making little sense, "lui" could be substituted for "lei" and it would still use "sua".
I could see "she's like his mom" meaning "she's like a mother to him", though I wonder if that would be phrased differently in Italian idiom. I could also see it being used to describe a dysfunctional couple, lol.
so "mommy" and "mom" are okay, but not "momma"? (though in other examples momma was accepted for mamma) . . . ?
Ridiculous to have it marked incorrect for writing "mama" instead of "mom". Doesn't anyone at DL remember the 50s tv show 'I remember mama'; I mean it wasn't called 'I remember MOM' - That's the later "Brady Bunch" or "The Waltons".
See my reply to jar30pma23. Actually, I do remember "I remember mama." but googled it just in case. Link to follow: It's about a Norwegian immigrant family living in the 1910's.
Why not "Lei è come LA sua mamma?" Do the rules for padre/madre/fratello... apply for mamma/papà?
Good question. My understanding of it is that if it's a 'term of endearment such as 'mamma,' 'papa,' etc. then use of the article is appropriate in contrast to padre/madre/fratello as you know. It may well be that along with being appropriate, it's also optional -- depending perhaps on context, regional usage, familial custom, etc. Here's where a native opinion would be helpful.
Thanks for your reply! This is a very confusing topic, I agree that a native Italian speaker's opinion would really be useful.
DDay...No surprise. Duo's trying to teach a term of endrearment, 'mamma'. If they'd wanted "mother" as a translation they'd have used "madre".
Mine was accepted, "she is like her mother"
I believe mamma could mean mother, mom, mum, mummy
pete...you don't except from context since Lei can be both 'she' and "you-formal" . Sometimes you'd see "Sua" capitalized if it meant "Your", but not always. Not to complicate the issue, but it could also mean : "You are like her/his mother" since out of context the "la sua" could be either of those plus Your-formal again.
That's what I thought...and this is the first time it did not accept "You..." I'm always pushing DL's limits, because I never cease to be amazed at how flexible this program is! Grazie mille.
arnnag: It should be accepted, but if you don't get an answer why not, it's because duo's being mum.
I translated "as her mom", "come" could be translated "like,as", it told me i did it wrong. Why?
For a second I forgot that "come" could also mean "like" and I thought it was saying she was eating her mom...
Yes because I do that sometimes and I get it right it just says "another way to say it is"...
'Come' in spanish means she eats, so i thought for a second that she ate her mom XD
I wrote "She is like her mom." It was correct but Duo also indicated that another correct answer was "She is like her mom."
Need to accept English spelling of words. Wrong because I wrote Mum instead of Mom, come on!
I put mam and it was rejected. The English components not written by an native speaker!