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- "Io sono l'uomo."
105 Comments
634
Too -
1. in addition; also; furthermore; moreover: young, clever, and rich too
2. to an excessive extent or degree; beyond what is desirable, fitting, or right: too sick to travel.
3. more, as specified, than should be: too near the fire
4. (used as an affirmative to contradict a negative statement): I am too!
5. extremely; very: She wasn't too pleased with his behavior.
Two -
a cardinal number represented by the digit 2.
To -
1. used to indicate the destination of the subject or object of an action, or its direction (towards): he climbed to the top
2. used to mark the indirect object of a verb in a sentence: telling stories to children
3. used to mark the infinitive of a verb: he wanted to go
4. as far as: until working from Monday to Friday
5. used to indicate equality: 16 ounces to the pound
6. against; upon: onto put your ear to the wall
7. before the hour of: five minutes to four
8. accompanied by: dancing to loud music
9. as compared with, as against: the score was eight to three
10. used to indicate a resulting condition: he tore her dress to shreds; they starved to death.
Usually, I would have assumed it to be an honest typo, and not bother correcting you.
But, this being Duolingo, and you appearing to be in the middle of an English course...
453
Yes, but it's different to say "eu sou um homem" e "eu sou homem". I believe the same happens with French and Italian.
There are various exercises, some with the subject pronoun (io sono una ragazza, tu sei una donna...) and others without (sono una ragazza, sei una donna...) The reason you see both types is because we want you to understand that both are acceptable, that's all :) Think of it like this: in English you can use contractions (can't, don't, won't) but they aren't mandatory.
Why would you think that "le" means "a"? And what does "le" have to do with this sentence? :P L' here is the elision of "lo".
Determinate articles (the):
- Masculine singular: il, lo (l')
- Masculine plural: i, gli
- Feminine singular: la (l')
- Feminine plural: le
Indeterminate articles (a):
- Masculine: un, uno
- Feminine: una (un')
634
Benvenuto al corso di italiano! :)
A tip:
You should try reading the Duo light-bulb before starting a topic of lessons.
It helps with understanding some peculiarities.
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A concentrated list of all of Duolingo's WEB version Tips and Notes - Italian from English
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A concentrated list of all of Duolingo's APP version Tips and Notes - Italian from English
You may also want to check out the Italian forum:
⠀• Italian from English - Duolingo forum
il and l' can be both masculine, but are used for different words, depending on the first letter that follows. If the noun starts with a vowel you use l', both for feminine and masculine nouns. You use lo if the masculine noun starts with certain letters or combination of consonants, like s followed by another consonant, ps, pt, pn, x, z, (and maybe others that I don't remember, but you'll learn to hear what sounds better) You use il for every other masculine noun
634
The most common noun classes in Italian are the following:
- Nouns ending in a in the singular and e in the plural.
e.g., "la ragazza" / "le ragazze": most nouns in this class are feminine. - Nouns ending in o in the singular and i in the plural.
e.g., "il ragazzo" / "i ragazzi": most nouns in this class are masculine. - Nouns ending in e in the singular and i in the plural.
e.g., "il pesce" / "i pesci" but "la tigre" / "le tigri": nouns in this class can be any gender. - Nouns ending in a in the singular and i in the plural,
e.g. "il problema" / "i problemi": most nouns in this class are masculine.
634
Welcome to Duolingo! :)
Articles:
Articles have to match gender and number of the noun they refer to.
The singular determinate articles (the) are:
• Lo - masculine, used before Z, S+consonant, GN,
⠀⠀⠀⠀and some rarer consonant clusters.
• Il - masculine, used before consonants except the above.
• La - feminine, used before all consonants.
• L' - an elision of the above used before vowels.
As "uomo" starts with a vowel,
the appropriate definite article (the) is L' .
The indeterminate articles (a\an) are:
• Uno - masculine, used before Z, S+consonant, GN,
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀and some rarer consonant clusters.
• Un - masculine, used in all other cases.
• Una - feminine, used before all consonants.
• Un' - feminine, used before vowels.
Two tips:
1. Try going through the comments.
Usually someone else had the same question and got an answer.
(But feel free to ask.)
2. You should try reading the Duo light-bulb before starting a topic of lessons. EDIT: It has now been replaced with the ᴛɪᴘs button.
It helps with understanding some peculiarities.
634
You are missing the meaning of the sentence.
I am The man = I am the (main) man.
It is a boast (bragging),
saying you are the exemplification of what a man is /
that you are the most manly around / or similar.
Think of someone that has just accomplished a difficult physical task,
requiring significant strength or some other stereotypical masculine trait.
The person, very proud of accomplishing the deed, or winning the competition, might then say: "I am the man!".
Or, with the context of a question, it could also be:
⠀ Q - "Who is the man in charge of xyz?"
⠀ A - "I am the man."
187
In Italian the articles "il" and "la" get shortened when a word begins with a vowel. Instead of saying "il uomo" you say "l'uomo", or "la acqua" to "l'acqua".
People who speak a latin language as mother tongue would not have made any mistake as the logic step for them would have been writing the article "the" to translate the phrase in question (I am Spaniard). However, English speakers like you guys use less often articles and rules are not exactly the same.
"Sono" can mean "I am" or "they are." the conjugations are the same. Context or adding the pronoun can help distinguish whether it is "I am" or "they are." e.g. sono uomo - I am a man ("uomo" is singular, so "sono" means "I am") sono uomini - They are men ("uomini" is plural, so "sono" means "they are")
634
lo (LO) shouldn't be there. Io (io) is the correct spelling of the word "i".
Either way, the sentence discussion page is for getting help from fellow learners. If you want to report a problem with a sentence or its answers, there is a little flag 🏴️ ʀᴇᴘᴏʀᴛ button under the sentence:
Link → Support - How do I report a problem with a sentence or translation?
634
L' = the (in front of a noun that begins with a vowel).
"I'm the man" is actually more common in English than "Io sono l'uomo" is in Italian.
The Man is frequently used here in the US. When someone says "I'm the man", they are boasting. But you can praise someone else and say "you're the man", when they succeed or do something helpful.