"Mi darai qualcosa da bere?"
Translation:Will you give me something to drink?
21 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Can a native speaker share a tip/rule as to why "da" (as opposed to another preposition) is used here? Is it because it is after "qualcosa", because it it before "bere", or some other reason? Thanks!
Yes, and also because of the future tense of the verb. I may not speak Italian, but Sicilian has the same rule.
Actually, since I asked that question, I learned the rule.
When an INFINITIVE follows an INDEFINITE PRONOUN or a NOUN you use "da" to connect them:
Voglio qualcosa da bere
Non ho niente da mangiare
Vorrei un libro da leggere
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"Da" is also used to indicate the use of something:
Occhiali da sole = sunglasses (i.e. glasses used FOR the sun.
Una tazza da caffè = "a coffee cup" (i.e. a cup used FOR coffee, as opposed to "a cup OF coffee", which would use "di")
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If an ADJECTIVE follows an INDEFINITE PRONOUN, you use "di":
Ieri non ho fatto niente di particolare.
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I learned this rule from "Nuova Grammatical Pratica della Italiana" by Susanna Nocchi.
Wow! Lynn: This is the first time I've read such a clear explanation of 'da vs di'. Thank you and have a lingot! Now if I could only grasp the use of "a" after conjugated verbs followed by an infinitive. Grazie ancora una volta!
To LynnSerafi: in Portuguese we would have to use, before the infinitive 'beber' (Italian 'bere') the preposition 'de' (the same as the Italian 'di') or the preposition 'para' (equivalent, in meaning, to the English 'for'). I hope I have helped. Greetings. November 21, 2017.
"Qualcosa" is not "anything" too? Why isn't "will you give me anything to drink" valid?
Not to disagree (too much), but if that's how you'd think of it, I'd probably phrase it negatively, i.e., "Won't you give me anything to drink?"
Germanlehrerlsu is on the right track. You would generally use "anything" in the negative phrasing of this sentence, which in Italian would be "Non mi darai niente da bere?"
That's not how it's used in English though. Anything is only used in negative sentences ("Will you not give me anything to drink?"), with "something" being used in positive sentences like this one.
Using the future tense for a sentence like this feels very strange--it seems like it's saying "At some future time, will you give me something to drink? I'm just checking in advance!"
(Perché se non potrò bere nulla, vorrò rimanere a casa mia stasera!)
Erika, it's hard for anyone to help figure out why, without including exactly what it was you wrote. You say: "correct answer" and "repeatedly marked incorrect" , well there has to be a reason for it, not that Duo doesn't sometimes mark correct answers incorrect. Perhaps it was a typo, perhaps word choice, word order. You should include precisely what it is you feel is a correct answer. Otherwise you can only report it and hope Duo accepts it.
The English translation could be either a request or a question about the future. Example of the latter: "If I am good, will you give me something to drink?" Can the Italian “darai” also be either a request or a question?
Yes I am interested in this question too. Using 'will' in English for the future tense makes for a confusion since we use the same word for a request. In practice we would make the difference clear by using slightly different words e.g. ----"Will you give me something to drink ?"----A request (not very polite unless followed by please!)
----"Will you be giving me something to drink?" ---A question about the future.
Can someone who knows answer BrucePlumb's question about whether Italian has the same ambiguity?
A comment in another question suggests that yes, they can be used in both contexts.
