100 Comments
so I read the thread looking for the reason why "La maglia rosa è sua." and not "La maglia rosa è la sua," and didn't get enlightened. When do you use sua and when do you use la sua?
We have the same in Spanish. The difference is subtle but it's there. Think of it this way:
Sua= hers La sua= the one that is hers.
La maglia rosa è sua. The pink shirt is hers.
La maglia rosa è la sua. The pink shirt is the one that is hers.
Or, to put it grammatically, it's 'la sua' when it'a a possessive adjective immediately preceding the noun, but just 'sua', ie article is dropped, when it's a possessive pronoun following a verb, whether it's a conjugated form of 'to be' or any other verb.
Yes. I get this!
Possessive Pronoun Adjective = article + pronoun + noun it modifies
and...
Predicate Adjective = subject + verb linking + possessive pronoun adjective (no article)
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http://www.arnix.it/free-italian/italian-grammar/possessive-adjectives-in-italian.php This article is very helpful and I think says that la is not necessary before sua here. Am I wrong?
Good article, except it doesn't address the instance where the possessive follows the verb:
La casa è mia or La casa è la mia?
Also, I love how "mamma mia!" is an exception to the exception to the exception from the rule of article placement before possessives.
Rule: The article precedes the possessive: "la mia mamma",
Except: There is no article before close family members and "mamma" is a close family member,
Except: "mamma" requires the article before the possessive - "la mia mamma"
Except: when the possessive follows the noun, the article is not used: "mamma mia!"
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"La sua maglia rosa è sporca" (his/her pink sweater is dirty). You can't say "sua maglia rosa è sporca".
In my opinion "shirt" is not a correct translation for "maglia". Or is my English that bad? Una maglia is something knitted
Look in any single language Italian dictionary or department store and you will find ...
Maglia originates as "stitch" as in knitting and netting, and was applied to knitted garments, like sweaters, undervests, etc. As close woven fabrics replaced wool it still applied to those garments, hence it is used for T-shirts (strictly maglietta), sports shirts, etc.
Camicia is the main word for a shirt of any blouse-like design.
You're right; something knitted isn't a shirt, that'd be a sweater, a jumper or a sweatshirt.
In the U.S., we rarely use the word "jumper". If we do, it does not refer to a shirt/ top. It is "a collarless sleeveless dress, typically worn over a blouse" (stole the definition from google, it works). like http://www.modcloth.com/shop/skirts/prim-if-you-please-jumper
In Europe ( Ireland) A jumper is a knitted garment with sleeves worn over other clothes
Whenever I read a book by a British author I never know what they're talking about when they say 'jumper'. Thanks for your help.
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Where i was leaved in Italy they said maglietta if it was a T-shirt and maglione it was a jumper or sweater or pulover. It does not count how did they made this clothe. They didnt use maglia...
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I think shirt could be used for some thinner knitted tops. As they get thicker sweater is more appropriate. But yes I think some people might call a knitted top a shirt. No idea about the correct Italian translation.
So "La Maglia Rosa" is the jersey the leader of the Giro d'Italia wears. Given some of the discussion here, is there any real basis for calling that type of athletic jersey "La Maglia" or is it really more just for historical reasons?
Not only the leader wears "una maglia" but also the players. So "una maglia" also is a T shirt, a sports shirt.
maglia can kind of be translated as 'top'. in uk english that could be seen as a t-shirt/jumper/long-sleeved t-shirt/vest... ultimately, there are many translations of top and therefore maglia in some cases can be considered as a t shirt or whatever. it's annoying and really duolingo should take in into consideration but hey
for some reason I can't tell the difference between pink and red- is there an easy way to remember?
p.s :) "s" in "rosa"(pink) sounds like "z" but in "rosso"(red) sounds like "s". rosa=ro/z/a , rosso=ro/s/o.
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"Rosso" is pronounced [rosso], not [roso]. In Italian double consonants are always pronounced as they are written. So: ros-so, gat-to, bic - chiere etc. In practice, one just holds on to the sound longer and keeps the preceding vowel short. There is serious risk of being misunderstood here: e.g. "la pala" means "the shovel", "la palla" is "the ball". I have been told that there is sometimes a real risk of saying something really dirty, if one does not pay enough attention to double consonants!
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Just making sure that everyone 'gets' this extremely important comment by @ZDanielle: L'anno = the year; l'ano = the anus. So pay attention to the pronounciation of double consonants, people!
I'm sorry but it is just really hard to tell which is which, and my hearing isn't that good :/
I think with a computer pronouncing it, it's a little much to have to try distinguishing between the two
"Pink" has only ONE "s". I think of the two "ss"s as making the pink even PINKER, which would be RED :)
Pink has an "s" and red has two "s"s. Actually, there is! Think of Martini Rosso, which is a red vermouth.
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Rosa = pink if it is female and imagine the color of the lips Rossa = red, it is female too and the color of the blood. Rosso is the male form
I am not sure why the sentence does not say "La maglia rosa è sua la sua" Why does it not need the "la"?
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When the possessive pronoun comes after the verb "essere", the article can be omitted. The meaning is the same (or almost the same) :-)
by "it can be omitted" do you mean it's very very very oftenly omitted (almost like it's a must) or is it really up to the writer's opinion?
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"La sua maglia rosa" (his/her pink jersey), "la maglia rosa è la sua!" (the pink jersey is hers/his!), it means that you don't have to touch that jersey, because it belongs to her/his, it's a warning... I'm sorry for my English, maybe it's not correct, if it's not, please correct it, thank you.
The pink sweater is yours. this is my translation. sua and suo are not only her or his but also the formal third person. but dl didn't accept my answer.
I just did the same mistake, but it is a mistake indeed. If it were "yours", "sua" would be capitalized, the same way you capitalize lei > Lei to mean You (formal).
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I think your translation would be correct if they wrote Sua with capital S.
Not accepted, July 11, 2017. If it were a dictation exercise, that would bother me, but it was written, so I should have seen the lower case "sua".
I spoke jibberish and it said it was correct. This feature doesn't work for me.
Me too. Even if I say nothing and keep silent, it counts it right. That's why I disabled the microphone. I suppose that feature does not work anymore
Yes, right. So shirt shouldn't be accepted as a correct translation of maglia. It should be T shirt. Though on thinking about it, don't lots of sportspeople call their tops "shirts"?
ahh i see what you mean! personally i think 'shirt' when speaking about a tshirt or jumper is something only really said in america. in the uk the thin, short sleeved item of clothing is 't shirt/tee shirt' or 'top'. but i agree, there should be various translations but in this case i don't agree that maglia could mean shirt (as a speaker from the uk).
(American English speaker) In the U.S., sweater and jumper are two totally different items (see above comment of bedda 33)
Italian definition: pesante maglia di lana, con maniche lunghe - a heavy sweater with long sleeves. In contrast. maglia = indumento [garment] fatto con tessuto [cloth] lavorato a maglia [knitted], più o meno aderente, che si porta a contatto della pelle: m. di lana, di cotone, con maniche corte [short sleeved], senza maniche [sleeveless]. So maglia is typically womenswear, while maglione is for men - and you want a pink one. Viva la diversità!
Actually, there is one bunch of guys who want una maglia rosa - the cyclists in the Giro d'Italia. It's the leaders jersey. In fact, our question could well be quoted from La Gazetta dello Sport, and the correct translation would be "the pink jersey is his", meaning he just won the lead. English-speaking cycling fans still call it the "maglia rosa", but the wider press translates it for dummies.
How do you know in this sentence if 'sua' means 'his' and not 'her'? I entered 'her' and Duolingo was hell bent on 'his' as the right answer.
It can be either "is his" or "is hers": "is her" would mean that she is a pink jersey.
I thought maglia = t-shirt (but the duolingo system only accepts "shirt" at the moment; not t-shirt) and that sweater is "maglione" instead. Has anyone checked if "sweater" is accepted here? My "shirt" is accepted btw.
No reason to repeat "la" is already used for the word that "sua" refers to
Sua is used as possessive adjective here instead of possessive pronoun in sentence above.
And even in English there is a difference between "The pink t-shirt is his" and "His t-shirt is pink". They would be used in different situations
One of the definitions listed for rosa is "rose" So why was it incorrect when I wrote rose and not pink?
How about "pullover"? If sweater and jumper is accepted for maglia, then pullover should, too.
"Rossa", with 2 S, reads like the common S sound and means "red". "Rosa", with 1 S, reads like Z and means "pink"
Maglia does not mean shirt. People get confused because maglietta is T-shirt. See reply to montagnes.
I believe "la magnolia" is a more casual shirt, i.e. a t-shirt, a sports shirt...
the translation in the cours is the pink t shirt is HIS , change the mistake
Why isn't "his" an accepted translation for "sua" in this case? I thought the possessive pronoun always matched the noun (in this case "maglia"). There's no indication of the object belonging to either a man or a woman. I don't get it. Both answers should be as valid, or am I missing something?
In an earlier lesson Duo translated 'rosa' as 'red'. I thought it was strange because in Spanish 'rosa' means 'pink' and in French 'rose' also means 'pink' but I thought maybe Italian was different. Now Duo says 'The red shirt is his' is wrong!
"Hers" is accepted but "her" is incorrect. You'd better consult an English language grammar if it wasn't a typo and you thought it was right. Too complicated to explain here.
if we want to specify the gender I think this is how you say it.
La maglia rosa è la di lui (his) La maglia rosa è la di lei (hers)
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If you really need to specify the gender of the owner than you would say: la maglia rosa è sua (di lui/lei).
"La di lei/lui" is incorrect I'm afraid.
What exactly is a jersey? In American English, the word often refers to part of a football uniform, and it would certainly not be "rosa."
Why not? Plenty of sport jerseys are pink, e.g. Palermo's, Juventus's first one. The most famous Pink Jersey, or Maglia Rosa, is the prize awarded to winners of the Giro d'Italia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_jersey
Maglia can translate to many things in English, and a sport jersey is certainly one of them.
Thank you! I'm afraid I was stuck in an American mindset! Grazie, maestro.
La maglia è la sua - 'rafest' comments on the answer is HER. The answer Duolingo gave says HIS. I thought it was femine also. Additionally, "maglia" is translated as "jersey" in the Duolingo translation answer. How would I know its a jersey? Usually in Duolingo maglia is a sweater or shirt. This occurred on 2-19-2019.
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Sua means "his or her", you can use one of them, it's up to you. We can't say anything else, because we don't have other info. Maglia can be sweater, jersey, but usually shirt is "camicia".
È rossa solo quando si ha la dislessia o la sinastesia, o quando non si legge il dizionario. :-)
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Dislessia è disturbo di lettura, disortografia è difficoltà di scrittura... meglio chiuderla qui :)
Why can it not be 'hers'? As far as I know 'suo/sua' goes to both 'his/her(s)'
