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- "La maglia rosa è sua."
151 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.
Yes, but...the answer says it is 'his' so how do you know when it's his or hers?
@Caroline525262 In this sentence you can't know that... "sua" is his/hers... but, "questa camicia è di Sara/Paul, è la sua" (this is Sara/Paul's shirt, it's hers/his). In this case you can easily understand who the shirt belongs to.
i put 'his' and it was okay, but i expected a notation saying 'or hers'..please check and see if there was something else, like maybe you wrote it was a red shirt. otherwise with the information given, you were correct.
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.
Don't feel bad. You're not alone. :-/ It can be overwhelming, but if I can learn it you can too! :-)
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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If you wrote: "the pink jersey is her" than you have magically transformed a person into a jersey.
What you need to use is 'hers' (possessive pronoun) not 'her' (personal pronoun and possessive adjective).
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?
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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!"
Jeffrey 855877 I don't understand when you say: "there's no article before close family members"... "la mamma e il papà sono in cucina" (mom and dad are in the kitchen".
"La sua maglia rosa è sporca" (his/her pink sweater is dirty). You can't say "sua maglia rosa è sporca".
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The tips previously explained the difference as being when you say 'her' vs 'hers' (or 'my' vs 'mine'), etc. So if you say ' it is her... (whatever), it would be 'e la sua...'. . But if you say '...(whatever) is hers', then you don't need the 'la' and it would just be 'e sua'.
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L'uso dell'articolo con l'aggettivo possessivo è complicato anche per gli italiani. Sono corrette entrambe le forme "... è la sua/è sua. L'articolo NON deve essere usato quando ci sono i nomi di parentela: mia mamma, mia zia, mia sorella, mia figlia. Devi usare l'articolo in questi casi: la mia nonnina, il mio fratellastro, la mia fidanzata.
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?
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
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Not only the leader wears "una maglia" but also the players. So "una maglia" also is a T shirt, a sports shirt.
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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.
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...
@vivicsi86 We use "maglietta, maglia, pullover, maglione. "Camicia (uomo), camicetta (donna) or "camicia da uomo/donna". Nowadays we use "t-shirt", or "maglietta a maniche corte", but as you said, just "maglietta".
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.
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.
Maglia rosa could refer to the jersey/shirt the leader of the cycling race the Giro d'Italia wears. I in that case a shirt would be a better translation than sweater or jumper. But "jersey" would be best, like the yellow jersey in the Tour the France.
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.
"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!
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!
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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.
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
"Rosa, blu, verde, arancione, marrone, ecc." are feminine and masculine... "il cuscino è rosa" (the pillow is pink).
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).
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".
@Gnani "Sua" as formal third person has to have the capital letter "Sua". Anyway in this sentence "Sua" doesn't fit... if you say "la maglia rosa appartiene al Presidente, è (la) Sua", then it fits.
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?
"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.
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.
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.
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".
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
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Im having the opposite problem, and i dont seem to have aby issues on any of the other speaking excercises, just this one.
Is "maglia" both; sweater and shirt? We learned it different with Duolingo, didn't we?!
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)
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?
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.
"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.
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If you interpret it as a sweater instead of a Jersey, it changes the whole sentence. How are you supposed to know?
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"Why is *it" wrong...". You always need to express the subject in English.
'her' is either a pronoun or a possessive adjective. As as possessive adjective, you need to put it in front of the thing possessed. In other positions, it will become a pronoun.
In 'the pink Jersey is her' you are saying that she is a pink jersey. 'her' is a pronoun, in this case.
What you need here is a possessive pronoun and that is 'hers' (she-> hers).
Io ho scritto: The pink jersey is her. Perche non mi hanno accettato?
Why is my "pink sweater" answer wrong even though when I tipped on the world "maglia" it was the first translation shown?
I put hers and was marked as correct. However, the footnote said the pink jersey is his.
Rose is a color as well, and it is very close to pink. Why is rose rejected here? when
The problem is basically that la maglia rosa è sua could be translated as either his or hers. There is no evidence to show which gender. So therefore why is hers marked wrong but his is correct? I can't read the mind of the person writing the question so am unable to know what answer they are expecting.... This is where it's frustrating.
What is the color rose in Italian. An on-line, Italian translator indicates that "rosa" equals both colors, but DL reject rose. I'm puzzled.
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The color rose is rosa in Italian. It stays the same in the plural and doesn't change for masculine or feminine.
i thought "suo" was "his" and "sua" was "hers"
am i wrong? can anyone explain?
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In Italian, then possessive adjective has nothing to do with the sex of the possessor/owner. suo, sua, suoi, sue can mean 'his', 'her' or 'its'. The gender of the possessive adjective, on the other hand, needs to agree with the thing that is possessed.
il suo libro -> 'his/her/its book'
la sua casa ->'his/her/its house'
i suoi libri -> 'his/her/its books'
le sue case > 'his/her/its houses'
thank you muttley! that clears up a lot for me. i gave you a lingot for your lovely explanation ;)
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.
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...
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!
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.
È rossa solo quando si ha la dislessia o la sinastesia, o quando non si legge il dizionario. :-)
Dislessia è disturbo di lettura, disortografia è difficoltà di scrittura... meglio chiuderla qui :)
Sua debe poderse traducir también por her y no solo por his. No estoy de acuerdo que se compute como error esa traducción.
Why am I not correct in saying 'hers'. Why is the answer 'his'? It makes no sense.
Why can it not be 'hers'? As far as I know 'suo/sua' goes to both 'his/her(s)'
No reason to repeat "la" is already used for the word that "sua" refers to
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.
