"Qual è il cane?"
Translation:Which is the dog?
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Here it is important to note the function of the words. "Qual" is the interrogative pronoun, functioning as the subject of the sentence. "Cane" is the predicate nominative. The "è" between them functions as the = sign.
In your translation "which" becomes the interrogative adjective, and "dog" becomes the subject of the sentence. "It", which doesn't appear anywhere in the Italian sentence, has appeared magically to become the predicate pronoun.
The question is fundamentally asking: which (out of the many options) is the dog? Your translation is fundamentally asking: which dog (out of a group of dogs) is it?
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Great explanation for this usage. The sentence I saw with "Qual" before this one was with the possessive pronoun, e.g. "Qual e il tuo cane?" and there I think that either "Which dog is yours?" or "Which is your dog?" would be acceptable translations into English (if anything, I"d probably use the first more than the second, even though the second is grammatically closer to the Italian). By removing the possessive pronoun, it reveals both a grammatical and meaning/usage difference "Which x is...?" and "Which is...?"
Ex. 1You are learning Italian and you are at the park with an Italian exchange student who is learning English. He asks you this question.
Ex. 2 You are taking your baby for a stroll in the park and the child sees many different animals. You kneel down and ask the child this question.
Ex. 3 You are learning Italian on Duolingo's website and they ask you to translate this phrase.
Jae's explanation may be imaginative, but it was by using imagination that he found an answer for you. Next time before you relegate a phrase to the scrap heap, remember that many of the people here make (made) their living as writers. But most of all, don't be so quick to give up- you can do this.
Marking this comment down is silly. People need to know that its is the correct usage here as a possesive. It's ALWAYS means it is.
"Genetic research has shown that it must have happened somewhere in East Asia, around 25,000 to 20,000 years ago: an early human managed to rear and domesticate a wolf pup. In the millennia that followed, this wolf transformed into the different forms of ‘man’s best friend’ that keep us company today, from the dachshund to the Pekingese and chihuahua. But the remains of an early breed of dog have never been found. The earliest finds date from around 15,000 years ago, leaving a gap of around 5,000 to 10,000 years. No wonder, therefore, that archaeologists are desperate to find an even older dog. Every now and then, a researcher will claim to have found one of these ‘missing links’ between wolf and dog, whipping up a storm of publicity. Unwarranted, Luc Janssens now concludes. He researched the ten claims that have been made and showed that all of these supposed dogs were, in fact, common or garden wolves, and far from domesticated."
This is what vet and archaeologist Luc Janssens said in his dissertation. PhD defence on 27 June, 2019. Leiden University
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I have tried the same translation: "Which dog is it" and that was accepted. I find the question: "Which is the dog" a little bit strange, and at the level of very small children. I see in my mind a group of animals and I ask, which of them is the species dog?! :)
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I am a student of 4 years and I also thought the same thing.
It seems like the question should fundamentally be "Quale + è + il cane?" but we contract that to "Qual'è il cane?" as you wrote.
I kept getting this wrong because "cane" and "carne" sound almost the same to me. Then I went back to double check and realized that it's "la carne" and "il cane," so "il cane" is the only possible answer here. I'm not fluent yet in any language that has grammatical gender, so one more thing to learn to keep track of. LOL
it's like find the dog out of 100 other animals, anyway that can train your attention;)
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I notice that there is no elision. This potentially changes the meaning. Qual'è = Quale è and means "which is it". In this case Qual è was used without the apostrophe, Qual è = "what is it" (when referring to a potential choice). Qual è la torta = What is the cake? Qual è il cane = What is the dog?
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I was told I had used the wrong word when 'qual e il cane' is exactly what I wrote from listening exercise.
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I read through your links. Non of them answers my original questions, why "quale é" is considered false.
Yes, i know it looks weird. But gramatically should be correct?