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- "Non penso che sia entrata se…
"Non penso che sia entrata senza il marito."
Translation:I don't think she entered without the husband.
33 Comments
I disagree with Alex. Either of those could be a valid translation, depending on the context. Enter means to go or come in, after all.
1465
Yes. It depends on the point of view of the person speaking. If I'm already in, and saw her enter, she would have been coming in.
If I'm outside and saw her enter, she would have been going in.
Both should be accepted.
- 861
'the husband' in this context is weird English, surely 'her' should be accepted? Not today (8 July 2020)
- 582
I agree! I assumed it was her husband. Of course, in another context, it could possibly be someone else's husband, but given the ambiguity why aren't both accepted. Also, 'came in' is as good as entered ....
- 1512
Why wouldn't it be suo marito rather than il marito if it was hers? It's clothing and body parts where Italian drops the possessive pronoun and just uses the definite article.
It is hard getting used to article and possessive differences between English and Italian. I still occasionally forget to add the definite article to the possessive (or to leave it off for family members).
il suo tavolo
il suo braccio
il suo fratello
- 582
Family members usually drop the definite article when referring to each other, but in this case it's uncertain to whom the husband belongs!! I assumed that he belonged to the 'she' in the sentence, and in those circumstances the thing owned or a part of usually drops the possessive. Well, both possibilities are accepted now I believe or this particular translation, either 'her husband' or 'the husband'. Tricky navigating the differences between languages ....
- 802
"I don't think she has entered without her husband" was the answer given. But this doesn't sound right to me. I think we are more likely to say "I don't think she will have gone in without her husband". Although I don't know whether DL accepts it or not.
The subjunctive is being used here where we are expressing doubt, and we have various ways to that in English.
"I don't think she will have gone in" sounds, to me, like how a foreigner would speak. I would certainly say "I don't think she would have entered/gone in."
- 458
Well, they should not have "corrected" that, because a literal translation here is not natural. Learners need to learn that articles are often used when a possessive would be used in English.
I answered with "...with out her husband" and it was correct. But now I am unsure when do to use possessive pronouns and when to leave them out?
For things like body parts or other objects that kind of require a possessor (like husbands), you can often drop the possessive pronoun as long as it's clear from the rest of the sentence who the thing belongs to.
Why can it not be "I do not think that you entered without your husband"? 'Sia' is ambiguous as to its subject, right? So the sentence could be "I do not think that I entered...", "I do not think that you entered...", "I do not think that she entered..." Plus, it could have been used in a formal setting, so even if the sentence forced it to be in the third person, it could still be translated as you.
Duo usually/often does not include the "formal you" option in its list of correct answers for some reason, but will sometimes do so if reported. So it is safer just not to use it to avoid the frustration.
As a footnote, it could not have been "I do not think that I entered" since where the subject in the main clause and the subordinate clause are the same the subjunctive is not used. The di + infinitive construction is used instead, as in non penso di essere entrato....
I don't think she came without the husband is the same thing. Why is it wrong?
in English we would never say the husband. it is or was considered common ie non u .
prue883365 - It is actually quite common in some generations and in some areas of the U.S. to hear "the husband", "the wife", "the kids", "the parents", etc.
Except "sia entrata" specifies the gender of the person in question as feminine. If it were a male, the sentence would have to use "sia entrato".
