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- "Lei ha circa quarant'anni."
34 Comments
I wrote Lei ha circa quaranta anni and was marked wrong. That shouldn't be because quarant'anni is much more colloquial! Is there a strict rule as to having to contract two words that end and start with the same vowel?
I think there is. It happens even in formal writing. It's not just colloquial.
As far as I can tell, Duo has not addressed the formal "you." For a beginner, and/or someone who does not know romance languages, this could be a new concept. Duo marks you wrong if you translate "you" when a 3d person, sing. verb is used. I tested this and lost a heat. I wonder why this has been omitted.
Duo brings in the formal "you" eventually. I don't know whether it was introduced before this sentence came up.
I think "Lei ha ancora quarant'anni da vivere" would be a good translation although forty years is a pretty long length to be about to die.
haha you're right. forty years is alot...i hope i won't be using this sentence soon but thanks alot...it's really confusing though.
You should be able to say "She is NEARLY 40 years old." In the words of Nigel Tufnel: "That's nitpicking, isn't it?"
Nearly means almost. She will be forty soon
About means she could be 35, 38, 42. Her age is close to forty
I answered, "she is almost forty," and it was marked wrong, although I don't see much difference. I guess we'd use the word "quasi" for almost. Lei ha quasi quarant'anni.
I said "almost" too and got dinged by DL, but now, thinking about it, "almost" implies younger than while "around" or "about" implies she could be younger OR older than 40. So, DL wins again. It's all good, though and part of learning the nuances of language.
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If I say "she's about 8." What I mean is the girl is 7, 8, or 9. She's around that age.
That's what circa means anyway. Circa 1900, means around 1900.
So isn't circa also search for? How would you say she has searched for forty years?
Yet another example of D/L being out of touch with english idioms. It is permissible and generally accepted for one to say a person has so many years( (of age) is understood) just as it is permissible to say that they are about a certain age. Please learn these english as opposed to american usages.
Duolingo! my error - by mistake i typed in a translation, and not the italian as heard. In the app on iPhone, you give a "Oops! second chance.." Why not on keyboard + monitor?
