- Forum >
- Topic: Italian >
- "Lo zucchero è nel caffè."
31 Comments
If you have trouble hearing the "é" just uses common sense, and think about what could possibly be the verb in the phrase? It's not mangia or beve, so it's probably é. Think about how much we slur words together and pass over little words like "is" when we talk casually, and it'll help you gain a perspective about why the sentences skim over words like that.
I wouldn't exactly call that inference 'common sense'. It could just as easily have been "The sugar in the coffee."
the voice of that computer thing is so awful , its much much better in French !!!
It is awful. On mine it says è nella cafe and I got it wrong because it actually is nel cafe
Because when the word begins with a 'z', lo is used. Words beginning with vowels are l' and words beginning with consonants are il.
When the word begins with 'z' or 's+consonant'. Eg. Lo zucchero (the sugar), lo sport (the sport), il sole (the sun).
what is the difference between the accent going left or right on top of the e. I got it wrong because I got the accent wrong. please someone explain
Mine said "Lo zucchero è nel caffè." as "The sugar is in the coffee." It said my answer "The sugar is in coffee" is wrong, but there is no 'the' in the sentence. Where is the 'il' for 'ill caffè'?
nel is a combination of two italian words in and the, which in italian is in and il. The word in is changed to ne and you take out the I to make it flow better to become nel.
270
We should all take note of "marshalartist". Every language at first is like we're in a wind tunnel. I guess we'll get more used to those tiny "è" sounds etc.
To be honest (as people have mentioned in previous discussions) the voice is not a particular good representation of a real live Italian speaker. It is quite clipped, which is a result of the program rather than what Italian actually sounds like. I am noticing as well that pronunciation is off for some words generally. Don't feel bad if you are missing little sounds - I bet you'd do fine with an Italian speaker saying the same thing in front of you!
Yes, difficult to hear - but also I was really focused on what I had learnt so far with the 'al' part for chocolate ice cream and expected more, lol. The idea that the lady could be saying e and nel was something I couldn't guess! If it pops up again Ill be listening out for it now...
Hey everyone; I was simply wondering how important the accent marks above words like e and caffe are. My keyboard cannot natively type them in (At least I think so) and I'm not sure how they alter pronounciation. Also, is it regular for the accent marks to slant to the left in italian? It's not like I've learnt French, but I saw that accent marks there slope to the right and to the left. I'm grateful for any help.
Substantially the accent is an elevation of the tone of the voice. The graphic marks above the wovels distinguish: the grave accent (like è) for the open pronounciation ;the acute accent (like é) for that closed.
