Translation Exercise • 46

La traduzione, come metodo di esercizio nell’apprendimento di una lingua, farà sicuramente parte della vecchia scuola, però, inserita in un contesto più vario di apprendimento, soprattutto con feedback in tempo reale, può sempre essere un utile esercizio di allenamento.

Consiglio una partecipazione attiva e visibile postando la tua versione tra i commenti in fondo a questa pagina. In questo modo riceverai un mio commento o suggerimento in tempo più o meno reale. Ma per chi non se la sente, si può semplicemente annotare la propria versione e controllarla attraverso i miei commenti lasciati per gli altri.

Ecco la nuova frase:

Non berrei quel vino se fossi in te, non hai idea da quanto tempo è lì.

Buon divertimento!

Puoi esercitarti quanto vuoiQUI


Your comments are always very welcome.


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Author: Tony

Born and raised in Malaysia between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Educated at Wycliffe College in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, England. Living in the foothills of Mount Etna since 1982 and teaching English at Catania University since 1987.

42 thoughts on “Translation Exercise • 46”

  1. I am trying to catch up…..

    If I were you I would not drink that wine, you have not any idea haw long it has been there.

    Bye Bye🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Very good, Nadia. It would sound more natural with the contracted form: “you haven’t any idea” or, perhaps better still, “you’ve no idea”.

      Like

  2. Non berrei quel vino se fossi in te, non hai idea da quanto tempo è lì.
    Goodnight prof. Zzzzz….

    I wouldn’t drink that wine if I were you, you haven’t got any idea of how long it has been there.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Let’s give it a try, Prof! ” Should I be in your shoes, I wouldn’t touch that wine, you can’t tell how long it has been there”.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. As always, you like to put your twist on it, Toni!
      I’m not sure how likely a native would be to say, “Should I be in your shoes,” although it is, of course, perfectly correct. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Non berrei quel vino se fossi in te, non hai idea da quanto tempo è lì.
    If I were you I wouldn’t drunk that wine! You have no idea how long it is there

    Like

    1. Hi Manu, two problems here, one small and one big:
      1) (small) – ‘drink’ and not ‘drunk’ (but you knew that really!)
      2) (big) – the last verb is a duration form and should be present perfect (l’azione di ‘essere lì’ è cominciato nel passato e continua nel presente).

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        1. It’s not always easy to recognise the duration form, but when you see “da + time”, it’s usually a pretty sure sign! 😉

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  5. 46
    Non berrei quel vino se fossi in te, non hai idea da quanto tempo è lì.
    If I were you I wouldn’t drink that wine, you haven’t got any idea how long it has been here!

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Non berrei quel vino se fossi in te, non hai idea da quanto tempo è lì.

    I wouldn’t drink that wine if I were you, you can’t imagine how long it’s been there.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Very nice, Paolo.
      I was just wondering if there is any significant difference between “you can’t imagine” and “you have no idea”…

      Like

      1. You are right, Tony.
        I think in Italian they are interchangeable, but in English it might be different, and you wrote “Non hai idea”.
        So, it should be “I wouldn’t drink that wine if I were you, you have no idea how long it’s been there.”
        Having said that, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal, I’d drink it in any case.

        Like

  7. If I were you, I wouldn’t drink that wine. You don’t have any idea how long it has been there.

    According to your preceding lesson I preferred to write “You don’t have any idea” instead of “You have no idea”.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Perfect, Ester.
      However, I must admit that in the case of “non hai nessun’idea”, the version “you have no idea” is equally typical. This is because the negative remains very close to the beginning of the sentence and there is no time for misunderstanding!

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  8. Non berrei quel vino se fossi in te, non hai idea da quanto tempo è lì.
    If I were you, I wouldn’t dink that wine. I have no idea how long it has been there.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Non berrei quel vino se fossi in te, non hai idea da quanto tempo è lì.
    If I was/were you, I wouldn’t drink that wine, you can’t imagine (have idea) how long it’s been staying there

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi Anita. A good version but I would make a few useful (I hope) comments:
      1) This is the only expression where I would tend to insist upon ‘were’ rather than ‘was’.
      2) If you use ‘idea’ then you should say “I have no idea”.
      3) I wouldn’t use ‘staying’ at the end as it implies ‘volontà’. The choice of tense is right, however as it is a duration form. You should just say, “how long it’s been there.”

      Like

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