Esercizio di traduzione intermediate in inglese • 167

Sei in grado tu di rendere la frase di oggi in inglese?

Switch on your English - intermediate.

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.

Ricorda l’importanza di immaginare un contesto reale nel quale la frase in questione avrebbe senso, prima di procedere con la traduzione.

Ecco la nuova frase:


Da quanto tempo è qui tuo cugino? Pensavo che sarebbe tornato in Inghilterra non appena finita la scuola per le vacanze estive.

Buon divertimento!

Puoi esercitarti quanto vuoiQUI.

Your comments are always very welcome.

Unknown's avatar

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.

41 thoughts on “Esercizio di traduzione intermediate in inglese • 167”

  1. Hi

    How long has your cousin been (living) here? I thought he would be back to England just the school has finished for the summer holidays.

    Thank you !

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Hi there.

      First of all, I definitely wouldn’t put “living” in this context: it’s clearly a relatively short-term situation.

      Secondly, it should be “go back to England” (there is movement in this case).

      Lastly, not “just” but “as soon as”, “the school finished”, not “has finished”.

      🙂

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  2. 167

    Da quanto tempo è qui tuo cugino? Pensavo che sarebbe tornato in Inghilterra non appena finita la scuola per le vacanze estive.

    How long has your cousin been here? I thought he would go back to England as soon as school finished for the summer holidays. 

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. How long has been here your cousin?I thought that he would have returned to England as soon as finished the school for the summer holidays.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Renato, you have two word order mistakes and one verb tense mistake here:

      1. How long has your cousin been here? (word order)
      2. …as soon as (the) school finished… (wortd order)
      3. I thought he would return to England… (verb tense*)
      • It is sufficient in English just to say, “I thought he would go back to England…” Look at it this way: what was the original ‘thought’? It must have been something like, “I think he will go back to England…” Right? So a simple future. What happens to a simple future in reported speech? It becomes a present conditional (would) and that is what happens here.

      🙂

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  4. Hi

    How long has your cousin been here? I thought he would have gone back to England as soon as the school finished for the summer holidays.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Very good, Fede, except there’s no need for that “past conditional” in English. It is sufficient just to say, “I thought he would go back to England…” Look at it this way: what was the original ‘thought’? It must have been something like, “I think he will go back to England…” Right? So a simple future. What happens to a simple future in reported speech? It becomes a present conditional (would) and that is what happens here.

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  5. How long has your cousin been here? I thought he would come back to England as soon as the school would be finished for Summer holidays.

    Thanks!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Hi folks! The first part is perfect. In the second part, you should use the verb “go back”, otherwise in the first part it should be “there” and not “here”. The people speaking are clearly not in England.

      Also, why “would be finished”? Here you need just a simple past: “as soon as the school finished for the summer holidays.”

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  6. How long has your cousin been here? I thought he would go back to England as soon as the school eneded for his summer holidays.

    Liked by 1 person

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  7. How long is your cousin here? I thought that he would have come back to England as soon as end school for the summer vacation.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. This is a very “Italian style” version, Luca! There are three major problems:

      1. The “duration form” – How long has your cousin been here? (present perfect and NOT present as in Italian)
      2. Present conditional – It is sufficient just to say, “I thought he would go back to England…” Look at it this way: what was the original ‘thought’? It must have been something like, “I think he will go back to England…” Right? So a simple future. What happens to a simple future in reported speech? It becomes a present conditional (would) and that is what happens here.
      3. Word order – as soon as school ends (subject before the verb)

      🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  8. Da quanto tempo è qui tuo cugino? Pensavo che sarebbe tornato in Inghilterra non appena finita la scuola per le vacanze estive.

    How long has your cousin been here? I thought he would have back to England for the summer holidays as soon as the school finished.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Paolo, in the second part, you’re lacking a main verb and you’ve used the past conditional instead of the present conditional.

      Try again?

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      1. I’ll try again.

        Da quanto tempo è qui tuo cugino? Pensavo che sarebbe tornato in Inghilterra non appena finita la scuola per le vacanze estive.

        How long has your cousin been here? I thought he would go back to England for the summer holidays as soon as the school finished.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  9. How long has your cousin been here? I thought he would go back to England as soon as school was closed for (the) summer holidays-

    or : as soon as he had left school for the sunmmer holidays

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Very good, Carla. Both versions work well as the sentence is open to a certain interpretation. I would keep the definite article before “school holidays.”

      🙂

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  10. Good evening, Teacher

    Da quanto tempo è qui tuo cugino? Pensavo che sarebbe tornato in Inghilterra non appena finita la scuola per le vacanze estive.

    How long has your cousin been here? I thought He would have gone back to England once finished the school for the summer vacations

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. A good effort, Anita, but there are a couple of things that need sorting out.

      1. In these cases, there is no need in English for the past conditional. It is sufficient just to say, “I thought he would go back to England…” Look at it this way: what was the original ‘thought’? It must have been something like, “I think he will go back to England…” Right? So a simple future. What happens to a simple future in reported speech? It becomes a present conditional (would) and that is what happens here.
      2. You can’t say “once finished the school” and must say, “once the school finished.”

      🙂

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      Reply

  11. good afternoon prof,

    How long has your cousin been here? I thought he would go back tò England as soon as school was over for the Summer holidays.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. ciao!

    How long has your cousin been here?

    I thought he would go back to England as soon as the school finished for his summer holydays.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. Da quanto tempo è qui tuo cugino? Pensavo che sarebbe tornato in Inghilterra non appena finita la scuola per le vacanze estive.

    How long have your cousin been here? I thought he would go back to England as soon as school closed for summer holidays.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Very good, Dany, but it should be “has” and not “have” in the first part.

      In the second part, the definite article before “school” is optional as it depends on interpretation, but I would put a definite article before “summer holidays”.

      🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. How long has your cousin been here? I thought he would go back to England as soon as the school closed for the summer holidays.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

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