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.
Per chi è già ben avviato al livello intermediate (B1/B2)
Ecco la nuova frase:
È da una vita che questi poveri non fanno un pasto decente. Voglio che tu faccia subito qualcosa al riguardo senza perdere altro tempo.
Buon divertimento!
These poor people haven’t had a decent meal for ages. I want you to do something about it immediately, without waisting any more time.
Excellent, Lucia. 🙂
N.B. “wasting”
Grazie mille. Sembra che abbia trovato la strada giusta, finalmente.
😀👍
It’s about ages that those poor persons don’t have a decent meal.
I want you to do something about this without waisting more time
Hi Luca. In the first part, you’ve missed the fact that there is an underlying “duration form” – the “not having a decent meal” started in the past and continues in the present. Have another try if you want or have a look at some of the other comments here to see exactly what I mean.
In the second part, you’ve missed out “subito” and at the end it should be “ANY more time.”
🙂
È da una vita che questi poveri non fanno un pasto decente. Voglio che tu faccia subito qualcosa al riguardo senza perdere altro tempo.
It has been a lifetime since these poor people have had a decent meal. I want you to do something about it right away without wasting any more time.
Very good, Dany, but you have made a mistake that is typical when choosing the construction that you have used at the beginning. If you start with “It has been a lifetime”, THAT is your duration form (present perfect) and is fine. BUT, the verb that follows is the STARTING POINT of the duration and is therefore anchored in the past and should be a past simple:
“It has been a lifetime since these poor people LAST had a decent meal.”
(“Last” is not essential but sits very well before the verb in this kind of construction.)
The second part is fine. 🙂
It has been a lifetime since these poor people last had a decent meal. I want you to do something about it right away without wasting any more time.
My fault! I didn’t trust myself enough.
Thx
You’ll know for next time! 😉
These poor people haven’t had a decent meal in ages. I want you to do something about it at once,without wasting any more time
It wasn’t easy, I think it is a duration form the first sentence
You’re absolutely right, Fede. Well spotted. And an excellent version. 🙂
Thanks
😀👍
199
È da una vita che questi poveri non fanno un pasto decente. Voglio che tu faccia subito qualcosa al riguardo senza perdere altro tempo.
These poor people haven’t had a decent meal for ages. I want you to do something about this at once without wasting time any more.
Very good, Claudio, but to give the idea of “altro (ulteriore) tempo” you need to say “any more time” at the end. The rest is perfect. 🙂
Good afternoon,
“These poor(people) haven’t had a decent MEAL for ages. I want you tò do something about It right AWAY without waisting any further time”.
That’s very good, Roby.
“People” is necessary here. You can’t make “poor” into a noun in a specific situation, only in a general one: “He does what he can to help the poor.”
waisting → wasting
🙂
Yes ok …thanks prof
😀👍
Hi there
It has been like this for a long time that these poor people haven’t had a decent meal. I want you to do immediately something about it without wasting other time.
Thank you
Your opening sentence is grammatically all right, but it is not what a native speaker would say. You’ve kept too close to the original Italian construction in this case. Here, you have two options:
1) These poor people haven’t had a decent meal for a long time.
2) it’s been a long time since these poor people last had a decent meal.
In the second part, you need to think of “immediately” as a time adverb and place it at the end of the clause:
“…to do something about it immediately…”
Right at the end, instead of “other” you should say “any more”.
🙂
These poor people haven’t had a decent meal for ages.
I want you to do something about it at once without wasting any more time.
Thanks!
You’ve got it spot on today, folks. Well done! 🙂
IT’S a long time since these poor people did not have a decent meal . I want you to so something about it now , without wasting any more time
Carla, if you try to stick to the Italian construction here, then it need s to be worked differently.
First of all you need to start with a present perfect to denote the duration form (past connected to present):
“It’s been a long time since…”
Secondly, the “che” it Italian allows you to use a negative verb afterwards, but the “since” in English refers back to the last time they actually “had” a decent meal – in the affirmative. Also you need to use the adverb “last”.
To bring it all together, your introductory sentence should be:
“It’s been a long time since these poor people last had a decent meal.”
The rest is fine, except that perhaps, as I said to Paolo below, I would expect something a bit more expressive than “now” for “subito”. Either “immediately” or “at once”.
🙂
È da una vita che questi poveri non fanno un pasto decente. Voglio che tu faccia subito qualcosa al riguardo senza perdere altro tempo.
These poor people haven’t had a decent meal for ages. I want you to do something for them now, without wasting any more time.
Spot on, Paolo.
If I really wanted to find a fly in the ointment then I would say that perhaps “now” is a little weak to express the idea of “subito”, but given the right emphasis it could be sufficiently effective. Well done. 🙂
Yes, it’s a ‘NOW!!!’
Then why didn’t you write it like that?
To get more participation here on the site, Tony!
You’re such a thoughtful blighter! 😉
Ciao!
These poor(s) haven’t had a decent meal for a while.
I want you to do something at once about it without wasting some more time.
A tricky one, today, Davide. Your only serious mistake is trying to make ‘poor’ into a noun as you do in Italian. You can only do this if you are talking about “the poor” in general, as in: “He does what he can to help the poor.” Here, the reference is specific and so you need the noun “people”.
I would change the word order a bit in the second part and put “at once” after “about it”, and you should say “any more time” at the end because “without” introduces a “negative” concept.
🙂
One more small thing, Davide. I think “for ages” would be more appropriate than “for a while” in this context.