A sentence in lesson 8.4

Hello!

Brief bit of feedback. The translation of the second phrase of this sentence is very difficult:

Considerato che ho dei bambini, le uscite sono abbastanza poche.

Considering that I have children, I don't go out very often.

I struggled for quite a while trying to understand how “le uscite sono abbastanza poche” could mean “I don't go out very often.” I tried to understand “sono” as the first person of “essere” maybe operating as an auxiliary verb somehow, but then what about “uscite” which looks like the second person plural of “uscire,” and meanwhile is “le” a pronoun?!! It was a mess.

I went to another source to finally understand that the problem is the translation. The phrase doesn't mean “I don't go out very often,” it means “The outings are quite few." As soon as I saw this, I understood that the subject of the phrase is “le uscite” and the verb “sono” is the third person plural. The sentence was easy when the translation was more literal.

Thanks for receiving my feedback in the spirit that it is offered. I am very grateful for the Rocket Italian course and generally think it is excellent!

Sincerely,

Gwen

Hi Gwen,

Thank you for your feedback and for diving deeply into the lessons!

You're absolutely right about the translation and the structure of the sentence. In Italian, the phrase "le uscite sono abbastanza poche" directly translates to "The outings are quite few." Here, "le uscite" is the subject, which means "the outings," and "sono" is the third person plural form of "essere," which means "are." So, the sentence correctly describes the frequency of outings as being limited.

The English translation "I don't go out very often" is indeed less literal and more interpretative, aiming to convey the meaning in a way that might feel more natural to English speakers. However, your understanding of the literal translation helps clarify the grammatical structure in Italian, which is an excellent observation for learning the language!

If you prefer more literal translations to better understand the grammatical constructions, that's a valuable approach. It’s fantastic that you are engaging so deeply with the material, and your insights are always appreciated.

Keep up the great work, and don't hesitate to reach out with more observations or questions!

Best regards,

Enxhi