# Non ho mai desiderato...



## piccione73

Hi everybody,
I'm trying ti translate this phrase in English, but my version sound bad:
"non ho mai desiderato di fare qualcosa cosi tanto in tutta la mia vita"
the idea is:
" I never desired to do something like that in my life so bad"
What do you think?
help me!
Thanks a lot


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## Le Peru

piccione73 said:


> Hi everybody,
> I'm trying ti translate this phrase in English, but my version sound bad:
> "non ho mai desiderato di fare qualcosa cosi tanto in tutta la mia vita"
> the idea is:
> " I never desired to do something like that in my life so bad"
> What do you think?
> help me!
> Thanks a lot


 
I never longed for doing anything like that so bad in my whole life???


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## piccione73

*O*k, sounds good! 
*T*hanks for your help, I'll use your version.


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## Le Peru

piccione73 said:


> ok, sounds good!
> thanks for your help, I'll use your version.


 
Vedi anche il parere di madrelingua, di solito il mio inglese contiene errori. 
Comunque sono contenta che ti piaccia la mia proposta.  
Ciao ciao


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## perfavore

piccione73 said:


> Hi everybody,
> I'm trying to translate this phrase in English, but my version sounds bad:
> "non ho mai desiderato di fare qualcosa cosi tanto in tutta la mia vita"
> the idea is:
> " I never desired to do something like that in my life so bad"
> What do you think?
> help me!
> Thanks a lot


 
La tua traduzione non è così male. La mia proposta: "I have never desired to do something (like that) this much/bad in my whole/entire life."

Spero di averti aiutato


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## piccione73

Thank you soooo much! 
Non avrei mai pensato di sentirmi dire "la tua frase non è così male" WOW


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## perfavore

Le Peru said:


> Vedi anche il parere di madrelingua, di solito il mio inglese contiene errori.
> Comunque sono contenta che ti piaccia la mia proposta.
> Ciao ciao


 
Non è vero. Il tuo inglese è buono.


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## lsp

I think most people would say "I've never *wanted*...." Desiring and longing are very emotional, passionate terms. They need to be used sparingly unless you're writing a novel or speaking of something deeply (probably sensually) felt. They also don't fit with an ending like "that bad." I've never desired anything so strongly in my life v. I've never wanted anything else this badly in my entire life. Do you see the difference in tone?


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## perfavore

Hi lsp,

Isn't the desire to do something so/this bad enough sign of a strong emotion or passion? Isn't that what Italians are known/famous for?


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## Einstein

Has "badly" disappeared from AE? I see only one example, in lsp's post. I don't know what other BE speakers think, but I would certainly say "badly", not "bad", in this case.


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## Le Peru

perfavore said:


> Non è vero. Il tuo inglese è buono.


 
Grazie, adesso mi monto la testa.


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## lamourtoujours

Le Peru said:


> I never longed for doing anything like that so bad in my whole life???


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## Karl!!!!

Einstein said:


> Has "badly" disappeared from AE? I see only one example, in lsp's post. I don't know what other BE speakers think, but I would certainly say "badly", not "bad", in this case.


 
I was thinking the same thing!


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## Leo57

Hello everybody
I have never wanted to do something so much (in) all my life. ….(….so much my whole life.)
Never in my whole life, have I wanted to do something as much as this.

Bye for now
Leo


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## Alxmrphi

*I've never wanted to do anything so much in my entire life.*


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## neuromatico

Einstein said:


> Has "badly" disappeared from AE? I see only one example, in lsp's post. I don't know what other BE speakers think, but I would certainly say "badly", not "bad", in this case.



Hardly! "So bad/badly" is deeply rooted in the vernacular.
I concur with lsp. 
This is strictly colloquial, but could be appropriate in this case:
I never wanted anything so badly in my life.
I never wanted anything so bad in all my life.

Vorrei migliorare il mio italiano. Non ho mai desiderato di fare qualcosa cosi tanto in tutta la mia vita.


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## perfavore

Ciao Neuromatico,

Penso che vorresti essere lo studente d'italiano più bravo del mondo.


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## piccione73

Hi everybody and thanks for help!
I used:
I never desired to do something like that this bad in my whole life.
I wanted to be passionate... just like italians usually are...
So, I have a question: instead to use bad I could use badly: it is more "cool", it isn't?
thanks a lot


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## Alxmrphi

piccione73 said:


> Hi everybody and thanks for the help!
> I used:
> I never desired to do something like that this bad in my whole life. sounds kinda odd.
> I wanted to be passionate... just like italians usually are...
> So, I have a question: instead of using bad could I use badly: it is more "cool", it isn't?
> Thanks a lot



/me corrects without mercy.


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## Einstein

I'd say the use of "bad" here reflects a North American tendency to substitute adverbs with adjectives, for example "You do that real good" instead of "you do that really well". This doesn't seem so common in GB; I don't know whether it's cool!
It could lead to ambiguities: "I never wanted to do something so bad" could mean "Non ho mai voluto fare una cosa così brutta"!


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## neuromatico

piccione73 said:


> Hi everybody and thanks for help!
> I used:
> I have never desired to do anything like that this bad in my whole life.
> I wanted to be passionate... just like italians usually are...
> So, I have a question: instead to use bad I could use badly: it is more "cool", it isn't?
> thanks a lot


Both are fine. "Badly" is not more 'cool', but it's less colloquial than using "bad" as an adverb. It depends on how 'laid back' you want to sound.


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## perfavore

piccione73 said:


> Hi everybody and thanks for help!
> I used:
> I never desired to do something like that this bad in my whole life.
> I wanted to be passionate... just like italians usually are...
> So, I have a question: instead to of using bad I could use badly: it is more "cool", it isn't ("isn't it?" is the correct form)? badly is grammatically correct, "bad" alone is colloquial
> thanks a lot


 
Other corrections courtesy of Alex and neuromatico.


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## Murphy

I have to agree with Einstein here.  Whether or not the use of bad as an adverb is more colloquial or more "cool", in this particular sentence, it could lead to confusion.

"I have never desired to do anything this bad in my whole life" could easily be understood as;

"Non ho mai desiderato di fare una cosa così *brutta* in tutta la mia vita...."  

Using "badly" makes the meaning clearer.


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## piccione73

Ahi! The idea was: Non ho mai voluto fare qualcosa, cosi' tanto in vita mia"...


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## neuromatico

Murphy said:


> I have to agree with Einstein here.  Whether or not the use of bad as an adverb is more colloquial or more "cool", in this particular sentence, it could lead to confusion.
> 
> "I have never desired to do anything this bad in my whole life" could easily be understood as;
> 
> "Non ho mai desiderato di fare una cosa così *brutta* in tutta la mia vita...."
> 
> Using "badly" makes the meaning clearer.


On this side of the pond, "bad" is _very _commonly used as an adverb. It conveys a sense of informality and is a bit of an affectation - 'street talk', as it were. But, I agree with you; from a non-native speaker, it would probably be misinterpreted, especially by a non-native interlocutor.


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## moomoon

Karl!!!! said:


> I was thinking the same thing!


 
in american TV shows or movies I usually hear "i want this *so bad*", never heard "so badly"


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## perfavore

Hi Moomoon,

You're exactly right but it grates on the ears of our British friends.


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## neuromatico

moomoon said:


> in american TV shows or movies I usually hear "i want this *so bad*", never heard "so badly"


You have probably also heard, "That's so bad!", meaning "That's fantastic!".
In context, I'm sure you understood that these expressions were not negative. However, I still think that Murphy and Einstein were right. It's more important to be understood. Besides, I've spoken English my entire life and I've never sounded "cool".


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## lsp

"Badly" is better. It's conversational and correct and NOT uncool.
 Lsp (AE)


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## giacinta

Leo 57's contribution is, in my view, the best by a mile!  Particularly his second choice. It is certainly passionate to English speaking ears.

I am afraid I can't agree with your final choice, piccione 73. 

"anything" should replace "something" particularly if you go on to use "this bad".  I agree with Einstein, it sounds as if you want to do something which is bad itself.

Giacinta


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## Alxmrphi

perfavore said:


> Hi Moomoon,
> 
> You're exactly right but it grates on the ears of our British friends.



This "on" sounds quite odd to me here, is it normal in AE?


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## lsp

giacinta said:


> Leo 57's contribution is, in my view, the best by a mile!  Particularly his second choice. It is certainly passionate to English speaking ears....


I'm not voting for or against it, just pointing out that his choice #2 has a superfluous comma.


Alex_Murphy said:


> This "on" sounds quite odd to me here, is it normal in AE?


One AE vote... I can't imagine it _without_ "on."


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## Alxmrphi

So you say "to grate on" - I didn't know that!


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## lsp

Alex_Murphy said:


> So you say "to grate on" - I didn't know that!



Only metaphorically– "you grate on my nerves/ears," but "you grate cheese"


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## perfavore

Hello everyone,

Please remember that we all know there are differences between AE and BE and there is colloquialism in either one as well. "Badly" is definitely the correct adverb in this context but "so/this bad" has been used colloquially. Let's not make it frustrating for our non-English speaking friends to understand these nuances since I understand that this forum is not limited to the formal type of speech.


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## lsp

perfavore said:


> Hello everyone,
> 
> Please remember that we all know there are differences between AE and BE and there is colloquialism in either one as well. "Badly" is definitely the correct adverb in this context but "so/this bad" has been used colloquially. Let's not make it frustrating for our non-English speaking friends to understand these nuances since I understand that this forum is not limited to the formal type of speech.



That's precisely what our Italian friends would glean from this conversation, no? 

In my opinion, a non-native speaker who uses a colloquial term risks, in certain cases, looking more like he doesn't know better yet, than that he's made an educated choice to go with the slang or less formal. That's part of the teaching/learning process, and in my own case, exactly the kind of nuance I want to learn in Italian, now that I have acquired a certain level of experience and competency.


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## Einstein

I once again agree with the Americans leaving Alex Murphy out on a limb (but what do you expect if you live on Mars?)! I'd definitely say that something grates _on_ my ears; it's not like grating cheese.


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## Alxmrphi

I just mean I never use it like that, I might say something is "grating", but not
<noun> is grating on my <noun>, anyway I'll get back out on my limb now


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## piccione73

giacinta said:


> Leo 57's contribution is, in my view, the best by a mile! Particularly his second choice. It is certainly passionate to English speaking ears.
> 
> I am afraid I can't agree with your final choice, piccione 73.
> 
> "anything" should replace "something" particularly if you go on to use "this bad". I agree with Einstein, it sounds as if you want to do something which is bad itself.
> 
> Giacinta


 
I'm so sorry! But, unfortunately, I did't have time to wait "the perfect sentence"! I had to answer and I chose the wrong phrase 
Luckily, I spoke with a no-english guy and he understood perfectly what I wanted to say...
thanks to everybody
PS: io sono consapevole del fatto che il mio inglese deve migliorare in maniera drastica. Se potessi scrivere in italiano riuscirei a dare la profondita', l'eleganza, l'allegria, la malizia etc etc, alle mie frasi...but I have to write in English...


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## lsp

piccione73 said:


> PS: io sono consapevole del fatto che il mio inglese deve migliorare in maniera drastica. Se potessi scrivere in italiano riuscirei a dare la profondita', l'eleganza, l'allegria, la malizia etc etc, alle mie frasi...but I have to write in English...


Eh ti capisco . Ho un'idea per quando avrai la prossima domanda. Scrivi le tue frasi qui sia in italiano che in inglese perché riusciremo a capire tutte le sfumature che devono essere tradotte.

E come sempre, invita (come faccio io)  le correzioni con una pignoleria spietata. Così si imparano i dettagli che rendono le idee sottili come vorremmo se parlassimo nelle nostre madrelingue.


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## perfavore

piccione73 said:


> I'm so sorry! But, unfortunately, I didn't have time to wait for "the perfect sentence"! I had to answer and I chose the wrong phrase
> Luckily, I spoke with a non-English guy and he understood perfectly what I wanted to say...
> thanks to everybody
> PS: io sono consapevole del fatto che il mio inglese deve migliorare in maniera drastica. Se potessi scrivere in italiano riuscirei a dare la profondita', l'eleganza, l'allegria, la malizia etc etc, alle mie frasi...but I have to write in English...


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