Question 1

How would we change this sentence to say "The fish tastes like mint" using the current lesson's grammar?

Accepted Answer

You would say Il pesce sa di menta. The verb sapere followed by di means "to taste of" or "to smell of". Notice that when using sapere di to describe a flavor, we usually drop the article (just di menta, not della menta), whereas con la menta requires it.

Question 2

Why do we use the article in con la menta instead of just saying con menta?

Accepted Answer

Italian uses definite articles much more often than English, including for broad categories of food and ingredients. When pairing items with con, the article is generally kept. You will also frequently see dishes described with a combined with a definite article, like pesce alla menta, which emphasizes that it is "mint-flavored" rather than just fish served alongside mint.

Question 3

In English, "fish" can be both singular and plural. Is pesce the same?

Accepted Answer

No, pesce is strictly singular. If you are referring to multiple distinct whole fish, you must use the plural pesci and adjust the rest of the sentence: I pesci con la menta sono disgustosi. In this sentence, Il pesce refers either to a single fish or to the uncountable mass noun of fish as a dish.

Question 4

Does disgustoso carry the exact same harshness as "disgusting" in English?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it is a very strong and direct word meaning revolting or nauseating. If you are in a polite setting and want to express that a dish isn't good, you are better off saying non è molto buono (it's not very good) or ha un sapore strano (it has a strange taste). Save disgustoso for when you truly mean it is foul.

Il pesce con la menta è disgustoso.

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