Lei sparò a un cane.

Sentence Discussions Italian
#1
English Translation

She shot at a dog.

This was originally a translation of “She shot a dog”. Does Italian make a difference between shooting someone and shooting at someone?

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#2

Yes, in Italian “sparare” works like “throw” in English (“sparare (qualcosa) a qualcuno”) , so “sparare un cane” makes me think of putting a dog into a cannon to shoot it at something.

You can use a direct object in “sparare”, if you want to specify something about the ammunition:

“Ha sparato tre pallottole” → He fired three bullets.
“Ha sparato un colpo solo” → He only fired one shot.

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#3

Thanks! So it’s not certain that she hit the dog?

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#4

Good question, I didn’t think of that.

So, no, “sparare” does not (necessarily) imply killing or hitting the target.

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