This stable contains twelve stalls.
A little research indicates that the building known in English as a stable is a scuderia in Italian, and that the individual stalls in that building are stalle. I’ve also found the word box used, but stallo seems to denote only the other kind of stall, where there is no forward motion. Is the terminology in Italian loose enough that this sentence would be grammatical?
This stable contains twelve stalls.
Both Google Translate and DeepL translates the English sentence “This stable contains twelve stalls” as “Questa stalla contiene dodici box.”
Ciao @billmcknight1953. A most unusual sentence, no? I tend to prefer “stalli” as it is a tad more descriptive. Fancy them referring to “box”, cosa ne pensi?
I admit I was suprised by the word ‘box’ used for the English word ‘stall’. For one thing, box is not very Italian sounding! Why not scatola? That said, I thought I would put the question to ChatGPT, asking if “box” was really the term used by Italians. ChatGPT said this:
Yes, “box” is indeed used by Italians to refer to a stall, particularly in the context of horse stables, animal care, and equestrian facilities. It’s a term that has been adopted from English and is quite common in Italian, especially in more modern or technical contexts.
For example, in a cascina (farm) or maneggio (equestrian center), you’ll often hear:
That said, while “box” is common, especially in the equestrian context, “stalli” is still perfectly correct and might be used more generally for any type of stall or compartment in a stable, especially in older or more traditional settings. But in contemporary usage, especially in professional environments, “box” has become the go-to term
ReversoContext seems to prefer stalli. So, we really need a madrelingua to step in here.
How interesting Bill. Thanks so much for all this research. Box sounds so un-Italian doesn’t it but no doubt “Giorgio” e “Carla” would add a soft “a” on the end: -)