Known words in unknown context

Open Forum in English
1

Hi,
I’m relatively new to Lingq (I’m learning Italian) and I have a question about how to use the ‘known words’ facility.
I’m finding that there are words I know used in a context I’ve not come across before. Here is an example:-

Lì non riesco a capire se questa gente qua che studia questi fenomeni è gente seria oppure si lasciano un po’ influenzare da tante altre cose,

I know all the words in this extract, but the phrase “si lasciano un po’ influenzare” is new to me. I can have a stab at translating this, but how can I determine if my guess is correct? Is there a way of indicating and recording this?

I’d be grateful for any help.
All the best,
Bob_the_dog.

2

run it through Google translate?

3

Hi Helen,
Thanks for your suggestion, but like most online translators the software can’t cope with an idiomatic expression and just takes each word and translates it literally, usually producing an ugly sentence that makes no sense. I think I need a way of finding an idiomatic translation (is that the right word, or is it a ‘colloquialism’?).
All the best,
Bob_the_dog.

4

I usually do not worry about the parts that are unclear. Things just clear up over time. You can save the phrase and ask a tutor from the LingQ box.

5

The best thing to do is to LingQ the phrase and ask a tutor what it means from the LingQ widget.

6

I ran the phrase through Google translate and came up with a wrong translation. Funny, because I thought it was pretty easy to translate that phrase correctly.

Bob, the phrase poses no problem to me (I don’t even think this is an idiomatic expression). What is your take at translating it?

7

Thank you all for your replies.

Falcao, I guess my (fairly free) translation would be “…whether they are honest people or are influenced by other things.”

I’m fairly sure that this is the sense of what is written, am I anywhere near the mark?

All the best,

Bob_the_dog.

8

Yes Bob. That’s exactly what the phrase means. You got it! :slight_smile:

9

Thankyou Falcao for your encouraging reply.
From another source I am informed that “si lasciano un po’ influenzare” is probably better translated as “they let themselves be influenced a little”, which seems to me to be more accurate.
Again, many thanks,
All the best,