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- "Cosa mangi?"
21 Comments
but in italian "What are you eating?" will be "Che cosa stai mangiando?" It is correct?
Yes, it is correct. (In English, when asking, the verb goes first. You must say: "Is it correct?".)
How do you know it is present tense ("What are you eating?") rather than past tense ("What did you eat?")?
Past tense has a different construction. This form of the verb mangiare, "mangi", is only used in the present second-person singular (as well as a few forms of the subjunctive, which Duolingo doesn't touch upon until WAY later, so don't worry about that right now); in other words, "mangi" only (at this point in the lessons) means "you (singular) eat (present)."
The past tense, "What did you eat?" would look something like "Che cosa hai mangiato?"
why 'cosa' and not cos'e´? What is the difference in the two? Is cosa for a "thing" and cos'é for a person?
It's not about the gender. It's easy: "Cosa" means "what". "Cosa é" means "what is". In other situations you can translate "cosa" with "thing". Example: "Racism is a stupid thing." ➡ "Il razzismo é una cosa stupida".
My Italian friend always says "Cosa?" to his parents after they say something to him.
What's you eating? And be prepared for that!) ...& Whatzit ye eatin? So: you eat in or you eat out?
