"Io scrivo ai ragazzi."
Translation:I write to the children.
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if there's any group with mixed gender, you always use the male form. like 'ci sono una gatta e un gatto' -> 'ci sono due gatti'
Io scrivo ai ragazzi is in present simple. What you wrote is in present progressive.
I am writing = sto scrivendo
I write = scrivo
ai (a+i) ragazzi = to the boys/children
Literally every single other exercise Duolingo has uses these interchangeably though.
You can always enter "I write" or "I am writing" to translate into English from another language's present tense.
No, "always" is not correct. It depends on the language.
Some languages have a distinction between present simple and present progressive that is similar to English; Irish and Turkish come to mind. In such a case, the correct tense has to be chosen, in general.
Many of the languages taught on Duolingo do not make a distinction, and then the present tense could correspond to either in English, that is true.
In French as well. I suspect this may (might) be true of the Roman language category (Romance languages).
Since there is a huge difference between 'I am eating' and 'I eat', I think it is important that each tense is translated to the proper, corresponding tense, or people will be taught that the difference is neglectable. Learn to spot the difference instead and stop trying to find shortcuts. Every aspect of the languages deserves to be preserved and used.
the problem is those tenses outright don't exist in romantic languages, english sort of has it but it is classified under one single tense. you wouldn't say je suis manger in french or io sono mangiare in italian it's just je mange and io mangio. the difference IS negligible in the context of these languages nut it isn't in others, you can't teach a distinction that grammatically doesn't exist in a language, it isn't in the three romance languages nor english so it wouldn't make sense for duolingo to teach it just because it exists in other languages. the story is obviously different if the language makes that distinction.
Okay but I wrote "i write to the boys" and was also flagged as incorrect. This sentence has 2 meanings and both should be accepted
Okay but I wrote "i write to the boys" and was also flagged as incorrect
In latin languages, when there are both males and females in a group, since there isn't a gender neutral suffix, the male suffix is preferred.
Thank you for clarifying. i was also wondering why ragazzi has translated to children and not boys.
ragazzo = boy ; ragazza = girl ; ragazzi = (plurale of ragazzo) boys, children you should search up how to build the italian plural(e?) form. I'd give you a link but my internet is too lame
I think this is because you put 'am writing', if you put 'I write to the boys' it would be right, as 'scrivo' is write not writing and there is no 'sono' in the sentance
You are right. Children stands for bambini... boys for ragazzi (un ragazzo is older than a bambino...)
Sto scrivendo = I a writing
(Io) scrivo = I write
ai *(a+i) = to the
bambini ~ baby boys / a mixed group of young children
bambine ~ baby girls
ragazzi ~ boys / a mixed group of children
ragazze ~ girls
Grazie mille! I carry this prepositions chart in my wallet, very helpful!
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al= a+il eg.: al cinema=to the cinema; ai= a+i eg.: ai ragazzi=to the children. You can learn the prepositions if you search 'le preposizioni' ;)
And an interesting fact: italians use the masculine noun even if there are many girls and only one boy. So I think that's why ragazzi can mean children and boys also.
It should be correct as that's what I put and it was OK Ragazzi = boys and children (a mixture of boys and girls) in general
Yea i had that too, i realized that it is because it said raggazi as in children, therefore we dont know the sex of the children-it could be girls
bambini and ragazzi can both mean children. However, bambini almost always refers exclusively to young children. Ragazzi typically refers to teenagers or youths, in the sense of "children". Therefore, if you have to translate bambini, use the word "children". If you have to translate ragazzi or ragazze, "children" might or might not work, depending on the context. It is safer to stick to "boys" or "girls".
In a more colloquial sense, ragazzi (mixed group or m.pl) and ragazze (f. pl) can be used to talk to / about close adult friends, just as "girls", "boys" or "guys" can be used in English.
il mio ragazzo can also be used to mean "my boyfriend"
il bimbo / la bimba are words that you may also find used in reference to very young children
When parents say that they have 2 children, they generally use the term filgi (boys or mixed) or figlie (just girls), e.g. abbiamo due figli. These nouns are il figlio and la figlia in the singular.
(Warning for Italian native speakers: be very careful about using the word "bimbo" in English - it has a very different meaning! http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english-italian/bimbo )
These may help:
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english-italian/children
http://www.garzantilinguistica.it/en/search/?q=bambino
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/italian-english/bimbo
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/italian-english/ragazzo
http://www.garzantilinguistica.it/en/search/?q=ragazzo
I hope this helps.
Ragazzi is boys or guys, bambini is children. But, in the common language when a parent talk about his sons (or a grandparent about his grandchildren), he says "ragazzi" even if they are children.
'Ragazzi' could be also a group of boy(s) AND girls (or even just one girl). Then you could translate it 'children' as 'bambini' but I suggest the better 'boy(s) and girl(s) '. If the group consist only of girls then it's imperative to use 'ragazzE'.
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It's certainly weirdly complicated compared to the other three Romance languages I know.
'I write the boys' wasn't correct, while it's a clear dative where you can omit the 'to'. Compare with I write him our I write to him.
In italian everything is either female or male, - there is no neutrum.
Un bambino = a baby boy - / - una bambina = a baby girl
Due bambini = two baby boys - / - due bambine = two baby girls
Un ragazzo = a boy - / - una ragazza = a girl
Due ragazzi = two boys - / - due ragazze = two girls
But if you want to refer to a mixed group of children, e.g. 2 girls and 2 boys, you use the male plural form. Depending on their age it's either "i bambini" (if they are small children) or "i ragazzi" (if they are a bit older children).
So without more context there is really no way to know if ". .ai ragzzi." is referring to a group of boys or a mixed group of children.
It depends on how old they are.
- Babys and young children are called bambino/a/i/e, (ending depends on sex and number)
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When they grow a bit older they are usually called ragazzo/a/i/e.
-
And for mixed groups, you normally use the male plural form.
ai = to the (masculine plural)
nel = in the (masculine singular)
al = to the (masculine singular
They are from a + i, in + il , a + il, respectively.
Ragazzi means a group of boys, or a group of boys and girls. So boys or children are both correct. Ragazze is just a group of girls.
So if "to the" translates to "al" then the plural "the" is to "i" for masculine. It merges and becomes "ai" ? Did I get this right?
The basic preposition is "a" (to, at).
"al" is already a merged form of "a + il" (with the masculine singular definite article), and "ai" is a merged form of "a + i" (with the masculine plural definite article).
See https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/a#Italian for a list of more merged forms of "a" with other forms of the definite article.
"I write the kids" is wrong too... Sometimes this app lacks fluidity for me.
I think it is acceptable to translate: I write the boys (a letter), without "to"
I put "I write the children" and it was marked wrong?? Is it because it's technically an incomplete sentence or something? "Quick, write the children a letter." But don't people say things like "I wrote my grandmother yesterday to ask whether or not she likes her new yoga class"?
Io scrivo, ai (a+i), ragazzi. =
I write, to the, boys/children
Quick, write the children a letter! =
Svelto, scrivi una lettera ai ragazzi!
I wrote (to) my grandmother yesterday to ask whether or not she likes her new yoga class. =
Ieri ho scritto a mia nonna per chiedere se le piace la sua nuova lezione di yoga.
Ragazzi is boys, whereas bambini is children. Your sentence reads "I write to the boys", not "children"
My partner who is italian said if it is 'I write to children' then it should be bambini.
Why is "I write to children." wrong? Couldn't it be talking about children in general?
I think it's the "ai (a+il) ragazzi" that mess things up for you as a il = to the.
I understand "children", but why is "I write to the boys" an incorrect translation?
Ragazzo = a boy or a young person of unknown gender
Ragazzi = a group of young people of male or mixed/unknown gender
Ragazza = a girl
Ragazze = a group of only girls
Bambino = a baby of male or unknown gender
Bambini = a group of babies of male or mixed/unknown gender
Bambina = a baby girl
Bambine = group of only baby girls
This may seem discriminating . . . . . . . . to the boys, - as there are no separate forms for boys only.
I typed " i write the boys " and what!!! Its right..literally does it make any sense!! I think its...." i write to the boys"....i didnt understand y it mentioned mine is correct....
Why does duolingo sometimes allow you to ommit "io" and penalise you other times?
So how are we supposed to know if Duolingo is referring to children or boys? Besides tapping on the word and picking the first definition.
I think there is no way we can known if "ragazzi" is refering tog a group of boys only or a mixed group of children, but I assume either is acepted . . . if the rest also is correct.
Io scrivo = I write
ai (a+i) = to the
ragazzi = boys/children
They should have put a picture with the sentence it would have solved a lot of confusion.
Its confusing because they let you learn that ragazzi can mean both boys and children. So you need to guess and thats incorrect. Now I made a mistake that wasnt my fault.
al = a + il
ai = a + i
So al before masculine singular, ai before masculine plural.
Molto bene per il maschile. Invece, per il femminile =: alla a + la _ per il femminile plurale: alle = a + le