"We scold their children."
Translation:Noi îi certăm pe copiii lor.
11 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
This is the accusative case (their children are the direct object of the sentence), therefore "îi" and "le" are both 3rd person plural. The difference is that "îi is masculine (or mixed genders) whilst "le" is feminine only.
Only in the dative case is "îi" 3rd person singular, but that does not apply here.
It would be correct to use "le" if all children in the group were female, otherwise you would use "îi"
"It would be correct to use "le" if all children in the group were female, otherwise you would use "îi"" - that's not correct.
Copil is a masculine noun. Un copil / Doi copii. It does not matter that the children are all girls. If you want to use "le" you must change the noun. Le certăm pe fetele lor.
Another useful tip: You have 9 girls and 1 boy in a group. The pronoun you use is the masculine one "ei". You would use "ele" only if the group is 100% made from girls.
57
Why is îi used here? From the table, îi is for 3rd person singular, but it seems like third person plural should be used, in reference to copiii.
2452
îi can be both the unstressed form of the 3rd masc. pl. (accusative) and the unstressed form of the 3rd masc./fem. sing. (dative).
Accusative
- Eu ii iubesc pe ei = I love them (men)
- Eu le iubesc pe ele = I love them (women)
Dative
- Tu ii explici despre ce este vorba? = Can you explain to him/her what this is about?
- Tu le explici despre ce este vorba? = Can you explain to them what this is about?
995
"A certa" is a transitive verb, thus requiring an object that is usually introduced by the preposition "pe", but there are situations when the object is directly used, as in "a certa copilul". In a similar manner, "a măsura" can take "pe" or not, "măsoară copilul" and "îl măsoară pe copil, apoi pleacă acasă" express the same thing.