"We scold their children."

Translation: Noi îi certăm pe copiii lor.

[Lng52-._]

So, when do we use "copiii" vs. "copii"?

[Jake_78343]

'copii' is 'children' and 'copiii' is 'the children'. However, if you remember from the possessive skill set, in Romanian the object of the possession includes the definite article. So 'their children' becomes 'copiii lor' just like their child would be 'copilul lor'

[pmonkelban]

Is this also the reason it takes 3rd person singular (îi) instead of 3rd person plural (le)? Is it because "the children" is singular, while "children" is plural?

I thought that the answer should be "Noi le certăm pe copiii lor."

[zj456]

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"

[Andrei926539]

"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.

[WYubN152]

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.

[Bloodyak]

So, the table for 3rd person singular is actually "îl" rather than "îi" (second character is L vs I), but the table for 3rd plural is incomplete. In the unacc. 3rd pl section, it should include "îi" for use with "ei", and "le" for "ele" (which it has).

Source: my Romanian fiancée

[ph_torres__]

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?

[VladimirAk152262]

Why do we need pe here? It doesn't exist in English

[lulubeck]

A certa takes pe. A masura does not. How do we know when to use pe?

[Ursu_Brun]

"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.