"We scold their children."
Translation:Noi îi certăm pe copiii lor.
5 Comments
'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'
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."
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.
