"Sono dei ricercatori."
Translation:They are researchers.
61 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Can't this also be translated as "They are from the researchers"? For instance, If you were asked where the files came from, could you answer "Sono dei ricercatori"?
Following a noun, [...] dei ricercatori translates as "[...] of the researchers" / "the researchers' [...]" (note the apostrophe at the end). It implies possession.
Technically, I think your translation "They are from the researchers", could work as well, when replying to someone asking to whom [some objects] belong. See marziotta's answer to Elena18's (similar) question.
However, the construction sono dei/degli/delle [...] commonly translates as "they are (some) [...]", it is used a lot in Italian and should be understood as a concept that does not always translate word for word. Examples: http://context.reverso.net/traduccion/italiano-ingles/sono+dei
When talking about files or other things that "come from the researchers", vengono dai ricercatori might be more natural to use: http://context.reverso.net/traduccion/italiano-ingles/vengono+dai
In case you're struggling (like I was) to understand the difference between di(+definite article) and da(+definite article), the following links provide examples of the use of dei http://context.reverso.net/traduccion/italiano-ingles/dei+bambini and dai http://context.reverso.net/traduccion/italiano-ingles/dai+bambini in a context.
Then why not have a 'grammar point' BEFORE such a sentence appears? Really, correcting errors that are the fault of the programmers, is not our duty...
'They are (some) researchers'. I would assume that 'dei' is a partitive article meaning that they are a subset of the set of all possible researchers. Rather like French, which calls for a partitive article whether or not English uses 'some/any'.
No, because ricercatori is in the plural form. The correct full sentence is " Loro sono dei ricercatori ".
That would be "Sono dai ricercatori"
Dai = from the
Dei = of the / some
I translated this correctly, however could you also translate this as "They are the researchers'"? (For example, "Di chi sono i libri"? "Sono dei ricercatori" (or have I made a mess of this? :) Grazie!
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As I understand this, 'dei' here refers to the plural indefinite article (non-existent in English). So I would say no, you cannot translate that as 'the researchers', only as 'researches', meaning 'some researchers'.
But I would like to hear an answer from a native speaker.
Not a native speaker, but I agree: "the researchers" would be "i ricercatori"
Also not native, but for the French speakers, "dei" seems to be similar to the French "des" which can be completely left out in the translation as here, or can mean "some" or even "of the" but not just "the", but unlike English, is required. Not sure how far this comparison can be drawn made but thought it might help.
No, that is not what Elena18 means, I think. She writes an apostrophe after the researchers, so it is the researchers' (genitive of the researchers). There are also quotes around it, "researchers'", so it's easy to miss. The example she gives actually makes it clear what she means, but all answers so far seem to be ignoring this. How would you say "Whose books are those? They are the researchers'." in Italian? I think I would also guess the translation that Elena is giving, perhaps wrongly.
Yes, even if the most natural translation is the given one, out of context it could be "They are of the researchers." (or with your genitive). But remember that without any context, "they are researchers" is the most common translation.
"They are the researchers" suggests that they are all of the researchers. I think that 'dei' leaves room for there to be other researchers, since it suggests "some of", so "They are researchers" (which also leaves room for there to be other researchers) is more accurate.
I'm not sure whether "They are some of the researchers" would have been marked correct, but I bet it would.
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I answered "they are the researchers" and it was marked wrong. I think sparyalbatross' explanation is correct.
Can we omit "dei" in this sentence? Do native speakers often use this article?
Oh my God!! so many sometimes really good questions without answers!!! DUO, if you cannot answer them, so why you don't omit them!!! they are useless and it takes so much time to read them just hoping to find a useful answer... please DUO do something!
Your statement is exactly correct! If the learning method is that they teach us by asking questions and we learn when we get the answer wrong, they must provide the explanation for us - somehow! If the explanation must come from the forums, then there must be native speakers planted here by DL to help us.
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Does the sentence "Loro sono ricercatori" have the same meaning: They are researchers?
If a job is masculine like " l'avvocato " as a male lawyer and we want to say a female lawyer , do we say " la avvocata " and if no then how can we say it and if yes do we apply this as a rule ?!!!!!!!!!!!
l'avvocato (male) / l'avvocatessa (female)
il ricercatore (male) / la ricercatrice (female)
l'architetto (male) / l'architetta (female)
il direttore (male) / la direttrice (female)
il meccanico (male) / la meccanica (female)
il segretario (male) / la segretaria (female)
l'operaio (male) / l'operaia (female)
il capitano (male) / la capitana (female)
il pescatore (male) / la pescatrice (female)
il contadino (male) / la contadina (female)
il poliziotto (male) / la poliziotta (female)
il dottore (male) / la dottoressa (female)
lo scrittore male / la scrittrice (female)
In what cases do you use 'I' (io sono) and what cases do you use 'They' (loro sono)?
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Is the a difference between "Sono i ricercatori." and "Sono dei ricercatori."? - except that no Italian would say one of the two sentences?
Can it not mean 'I am a researcher' as well, since the plural isn't connected to the pronoun, if it's literally 'they are of the researchers'? Or would you only use this way of speaking about multiple people?
The very next question that DL threw my way was an audio that said 'Loro sono ricercatori' with the answer being 'They are researchers'. That answers several of the questions posted here. It is obviously okay to say it either way.
I will go ahead and guess Duolingo founders are not native English speakers, because this sentence makes no sense whatsoever...
If it's a group containing men and women can you use ricercatrici or ricercatori?
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on hover, ricercatori has 3 English translations, of which one is 'research workers.' I chose this one because in my field at least we do not usually speak of 'researchers'. But even tho it was a possiblity acc to the hover transl, it was nonetheless marked wrong.
as i read the comments here for clarification of my own answer i realize everyone is guessing and assuming.
Why was dei used in this example but not the previous one which was very similar?