"What do the five men read?"

Translation: Cosa leggono i cinque uomini?

[willem6]

How come that the article that in principle belongs to 'uomini' has changed from 'gli' to 'i' here? Is this just because the number has come in between?

[mukkapazza]

Exactly :)

[wiplala]

because it is "gli uomini" , the noun begins with a vowel. "i cinque uomini" cinque bigins with a consonant, so you have to use "i". This rule goes also with singular words. I am not english, so I hope I explained clearly. :-)

[balazs_g]

What about "the eight men"? Given the vowel in "eight" I presume "gli" remains: gli otto uomini.
More generally: any adjective comes in between the noun and the article, the article changes in accordance with the starting vocal of the adjective? (i belli uomini?, gli aperti uomini? etc.)

[Sprachbund]

It is exactly as in English: "a man", but "an old man". The article is determined by the word immediately following it (although masculine/feminine is still determined by the noune).

[wiplala]

yep!

[Iris_17]

So if I understand correctly, you also get 'gli otto gatti' ?

[wiplala]

yes, and if you have singular like in: Lo stesso libro, you use "lo" before a vowel (l') (l'altro giorno), "z", "s+consonant"

[Lizzy.Bizzy.Bee]

So... l'uno squalo would be correct?

[coloraday]

What's wrong with 'Cosa i cinque uomini leggono?', please?

[EddenCS]

Why "cosa i cinque uomini leggono" is wrong?

[DermotMcInerney]

Yes, I put the same sentence and was told I'd used the wrong word! I think it must be a question of syntax (word order). Maybe someone can enlighten me.

[Chris123456]

I'm confused - again! "Qual è....." is not allowed. Only "Cose......" Are there any simple rules to help differentiate when to use one or the other of these terms?

[mukkapazza]

Qual/quale/quali = which

Cosa/che cosa/che = what

Keep in mind that these may not always translate one to one: What is the name of the book/Qual è il nome del libro (but also) cos'è il nome del libro

[nadavnoah]

can someone explain why "che cosa" was a mistake?

[LINBUR0100]

Che cosa is not a mistake, at least not as of today, 6/27. The form I used was "Che cosa leggono i cinque uomini" and it was accepted without issue.

[nadavnoah]

Thanks

[ThomasGasc1]

Why is "cosa stanno leggendo..." not correct?

[brian.sper]

What's wrong with "Che cose leggono gli cinque uomini?" Seems like it would translate the same in plural?

[Chel451498]

Your sentence looks good except for the 'gli'. The cinque changes gli uomini to i cinque uomini. The article matches the noun in gender & number, but grammar rules say it also fits the word that follows.

[TonyGraue]

could someone tell me the difference between cos'è and cosa

[Vizzini314]

"Cos'e" is a contraction of "cosa" and "e" (with the accent, which my keyboard doesn't allow). So, "Cos'e?" includes the verb: "What is this?" "Cosa" has no verb, and means just "thing" or "what"