"What do the children read?"
Translation:Cosa leggono i ragazzi?
64 Comments
549
I'd like to know why the order words of the sentence has to be as the two given answers and not Cosa I ragazzi leggono the answer I gave which was marked incorrect?
I am new to Italian and wrote the sentence as you did 3 years ago. Now that you are Level 25, are you able to explain to me why the word order is "Cosa leggono i ragazzi"? Grazie
- 1955
A lot of European languages invert the subject and verb to ask a question, as well as bring the question word into the subject. English does, too, although we frequently use an auxiliary verb.
I am here.
Where am I?
The children (do) read a book.
What do the children read?
It's the same thing in Italian:
I ragazzi leggono un libro.
Cosa leggono i ragazzi?
That is not correct. Italian doesn’t invert subject and verb to mark a question, but for emphasis. It is entirely possible to ask, “I ragazzi cosa leggono?”
Grazie mille! I am used to question inversion in French which always includes a hyphen. It didn't occur to me that this was being written in the same fashion.
- 1955
Different language, different orthography rules.
But writing is merely a way to record speech. There are no hyphens in spoken French.
As IsolaCiao pointed out below:
For questions in Italian, the word order is typically:
[question word] [verb] [subject]
[Cosa] [leggono] [i ragazzi]?
The subject has to come before the interrogative pronoun:
I ragazzi cosa leggono?
I'm confused. When should I use "Cosa" and when should I use "Che"? The two correct answers it showed me were "i ragazzi che leggono" and "Cosa leggono i ragazzi". What's the difference?
I read somewhere that "Che" means "what (kind of)" and can be used in front of a noun, "Cosa" means "what kind of thing" and is never used in front of another noun. Hope that helps.
- 679
For questions in Italian, the word order is typically:
[question word] [verb] [subject]
[Cosa] [leggono] [i ragazzi]?
The options in the drop down for "children" includes "figli" i don't understand why that was marked wrong. I can see no context in this exercise for knowing whether "children" are "ragazzi", "figli" or "bambini".
- 1955
"Bambino" means "baby", or at any rate indicates an age younger than "ragazzo," which means they're not really synonyms.
I see, but younger than ragazzo still may indicate a child (bambino). Bambini can also mean babies, as you mentioned.
Perhaps I breezed through too fast, but it seemed to me that (in the multiple choice) this was asked not long ago, and the answer had to do with "bambini"...and it was accepted...I thought.
- 1955
That's a little vague and not much to go on. There are other factors involved that determine whether your answer should have been accepted or not.
- 124
When you hover over children, it says bambini, and then they count it wrong! This shouldn't be. What gives?
- 124
What do you do if the program is wrong? This isn't the first time I've run into this.
- 1955
Well, if you are 100% positive your answer is correct (as in, you can prove it with good outside resources) and you don't have any bad typos in your answer, all you can do is flag it and report "My answer should have been accepted".
perchè "cosa leggono i ragazzi" ma "quanti caffè bevi"? it seems one sentence is question word, verb, niun, and the other is question word, noun verb?
- 1955
It matters what question is being asked.
Cosa leggono i ragazzi = What are the boys reading = The boys are reading what?
Quanti caffè bevi = How many coffees are you drinking = You are drinking how many coffees?
I would like to know why "Che cosa leggono i ragazzi" was marked as incorrect. Thank you
le regazze would be correct for a group of only girls. A mixture of boys and girls or only boys would be i ragazzi. This example doesn't specify exclusively girls in the group which in turn led to your answer being incorrect.
- 32
You shouldn't have to specify that the group is made up of boys or girls exclusively. Ragazze should be acceptable, especially since previously we had the example "le gatte" as the only right choice for "the cats" even though nothing indicated the cats were female.
I've put Cosa leggono figli, why is that wrong? figli is children as well, right?
- 1955
Yes. But this does not refer to someone's offspring. It's children in general.
A specific translation is "WHAT (THEY) READ THE BOYS" <--- why is it in this form ???!!!@_@ Please Help me whom Ever you Are ?????!!!!
Your phrase has more of an inclination to ask "which", rather than "what" (cosa)
- 1955
The grammatical masculine is the default here. "ragazzi" can mean either "boys" or "children", but "ragazze" can only mean "girls".
- 32
Yes, but previously we had "le gatte" as the only possible answer in a context where nothing suggested the cats were female. What gives? Shouldn't consistency be important?
As a learner of both French and Italian, I suggest to the Italian developers to take a look at how inclusive, precise, and consistent the French developers are. They leave nothing to chance or the learners' ability to guess. I never have these problems with the French course.
- 679
The French course has many volunteer contributors AND paid staff. The Italian course has maybe 3 volunteer contributors. A course becomes "consistent" through user error reports and contributors approving those error reports. I think our Italian contributors are doing the best they can with their limited numbers.
- 32
Thank you for clarifying the logistical aspect. I didn't know the French course had paid staff (it shows). As a volunteer who enjoys helping others, I am grateful for the time people donate. So, I'll say "thank you" to the Italian contributors and I'll continue to flag inconsistencies to help make the course better.
- 134
My problem with this translation excercise, is that when you click on the word "children" the words that come up are "bambini" and not ragazzi, which is "little boys". Sexist AND incorrect.
- 1955
Grammatical gender is not sexist. "Bambini" and "ragazzi" can mean "boys" or "children".
- 32
We are not talking about grammatical gender here but of the fact that "ragazzi" (boys) is offered as an answer for "children" and "ragazze" (girls) is flagged as wrong. This is not grammar but the social acceptance of a masculine noun as a generic term. And THAT is sexist. Centuries of usage (if indeed we're talking of centuries and not merely decades) do not diminish the sexism. Besides, previously "le gatte" was offered in a different context as the only possible translation for "the cats" in a context where nothing suggested the cats were female. Consistency and inclusion are both important. People shouldn't have to guess what the instructors are thinking.
- 1955
il ragazzo = the boy/the child
i ragazzi = the boys/the children
la ragazza = the girl
le ragazze = the girls
- 1955
"Le ragazze" can only mean "the girls", so you need "i ragazzi" for "children" in general.
Seriously? Is this a question to ask? And that too from the GREAT DL to us adults!?
Sorry,no comment on this :-|
