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- "What do the children read?"
"What do the children read?"
Translation:Cosa leggono i ragazzi?
98 Comments
1013
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?
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?
66
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?
1197
For questions in Italian, the word order is typically:
[question word] [verb] [subject]
[Cosa] [leggono] [i ragazzi]?
1197
I agree that Google Translate isn't reliable, but I also agree that "bambino" is a good translation for "child". Native speaker f.formica says:
Generally speaking, bambino is a child and ragazzo is a teenager; however, children tend to protest that name, and young men often don't want to feel too grown up, so the term "ragazzo" can refer to any male from 12 to 40 :P
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.
1197
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.
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.
I now know that "Cosa i ragazzi leggono?" isn't accepted, merely because I tried it and got my hand slapped; never mind that the last time I read the tips for questions, they said that questions tend to be indicated more by intonation and punctuation (and of course by interrogative words) than by reordering of words. It's all right with me that I lost a mere point, learning the lesson the hard way, but I can just imagine the resentment of people who are penalized by the "hearts system" when testing what they've read.