"The boys eat bread."
Translation:I ragazzi mangiano il pane.
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Excellent summary by Nitram on use of the definite article in Italian. https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/1012366/When-to-use-the-definite-article. Although English would use bread without the article, the Italians use the article before names of materials. This article has a great list of when articles are used and when they are not used in Italian
The previous exercise was "the women eat bread" and my answer of 'le donne mangiano pane' was considered correct. Why is it correct for 'the women' but not correct for 'the boys'? Something is inconsistent.
Thanks for the link. I speak Spanish pretty well, so many of the rules are the same, or are variations of a rule for the same situation in Spanish. But I am unclear why bread is more of a "material" than some other food items. Do you have any insight there?
Wouldn't "il pane" translate to "the bread" instead of just bread? I'm probably missing something so i just want to make sure I'm understanding this. Thanks.
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It is correct with or without "il". Italians just started using "the" for things in general rather than just specific things, and it has become an accepted part of their language, from what I've be able to gather.
My thoughts exactly! I think it's an error in duolingo, not a misunderstsnding on our part.
"Gli" and "i" are both used as the definite article for masculine plural. Use "i" for plural masculine nouns that start with a consonant. "I fratelli" (the brothers) Use "gli" for plural masculine nouns that begin with a vowel "gli amici" (the friends). But that is not all! You also need to use "gli" in front of masculine plural words in 7 other common situations!! : Words beginning with z, s+ another consonant, gn, pn, ps, x or y. Eg: "gli studenti" (the students) "gli pneumatici" (the tyres) "gli yogurt" (the yoghurts)
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"gli" for masculine nouns and nouns that start with a vowel. "I" for other masculine nouns. And while we're at it, "le" for feminine plurals
Shouldn't it be: "I ragazzi mangiano pane" because there is no article in front of bread- It's not "the bread" it's just; "bread"
I am writing this sentence correct(I ragazzi mangiano il pane) but it does not accept it as correct,why?
The sentence is "the boys eat bread", not "the boys eat breads" (as in the boys eat multiple types of bread)
why do i need 'I' article if i am stating ragazzi? when other times it tells me i dont..
I am not sure, and I am hoping to get some confirmation here. I have had the same question about some exercises. I speak French and Spanish and French always always uses some sort of article and Spanish would never use one here. It seems to me that the Spanish rules are the more commonly used rules in Italian, but there is somehow a greater tendency to add an article. I think of all the exercises that have either Bevo acqua or bevo l'acqua. I think Duo is trying to say that many Italians would tend to say l'acqua when we would just say water. Can anyone confirm this?
what is the difference between using "I" vs "il" (in this case as a definite article before "ragazzi"?)
Both the noun and the article change in the plural. The plural form of il is i, and of la is le. This means that the noun endings and the article ending (or sole letter) mostly match in the plural. Il ragazzo becomes i ragazzi and la ragazza becomes le ragazze. But you have to be careful with feminine nouns ending in e in the singular. In those cases the noun forms the plural with an i, although the article still becomes le. So la chiave becomes le chiavi. Since nouns ending in e can be either masculine or feminine, those are especially important to learn the gender with as you learn the word.
so why does this need the article before "bread" but a previous similar sentence skipped the article?
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English only uses the direct article "the" when a specific thing is being talked about. Italian, on the other hand, uses "the" for specific things but also uses "the" for things in general, as well. Here, the sentence is saying the boys eat bread, in general, so English does not use an article. thoughtco.com/italian-definite-articles-4055936
Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear.
There are two separate Italian sentences that are nearly identical but one uses an article but the other one omits the article.
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No, I understood what you said. The Italian present tense can be translated into both the simple present and the present continuous tense in English. So, my understanding, and a native Italian speaker hopefully can chime in also, is if the sentence were saying "The boys are eating bread (right now)" it would be "I ragazzi mangiano pane" but if the sentence is saying "The boys eat bread (in general) it would be "I ragazzi mangiano il pane".
This point of grammar has never been explained in the Tips and causes more problems, up to this point in the class, than anything else I have seen.
Mangiamo, like all verbs ending in amo, is the noi (we) conjugation. Mangiano is the loro or They conjugation, and ano is standard for all verbs that end in -are, although -ire and -ere verbs use ono.
