"Your children grow."

Translation: I tuoi figli crescono.

[tmac876]

Why must you have the "i" at the beginning of the sentence here when children are close members of the family?

[ziggKogg]

Good question, I would like to know if that is just the way Italian is or is it just something the programmers missed.

[tmac876]

So, I now know the answer. Whenever it is plural, they use the article, even for close members of the family. Also, no matter if it is plural or no, when using "loro", the article is always used: il loro padre...i loro fratelli per esempio.

[ziggKogg]

Super, thanks for the quick response!

[magofa]

Also, why doesn't ragazzi work here?

[ziggKogg]

Becuase "ragazzi" is general children, "figli" seems more personal; your children, your sons and daughters.

[magofa]

Makes sense! TY

[petermuster550]

We don't know from the context whether 'children' are actually the children of the person who is being addressed, though.

[AMN539085]

Ragazzi translates to teenagers and young adults. Today people in their early 30s might still be refered to "ragazzi". So I put "bambini" here.

You could say "ragazzini" for young teenagers or older children, I am not sure if it is only colloquial though.

[mary.gh86]

Why is "i vostri figli crescono" wrong?

[gloomee]

Same question here

[Catia9]

Is now accepted - Feb 2016.

[Alicia_Diozzi]

I think "ragazzi" should be accepted. I teach school and I have "my children" as in my students and I'm a mom, so I also have "my children". A person could be referring to children other than the ones I gave birth to. I got it wrong for writing "ragazzi". Thank you.

[AMN539085]

From my experience, "ragazzi" translates to "teenagers", while "bambini" tranlates to "children".

I have never heard people say "I miei ragazzi", and it sounds a bit creepy too. Either "I miei bambini" for a parent, or "I miei studenti" for a teachers is a lot more frequent and less creepy.
Basically, only "bambini" can be possesions, "ragazzi" are not (although when it comes to meaning boy/girl friend when sigular, it can be "mio"). So I disagree with allowing ragazzi.

Now there are perspectives. A dad might still call his 17YO daughter "bambina", and today's youngsters in their early 30s still call their gang "ragazzi".

[gordon_gregory]

I also clicked on "I suoi figli crescono" and was marked wrong. .20 or so questions ago Duolingo said that "suo" with a lower case "s" could mean "you". Why is "suoi" not accepted as "yours"?

[AMN539085]

In formal terms, "suoi" means yours, and his/hers.

I guess here it is looking for the unforma one

[AliMargot]

I think "i suoi" would mean "his/her children" but I'm not italian, so this is only my thoughts. Hope someone corrects me if I'm wrong.

[Mary_Dominick]

this is is dumb -- ragazzi has the same meaning as figli i.e children