"Hello, how are you?"
Translation:Salve, come stai?
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Duolingo has been using the informal (both singular and plural) as the only way since the very first lesson. Can you imagine how many people would be confused out of their minds being introduced to formal AND informal while also having masculine, feminine, singular, plural, and other oddities thrown at them?
Hmm, but that's part of learning the language correctly, surely? It's kind of a big part of learning it, in any case, and it was certainly taught from the off when i studied Italian. And French, for that matter.
I at least feel a question like this should accept the formal, even if it is only teaching the informal.
I got this question wrong because I only chose "Ciao, come stai?" rather than both that and "Salve, come sta?" Is the second option a formal version of this question? I'm a little annoyed at only just being introduced to the concept of the formal in Italian and getting points off for it before even realizing it exists...
Yeah, I'm with you, but I bet that annoyance will make it stick in the ol' noggin ;)
Oops, just found the answer!
"Come sei" asks about a person's physical nature or character. In other words, "what are you like," "how is your personality," "how's your looks?" You might say, "I'm an outgoing person," or something of that sort.
To contrast, "come stai" asks about a person's wellness. In other words, "how are you emotionally," "how is your health," "how do you stay," "how do you upkeep?" You might say, "I'm feeling good today."
Also this may be useful:
http://serenaitalian.wordpress.com/2010/09/09/difference-between-stare-and-essere/