"Sai come sono i ragazzi."

Translation: You know how boys are.

[Sally-Helen]

This sentence, in my opinion, does not translate well, I find it very confusing!

[stefaniamazza]

You know. (Sai) How are (come son) Boys (i ragazzi)
You know how are the boys.

The grammar is set up different, but it translates perfectly. You're just not used to the grammar. It's okay! It's very confusing at first but Latin grammar makes a lot of sense once you get used to it.

[EleanorSam2]

It's confusing because directly translating this to English makes it sound like you are talking about specific boys, not boys in general. I translated it as You know how the boys are like and that's way off. I might have gotten it right if it was just "ragazzi" instead of "i ragazzi" because in English that is a specifying word. It definitely is just needing to get used to the grammar, but it is very confusing until you can figure out when il/lo/la/i/gli/le is specifying and when it is not

[awebb253]

I think the problem with this sentence is the lack of context.

[LifyaKH]

I think that it still makes sense even if referring to specific boys.

'They got Ingrid some flowers. You know how the boys are - they're very sweet'

'I've not seen them in a week, so you tell her - you know how the boys are'

[Saeed_p86]

Thanks

[marcponzio]

I agree. I often find myself makes mistakes because I missed an i/il/lo/la/gli/le or because I included it when it wasn't needed. I particularly have problems with the L' in l'acqua. Sometimes I use it and they say I'm wrong, sometimes I don't use it and I'm wrong. I feel as if it's just one of those colloquialisms that we need to get used to.

[Mico_di_Ostia]

Dl marks thid wrong

[joeybemate]

Should it not be come stanno rather than come sono though?

[BrooksHart]

I couldn't figure it out even by "peeking".

[VipulKapoo]

In Italian, you don't end sentences with verbs like "are"

[Tcclimber]

You shouldn't in English either but there was no other way to get the answer correct.

[DesieJ-bon]

Does "come" translates "how" as well as "like"?

[Twinkle_M]

Agreed

[GuerraAmanda]

Guys, it's like two girls talking and then one of them says "Omg, i'm so tired of him being like that to me!" and the another one says "Well, you know how boys are".

It means: don't expect anything different from them.

I'm not Italian, but I speak portuguese and that is a common expression to us too x))

[deactivated user]

"don't expect nothing different" = expect something different

[GuerraAmanda]

Uh, I'm sorry uwu mother language things, I'll fix it xD thanks

[deactivated user]

That's cool. Thanks for looking on my comment as constructive criticism :-)

Double negatives seem to be used a lot these days, and for someone to attempt to correct it tends to result in a troll attack. So it's nice to see that this site is full of nice people who really do want to learn :-)

I could have/should have expanded on what I said and perhaps flowered it up some (where did I get that phrase from!), but damn hay fever was doing my head in and I'm surprised I was able to put even that together :-) Obviously feeling a LOT better now :D

Good luck and enjoy your studies :-)

[GuerraAmanda]

I think that technically everybody on Duo wants to learn xD being on Duo is not something one would do if one didn't want to ^^ thank you for the tip ^^ I still have a lot to learn about English. It's good that people correct me when it's needed so I can get even better ^^

Good luck on your studies too o/

[murve33]

Double negatives are commonly used in Romance Languages. Think of them as emphasis vs canceling each other out.

[nosola1]

Yes but in English as you have so rightly said it is 'how boys are' not "how the boys are' which is my problem with this. Awkward and would not be said - maybe it is REQUIRED by the Italian though and that is not clear - not in English but must in Italian?

[LifyaKH]

We definitely would say 'you know how the boys are' in other contexts.

"Did you spend much time as a family on your holiday?"
"You know how the boys are, they just wanted to be on the climbing wall the whole time".

I believe that Italian requires a word to be used before 'ragazzi', e.g. 'how the boys are', 'how all boys are', 'how our boys are'.

When using 'i ragazzi', however, it isn't clear if the speaker is referring to boys in general or specific boys, so you'd have to pick this up from context.

[Jean_Vu]

I feel sexist vibes.

[elisabethh4]

Run that by me again?? Is this just an Italian expression?

[ashlward]

I suppose it's a bit like "boys will be boys".

[t_s_c]

The english translation is quite common. Can't speak for the italian

[bob.s.frank]

It could be used as an expression or just as saying the literal sentence. I hope Italians say that! :D

[Lupin-]

i'm not an english native, but "you know what children are like" sounds fine to me

[TobyBartels]

Yes, although some grammarians would consider it improper, at least for this meaning.

[Flying_Blue]

How would you say "Do you know how the boys are?"

[athena_midnight]

It's the same but apparently you need to watch for a question mark because it marked me wrong.

[cynnamonro]

Sai come sono i ragazzi?

[mickaela1685]

I thought know was "Conscere" conjugated, where did Sai come from?

[annzabaldo]

From SAPERE?

[mickaela1685]

So is Conscere "Knowing" an object different to Sapere "Knowing" in thought or what? What's the difference?

[SeaShadow]

Conscere and sapere can both be translated as "to know", but they are different types of knowledge.

Sapere is to know a fact or information; to know a skill, to know how to.

Examples:
I know how to cook = So cucinare
I know where he lives = So dove abita.
I know his name. = So come si chiama.

Conscere is to know someone/something, to be familiar with a person, place or thing. It is often followed by a noun or object pronoun.

Examples: I know Marco = Conosco Marco.
I know Rome = Conosco Roma.
I know this restaurant = Conosco questo ristorante.

It may help to think of it as Sapere means "To find out" and Conscere means "To meet"

When it comes to people, you may "know" Marco, a person you have met. "Conosco Marco."

but if you have never net him, you may have only heard of Marco, you "know of" Marco: "So di Marco"

Some helpful links:
http://smilingeggplant.blogspot.com/2009/08/sapere-and-conoscere.html
http://www.sapere.it/sapere/dizionari/traduzioni/Inglese-Italiano/K/KN/to-know.html
http://tutorino.ca/grammatica/2007/5/28/sapere-and-conoscere.html
http://www.differencebetween.net/language/words-language/difference-between-sapere-and-conoscere/

[sharondipiazza]

I am finding that Duo Lingo does not give rules for using certain words but the people taking the lessons are very helpful in sharing what they know and I have been able to use their information to figure out what is going on. I am not very adept at learning languages so sometimes have a real struggle to figure it out. So thanks to everyone for sharing.

[annzabaldo]

I think a native speaker would be a better person than moi to answer this. I'm confused by it myself! I just know that there are two verbs for "to know." After that ... I'm useless! :-)

[VicAnnells]

well outside my understanding to have got this right

[aimozs]

Children = bambini, ragazzi = boys

[hayley_t]

Is it grammatically correct to put "i ragazzi" after "sono" in this sentence? I'm a little confused about word order :/

[SarahSaad2]

another meaning of sapere is 'can' , in that case what is the difference between potere and sapere !!!

[TobyBartels]

I'm not native, but this is my understanding: "sapere" in this sense means to know how, while "potere" in this sense means to be capable. I know how to walk, but, since I broke my leg, I'm not capable. I must be capable of solving this math problem, since I immediately thought of the right answer, but honestly I don't know how I did it.

[hayley_t]

I translated this as "You know how they are boys"

[TobyBartels]

Did it work?

[3TA]

Sounds more like a question rather than a statement.

[Uomo_Siciliano]

I thought it would have been " Sai come stanno i ragazzi". Maybe "Sai come stanno i ragazzi?" means "Do you know how the boys are" As in how they are doing. While "Sai come sono i ragazzi" means you know how boys/children are, in more of how boy can be or the "sterotype" of how boys are. Please correct if im wrong. Grazie

[Wanhm]

Thanks.

[EleanorSam2]

Why is it "i ragazzi" and not simply "ragazzi"? I still don't understand why you sometimes use it to mean the and sometimes it's just general

[lexablackbird]

Yeah, but that's no excuse...

[Michaelwah20]

You know how the boys are....it right

[Laura964337]

why not STANNO?

[valyo8]

Where has the definitive article ( I => the) disappeared? Lost in translation or what? The translation doesn't sound correct for me!

[sariahp]

Sexist

[Jmarcher1]

this is a line that should have been retired long ago

[Mahkizmo]

The pronounciation sounds like sei and not sai

[iamvered]

The male voice sounds like he says "sei" here, not "sai."

[KatanaNightmare]

You kno how it be

[RosibelCru2]

⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚾⚾⚾⚾⚾⚾⚾⚾⚾⚾

[Sheryl170222]

This phrase is from a different century: it's outdated and silly!

[CarlaCulve]

Dou is throwing all these new words in and im suppossed to translate them? The grammar is bad enough, but at least teach me what the words mean first.