35 Comments
It most certainly isn't! Check out the two Italian pronunciation samples here http://it.forvo.com/word/torta/
I know it already, I was learning Italian... but maybe it will be helpful to someone else :)
Bad pronounciation of final syllables and articles are the biggest problem with duolingo. 'le ragazze', not le ragazz-a
Not saying they're doing this on purpose, but one can (and should) use context to mentally correct - for example, if you hear "mangiano", that implies that the subject would have had to have been le ragazze, not la ragazza, in order to agree.
i wish this site had a chart of conjugations of verbs. it really helps me a lot to learn.
If you hover over the verb with your mouse, you should get a button that says "conjugate".
I would have sworn that plural of ragazzi meant boys, not just kids. Ah well. I suck at this tonight.
Ragazza is girl, ragazzo is boy. Ragazzi is boys, ragazze is girls. If it's a group of both boys and girls, ragazzi is used (I believe).
Masculine takes precedence. So a group of boys is ragazzi and a group of boys and girls is also ragazzi.
Masculine plurals can be a collection of only masculine singles OR a mixed-gender group. Females in a group take the male plural if there is even male among them. Thus, ragazzi is both boys (all male) and kids (possibly boys and girls together). Hope that helps!
I thought that if you were saying in Italian "the children eat the cake"- not referencing gender it would be "i ragazzi"
it distinctly says "mangiano". so it's "Le ragazze" even tho it sounds "Le ragazza"
i am really not finding this Italian course at all pleasurable. More often than not, the voice is almost unintelligible and at times sounds distinctly peculiar. I would have hoped that Duolingo would have addressed this after what I see have been numerous comments and complaints. Disappointing and not what one would expect from Duolingo.
The voice sounds like she says "le ragazzA mangiano la torta." when fast but "le ragazzE mangiano la torta." when slowed
alcune cose come ad esempio "eat" lo mette sempre al singolare, quando qualche volta va messo al plurale
She so clearly says "ragazza"...but it's more clear as "ragazze" on Turtle Mode, which I don't like doing.
I put "kids" for ragazze and it marked me wrong, yet the translation help list kids as accurate.
To answer my my own question: The pronoun for "Le ragazze" would be "loro" (they) and "ano" in the ending for "loro."
Is that correct?
I get really confused with all the variations of certain words, like eat. Does anyone else?
Verb conjugation is difficult when your native tongue does not have it. It's not just memorization, it's getting used to a new aspect of language.
But don't fret. As you practice more, the strangeness will leave and you will understand it as a natural part of language. As for which ending to use, that just takes lots of practice. Memrise is perhaps a stronger site to learn that aspect.
Try this tutorial:
