68 Comments
It could, technically since 'sono' means both "I am" or "They are". It depends entirely on the context and on what the previous sentences contained. Besides, there aren't many instances where you would hear "I am chocolate biscuits"...
It is really annoying when you type the right thing but miss 1 letter or something, and it says it's wrong
1950
More annoying is the way it's inconsistent in how it will treat one thing as a typo but another thing as an error.
They seem to be quite forgiving. Every time they've dinged me for a typo, it's because my misspelling produced a different word. For example, it would say I almost got it if I typed buter instead of butter. But I would lose a heart if it was utter, batter, or better.
- 1950
Hm. I'll have to pay more attention the next time it happens and see if that holds.
Un biscotto di cioccolato would mean the biscuit was literally made of chocolate rather than having chocolate added to it.
That would only mean chocolate cookies, and not "They are chocolate cookies". Right?
I think there's a difference in meaning between biscotto al ciocolato and biscotto di cioccolato, but I'm not entirely sure what...
I'm confused as to what the translation for "al" actually is. Is it "of the"?
i think it's used more in this context as an expression, something that can't be translated literally
Yes.
al literally means "to the"
But it can be used in expressions where English would use: "of", "of the", "with the", and so on. It's one of those things that you just have to learn whether the correct prepositions to use is 'a', 'di', "in", etc... because they don't always map to their English equivalent.
This sentence (Sono bicotti al cioccolato) is probably closest to the English meaning of They are cookies with chocolate (ie cookies with chocolate bits in them). With is usually 'di' in Italian. But you use "al and not "del" (del = di + il) in this situation just because...
(Actually I don't know if there's a reason why. When I studied Italian at uni we were told you just have to learn them - sometimes they match up to the English choice, sometimes they don't)
Wouldn't it be correct English to translate it "It's the chocolate cookies" (although cookies are plural)? I'm not a native English speaker.
I believe the answer should be They are chocolate cookies. Sono is translated as they are, not these are.
- 1950
As I said.
Although it's less a matter of "sono" is "they are" vs "these are" and more a matter of the Italian personal pronoun for "they" can be dropped but the Italian demonstrative pronoun for "these" can not be dropped.
- 1950
In British English, maybe. In the USA, biscuits are something very, very different. Think of savory scones.
I thought I'd read posts of people whining again about not seeing chocolate cookies ever in their lives. Whew..
- 311
'they' means several persons to me, surely not cookies (things). So the answer seems wrong to me.
if they miss the word "loro" it should be accepted the phrase "are chocolate cookies", right?
Why is this correct when previously, the question came in reverse (answer in Italian) and I was marked wrong for saying "sono"? It said the right answer was "Essi" but that's not the case here? Why is it inconsistent?
please show me the difference between chocolate cookies (made of chocolate batter/ dough) and chocolate chip cookies (plain batter/dough with chocolate bits mixed in) Also what chocolate cookies with chocolate bits mixed in would be. (Chocolate batter/dough with chocolate chips in it)
I always forget the rules about words to describe ingredients in food (al, di, etc.). Can someone please break this down?
If "Sono" is at the beginning does that mean "They are"? When would it be "The cookies are chocolate"?
- 1950
I biscotti sono cioccolato, or something more of that form. Kind of similar to the difference in English.
- 1950
These things over here are chocolate cookies.
Those things over there are chocolate cookies.
See what I have on this plate?
What are they?
They are chocolate cookies.
- 501
Why is it that the phrase "they are the grapes" uses è while this phrase uses sono? The explanation in the post regarding the grapes is that for objects, essi is used. However, wouldn't that apply to cookies as well?
- 1950
In English, we count the individual grapes and use the plural. In Italian, they look at the bunch as use the singular. Like we have "peas" but "corn".
- 501
Thanks! Even though I've read so many of the posts under the grapes discussion and seen this before, for some reason your explanation just made the verb conjugation part of it click for me.
How come "chocolate" is not in plural as well when cookies are?
"Biscotti ai chocolata" instead of "biscotti al cioccolato"?
- 1950
Because "chocolate" is not an adjective, it is a noun. Only adjectives change to reflect nouns. Nouns do not change with other nouns.
Why is they are not .. 'Loro sono biscotti al cioccolato"? or Sono biscotti .. meaning 'It is cbocolate cookies' ??
- 1950
"They are chocolate cookies", not "It is chocolate cookies".
And both "Loro sono ..." and "Sono ..." are equally valid. But if you have a multiple-choice question and both are options, you need to select both, not just one of them.
This is another Americanised sentence. In English-English we say "biscuits". Cookies are a very specific kind of biscuit.
- 1950
Duolingo is based in the USA. It stands to reason it would use American English.
Why is it wrong to say 'biscuits' (rather than 'cookies') if you are not an American?
- 10
Mmmm..…..they seem to have fixed this...I wrote "biscuits" and it was accepted
- 1950
Because Duolingo is an American company and focuses on American English, so the course contributors have not added "biscuits" to the database. Feel free to flag the lesson and report "My answer should have been accepted".
Bear in mind, though, that in American English, a biscuit is something very different.
- 1950
If you are 100% sure your answer was correct and typed correctly, then you need to flag it and report "My answer should have been accepted". Leaving a comment like that in this forum is not helpful.
they are chocolate cookies, the correct form in english is this: There are chocolate cookies, but I don't know the italian rules, about grammar.
