Breakdown of I ragazzi sono più forti delle ragazze.
essere
to be
il ragazzo
the boy
la ragazza
the girl
più
more / anymore (with 'non')
di
than
forte
strong
Questions & Answers about I ragazzi sono più forti delle ragazze.
The lesson says to use di for 'than', but this sentence uses delle. Why?
In Italian, when the word di (than/of) is followed by a definite article like il, la, i, or le (the), they combine into one word. Here, we are comparing the boys to "the girls" (le ragazze). When you combine di + le, it becomes the combined word delle.
Why does it say più forti (more strong) instead of using a single word for 'stronger'?
English often adds '-er' to the end of short adjectives (strong becomes stronger). Italian doesn't do this! You always use the formula più (more) or meno (less) + the adjective. So, 'stronger' is always literally expressed as 'more strong' (più forti).
In English we can just say 'stronger than girls'. Could we just use di ragazze here without the article?
Not usually. In Italian, you almost always need a definite article when talking about a general category or a whole group of people, like boys in general or girls in general. Because you have to say "the girls" (le ragazze), you are forced to use delle instead of just di.
Why is the adjective for strong forti here? Does it have a feminine form?
The dictionary form of "strong" is forte. Adjectives that end in -e in the singular (like forte, intelligente, or verde) do not have separate masculine and feminine forms. To make them plural, you simply change the -e to an -i. Because i ragazzi is plural, we use forti.
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