Breakdown of Ragazzi, saltate e tirate la palla nella rete!
il ragazzo
boy
e
and
nella
in the (in + la)
saltare
to jump
Questions & Answers about Ragazzi, saltate e tirate la palla nella rete!
How do we know saltate and tirate are commands and not just present tense statements?
In Italian, the voi (plural 'you') form of the informal imperative is exactly the same as the regular present tense! We know they are commands here because of the context: the speaker is addressing the ragazzi directly (notice the comma) and telling them what to do.
I thought tirare meant 'to pull'. Why is it translated as 'shoot' here?
You are right that tirare normally means 'to pull'. However, in sports contexts, it translates to 'to shoot', 'to throw', or 'to kick' (like shooting a ball into a goal).
Why is it nella rete instead of just in la rete?
In Italian, when the preposition in (in/into) is followed by a definite article like la (the), they must combine into a single word. In + la becomes nella.