Breakdown of Piangono; li sto coccolando, i bambini.
il bambino
the child
stare
to stay, to feel, to be
li
them (masculine direct object)
piangere
to cry
Questions & Answers about Piangono; li sto coccolando, i bambini.
Why is li placed before sto? Could I attach it to the end of coccolando instead?
Yes, you absolutely can! When using the continuous tense (stare + gerund), you have two choices for object pronouns like li (them). You can put the pronoun before the conjugated verb (li sto coccolando) or attach it directly to the end of the gerund (sto coccolandoli). Both are perfectly correct and mean the exact same thing.
Why use li (them) if the sentence already specifies i bambini (the children) at the end?
This is a very common feature in spoken Italian, often called "right dislocation." The speaker uses li to smoothly connect with the previous thought ("they are crying"). Adding i bambini at the very end, separated by a comma, is just a natural way to clarify exactly who "them" refers to, in case the listener wasn't sure.
Why is the first verb just piangono instead of stanno piangendo?
In Italian, the regular present tense (piangono) is much more flexible than in English and frequently translates to the English continuous "they are crying." While you could say stanno piangendo to strongly emphasize that the crying is happening at this exact second, the standard present tense is usually perfectly fine to express an ongoing action.