Dobbiamo sgomberare questo corridoio.

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Breakdown of Dobbiamo sgomberare questo corridoio.

• dovere: to have to
• il corridoio: the hallway
• sgomberare: to clear; vacate

Questions & Answers about Dobbiamo sgomberare questo corridoio.

Why is dobbiamo used here, and what form is it?

Dobbiamo is the present tense, 1st person plural form of dovere.

• dovere = to have to / must
• dobbiamo = we have to / we must

So the sentence is talking about what we are required to do.

Italian often leaves out the subject pronoun, so noi dobbiamo and just dobbiamo both mean we must.

Why is sgomberare in the infinitive?

Because after a modal verb like dovere, Italian normally uses the infinitive of the main action verb.

So:

• dobbiamo sgomberare = we must clear
• not dobbiamo sgomberiamo

This is similar to English structures like we must leave, we can go, we want to eat.

Common Italian modal verbs that work this way are:

• dovere = must / have to
• potere = can / to be able to
• volere = to want

What exactly does sgomberare mean in this sentence?