Il tacco scollato è riparabile.

to be

Breakdown of Il tacco scollato è riparabile.

• il tacco: the heel
• scollato: coming unglued
• riparabile: repairable

Questions & Answers about Il tacco scollato è riparabile.

Why is it il and not lo?

Because tacco starts with a normal consonant sound: t.

In Italian:

• il is used before most masculine singular nouns: il tacco
• lo is used before masculine singular nouns beginning with s + consonant, z, ps, gn, x, and a few others: lo studente, lo zaino

So il tacco is the correct form.

What does tacco mean here exactly?

Here tacco means the heel of a shoe.

Italian tacco can also mean heel in a more general sense, but in this sentence the context is clearly footwear, because scollato suggests that the heel has come loose from the shoe.

So il tacco here is not the heel of a foot; it is the shoe heel.

What does scollato mean in this sentence?

Here scollato means something like unglued, come unstuck, or detached because the glue has loosened.

It comes from the verb scollare, which can mean to unglue, to detach, or to come unstuck.

So a tacco scollato is a heel that has come loose from the shoe.

A useful warning: scollato can also mean low-cut or décolleté when talking about clothing, especially necklines. But that is not the meaning here.