Poi ci sediamo sul divano del soggiorno e discutiamo dei piani per il prossimo fine settimana.

Then we sit on the living room sofa and discuss our plans for the next weekend.

Breakdown of Poi ci sediamo sul divano del soggiorno e discutiamo dei piani per il prossimo fine settimana.

• su: on
• e: and
• per: for
• sedersi: to sit
• poi: then
• il divano: the sofa
• del: of the
• il soggiorno: the living room
• discutere: to discuss
• dei: of the
• i piani: the plans
• il prossimo fine settimana: the next weekend

Questions & Answers about Poi ci sediamo sul divano del soggiorno e discutiamo dei piani per il prossimo fine settimana.

Why is ci used in ci sediamo instead of simply sediamo?

In Italian, sedersi is a reflexive verb, meaning it involves an action you do to yourself (sitting yourself down). When we use ci (the reflexive pronoun), it indicates we are performing the action on ourselves, so ci sediamo translates to we sit down. Simply using sediamo would not convey that reflexive aspect and would be grammatically incomplete in most contexts.

What does poi mean and why is it placed at the beginning?

Poi literally means then or afterwards, and it’s often used at the start of a sentence (or clause) to indicate a sequence of actions or events. Saying poi ci sediamo suggests that sitting down is what happens next, after something else has already happened.

Why do we say sul divano del soggiorno instead of something like sul divano in soggiorno?

Both expressions can be understood, but del soggiorno (which literally translates to of the living room) is more specific. It tells you which couch we’re sitting on. In soggiorno just means in the living room, which is slightly less specific about the piece of furniture itself.

How does discutiamo dei piani differ from discutiamo i piani?

In Italian, when discussing or talking about something, we often say discutere di qualcosa, which means to discuss something. The preposition di is usually used before the topic of discussion. In the sentence, dei piani is a contraction of di + i piani, so it indicates about the plans, which fits typical Italian usage for the verb discutere.

Why is it per il prossimo fine settimana rather than per prossimo fine settimana?

In Italian, we generally use the definite article (il, la, i, le) before an adjective and noun combination in a phrase like this. Il prossimo fine settimana means the next weekend, and dropping the article (per prossimo fine settimana) would be incorrect in standard Italian grammar.