Mi piace la comodità di un divano soffice quando leggo.

I like the comfort of a soft couch when I read.

Breakdown of Mi piace la comodità di un divano soffice quando leggo.

• io: I
• di: of
• leggere: to read
• piacere: to like
• quando: when
• la comodità: the comfort
• il divano: the couch
• soffice: soft

Questions & Answers about Mi piace la comodità di un divano soffice quando leggo.

Why is mi piace used in the third-person singular form instead of a first-person verb form?

In Italian, piacere literally means “to be pleasing.” This means the sentence structure switches perspective compared to English. Instead of saying “I like something,” you say “Something is pleasing to me.” So, you use the third-person form of piacere (piace), and the person who experiences the liking is marked by the pronoun mi (“to me”).

Why do we use la comodità rather than just comodità?

In Italian, the definite article (la) often appears before abstract nouns (like comodità, meaning “comfort” or “convenience”) to indicate the concept in a general sense. It’s similar to saying “the comfort” rather than simply “comfort” in English, emphasizing the specific kind of comfort you’re referring to.

What is the role of di in la comodità di un divano soffice?

The preposition di here indicates a relationship or “possession” type connection between comodità and divano. It’s like saying “the comfort that comes from a soft sofa” or “the comfort of a soft sofa” in English. Di often relates one noun to another in this way.

Why do we say quando leggo instead of something like quando sto leggendo?

In Italian, present tense (leggo) can be used both for habitual actions and ongoing actions, whereas English more often uses the present continuous (“I am reading”). So quando leggo is sufficient to express “when I read,” without needing an additional progressive form.