Il futuro è un'opportunità preziosa.

to be

Breakdown of Il futuro è un'opportunità preziosa.

• prezioso: precious
• l'opportunità: the opportunity
• il futuro: the future

Questions & Answers about Il futuro è un'opportunità preziosa.

Why is there an apostrophe in un'opportunità?

The word un'opportunità comes from una opportunità. In standard Italian, una can contract to un' when it appears before a vowel. This contraction removes the final a from una and replaces it with an apostrophe to maintain the flow of speech.

Can I just say il futuro è un’opportunità without preziosa, and would the sentence still make sense?

Yes. By saying il futuro è un’opportunità, you still convey that the future is an opportunity. However, preziosa adds more emphasis, highlighting that this opportunity is valuable or precious. Omitting preziosa makes the sentence less descriptive but still understandable.

Why is è spelled with a grave accent instead of an acute accent (like é)?

In Italian, è (with a grave accent) is used for the third-person singular of essere (to be) and is pronounced with an open sound (similar to the e in bed). The acute accent (é) indicates a closed e sound (as in café) or is used in some words such as perché (why/because). In this sentence, è is the correct form of to be.

Is preziosa an adjective that always ends with -a, or do I change it in other contexts?

Preziosa is the feminine singular form of the adjective prezioso (precious). It changes form depending on the noun it modifies:
• preziosa – feminine singular (e.g., opportunità preziosa)
• prezioso – masculine singular (e.g., momento prezioso)
• preziose – feminine plural
• preziosi – masculine plural

Could opportunità ever take a plural form like opportunitàs or something similar?

No. In Italian, opportunità is both singular and plural. Some Italian nouns ending in -à do not change in the plural form. For instance, you would say un’opportunità (singular) or due opportunità (plural) without adding -s or altering the ending.