Verso l'acqua nel bicchiere.

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Breakdown of Verso l'acqua nel bicchiere.

• il bicchiere: the glass
• l'acqua: the water
• versare: to pour

Questions & Answers about Verso l'acqua nel bicchiere.

Why is it l’acqua and not la acqua?

Italian uses the contracted article l’ before feminine nouns starting with a vowel. So instead of la acqua, it becomes l’acqua to help the flow of pronunciation.

Does verso mean “towards” or “I pour” in this sentence?

Here, verso is the io (first-person singular) form of the verb versare, meaning “to pour.” When verso is used as a preposition, it can translate to “towards,” but in this sentence, it’s a verb.

Could I say Verso l’acqua dentro il bicchiere instead?

Yes, you can say verso l’acqua dentro il bicchiere, but it’s more natural to use nel (in + the) which is already a concise way of saying “into the glass.” Dentro specifically emphasizes “inside,” while nel is common and flows more naturally.

Why do we use nel instead of nello?

Nel is a contraction of in + il (masculine singular). We use il bicchiere (not lo bicchiere), so the correct form is nel bicchiere, not nello bicchiere.

Is the sentence missing the subject “io” at the start?

In Italian, the subject pronoun is often understood from the verb ending, so saying io verso l’acqua nel bicchiere or simply verso l’acqua nel bicchiere both convey “I pour the water into the glass.” The io is optional.