Ho una scrivania pulita vicino alla finestra.

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Breakdown of Ho una scrivania pulita vicino alla finestra.

• avere: to have
• la finestra: the window
• vicino a: near
• pulito: clean
• la scrivania: the desk

Questions & Answers about Ho una scrivania pulita vicino alla finestra.

What does Ho mean in this sentence, and why isn’t a subject pronoun like io included?

Ho is the first person singular present tense form of the verb avere, which means "I have." In Italian, the subject pronoun (io) is usually omitted because the verb ending already indicates that the subject is I.

Why is the noun scrivania preceded by the article una, and how do we know it’s feminine?

The noun scrivania is inherently feminine, so it takes the feminine indefinite article una. The adjective pulita also appears in its feminine form to agree with scrivania.

Why does the adjective pulita come after the noun scrivania instead of before it as in English?

In Italian, descriptive adjectives like pulita (clean) are typically placed after the noun. This order is common when the adjective is providing an objective description of the noun’s state or quality.

How is the phrase vicino alla finestra constructed, and what does it mean?

The phrase vicino alla finestra means "near the window." It is made up of vicino (meaning near) and alla finestra, which is a contraction of a + la finestra. This construction indicates the location of the desk relative to the window.

Why is the contraction alla used instead of writing a la separately?

In Italian, when the preposition a is combined with the feminine singular definite article la, it contracts to form alla. That’s why vicino a la finestra becomes vicino alla finestra.

Could the adjective pulita be placed before scrivania, and would that change the meaning?

While some adjectives in Italian can come before the noun for stylistic reasons or to convey emphasis, adjectives that describe a simple, objective quality—like pulita indicating cleanliness—typically follow the noun. Placing it before might be grammatically possible in certain contexts, but scrivania pulita is the most natural and common word order.