Le regalo un bel disegno, sperando di farla felice.

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Breakdown of Le regalo un bel disegno, sperando di farla felice.

• di: of
• felice: happy
• la: her
• sperare: to hope
• fare: to make
• il disegno: the drawing
• le: her
• bello: nice

Questions & Answers about Le regalo un bel disegno, sperando di farla felice.

What do the pronouns Le and la refer to in this sentence?

Both pronouns refer to the same female person. Le is the indirect object pronoun, meaning "to her," used with the verb regalare ("to give as a gift"). In the gerund phrase sperando di farla felice, the la attached to fare is the direct object pronoun, meaning "her" as the one being made happy. Although both pronouns translate as "her" in English, they serve different grammatical roles in Italian.

What is the role and meaning of bel in the phrase un bel disegno?

Bel is a shortened form of bello used before masculine singular nouns that begin with a consonant. In this context, un bel disegno translates to "a beautiful drawing" (or "a nice drawing"). The contraction is a common feature in Italian to make pronunciation smoother.

Why is there no explicit subject in the sentence, and how do we know who is performing the action?

Italian often omits subject pronouns because the verb conjugation clearly indicates the subject. Here, regalo is the first person singular form of regalare, so it is understood that the speaker (equivalent to io or "I") is performing the action.

What does the gerund phrase sperando di farla felice mean, and how does it connect with the main clause?

The phrase sperando di farla felice means "hoping to make her happy." It functions as an adverbial phrase that explains the speaker's intention or purpose for giving the drawing. In effect, it adds extra context much like a subordinate clause in English, indicating that the gift is given with the hope of making her happy.

Why is the preposition di used before the infinitive farla in this construction?

The preposition di is necessary in Italian when linking the gerund sperando (hoping) with an infinitive verb—in this case, farla (a contraction of fare and la). This is a standard grammatical structure, as many verbs and gerund forms (like sperare) require di before an infinitive to properly connect the ideas.