Il libro comprato è interessante.

to be

Breakdown of Il libro comprato è interessante.

• il libro: the book
• interessante: interesting
• comprato: bought

Questions & Answers about Il libro comprato è interessante.

Why is the past participle comprato placed after the noun in this sentence?

In Italian, when a past participle functions as an adjective—as in Il libro comprato—it typically follows the noun it modifies. This construction is common for forming a concise descriptive phrase that originates from a reduced relative clause.

Does comprato agree in gender and number with libro, and if so, how?

Yes, it does. In Italian, adjectives and participles used adjectivally must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. Since libro is a masculine singular noun, comprato appears in its masculine singular form.

Why isn’t the relative pronoun and auxiliary verb included, as in Il libro che è stato comprato?

Italian allows the omission of elements like the relative pronoun che and the auxiliary verb in certain contexts when their meaning is clear. In this sentence, Il libro comprato is a shortened form of Il libro che è stato comprato, making the sentence more concise without losing clarity.

Which verb is comprato derived from, and what is its meaning?

Comprato is the past participle of the verb comprare, which means "to buy." Thus, the sentence tells us that the book—having been bought—is interesting.

Is this sentence an example of a passive construction?

Not really. Although past participles can be part of a passive voice construction, here comprato functions purely as an adjective to describe libro. There’s no auxiliary verb present to form an actual passive structure.

How could this sentence be rewritten to include the full relative clause without changing its meaning?

You can rewrite it as Il libro che ho comprato è interessante (or Il libro che è stato comprato è interessante). This version explicitly includes the relative pronoun and the auxiliary verb, while retaining the same overall meaning.