L’appendiabiti è pieno di cappotti in inverno.

to be

Breakdown of L’appendiabiti è pieno di cappotti in inverno.

• di: of
• in: in
• pieno: full
• l'inverno: the winter
• l'appendiabiti: the coat rack
• il cappotto: the coat

Questions & Answers about L’appendiabiti è pieno di cappotti in inverno.

What does L’appendiabiti mean and how is it constructed?

L’appendiabiti is a compound noun that literally comes from the verb appendere (to hang) and abiti (clothes). It refers to a coat rack or clothes hanger. The element L’ is the shortened form of the masculine singular definite article il, used here because appendiabiti begins with a vowel.

Why is the adjective pieno in its masculine singular form even though the coat rack is full of coats?

The adjective pieno agrees with the subject L’appendiabiti, which is a masculine singular noun. Although the phrase di cappotti (of coats) is plural, adjectives in Italian agree only with the noun they modify (in this case, L’appendiabiti), which is why pieno remains masculine singular.

What role does the preposition di play in the phrase pieno di cappotti?

The preposition di serves to indicate what the subject is full of. Here, pieno di cappotti means “full of coats,” with di linking pieno (full) to what fills the coat rack, namely cappotti (coats).

What does the phrase in inverno indicate in the sentence?

The phrase in inverno means “in winter” and provides a temporal context. It tells us that the coat rack is full of coats specifically during the winter season, which is typical because people tend to wear more coats when it’s cold.

Why is the definite article shortened to L’ instead of using Il in L’appendiabiti?

In Italian, when a masculine singular noun begins with a vowel, the definite article il is shortened to L’ to facilitate smoother pronunciation. Since appendiabiti starts with a vowel sound, the article is written as L’ rather than Il.