Stamattina ho deciso di riordinare la scrivania, perché c’era troppa confusione.

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Breakdown of Stamattina ho deciso di riordinare la scrivania, perché c’era troppa confusione.

• essere: to be
• perché: because
• la scrivania: the desk

Questions & Answers about Stamattina ho deciso di riordinare la scrivania, perché c’era troppa confusione.

What does stamattina mean, and why is it placed at the beginning of the sentence?

Stamattina means "this morning". Placing it at the beginning sets the time frame for the whole sentence, letting the listener know when the action took place. Italian frequently uses time expressions like this at the start of a sentence for clarity.

Why is the auxiliary verb ho used in ho deciso instead of another form like sono?

In Italian, the verb decidere uses the auxiliary avere to form the passato prossimo. Thus, ho deciso (literally, “I have decided”) is correct. Unlike verbs that indicate movement or changes of state, which often use essere, transitive verbs like decidere take avere.

Why is the preposition di used before the infinitive riordinare in the phrase ho deciso di riordinare la scrivania?

The structure decidere di + infinitive is standard in Italian. The preposition di links the decision (the main clause) to the action (the infinitive), meaning “to decide to tidy up.” It acts similarly to the English “to” in “I decided to tidy up.”

What is the difference between riordinare and ordinare?