Breakdown of Stamattina ho deciso di riordinare la scrivania, perché c’era troppa confusione.
io
I
essere
to be
perché
because
la scrivania
the desk
la confusione
the confusion
decidere
to decide
di
to
stamattina
this morning
troppo
too much
riordinare
to tidy up
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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?
Riordinare means "to tidy up" or "to reorganize," implying that you are restoring order to something already in place. The prefix ri- suggests repetition or restoration. In contrast, ordinare can mean "to order" in the sense of arranging or even placing an order, so contextually riordinare fits better when discussing decluttering or reorganizing a space.
Why isn’t the subject pronoun io (I) explicitly stated before ho deciso?
Italian often omits subject pronouns because the verb conjugation already indicates who is performing the action. In ho deciso, the ho (first person singular form of avere) clearly shows that the subject is io (I). This omission is typical in Italian and does not affect understanding.
How does the contraction c’era in perché c’era troppa confusione work?
C’era is a contraction of ci era, where ci is used as an expletive or locative pronoun. It means "there was" in English. The contraction (dropping the i and using an apostrophe) is common in Italian to ease pronunciation, especially before a vowel-starting word, making the sentence flow more naturally.