Breakdown of Mi piace inzuppare i biscotti nel latte caldo, soprattutto al mattino.
io
I
piacere
to like
nel
in
soprattutto
especially
caldo
hot
al
in
il latte
the milk
il biscotto
the cookie
inzuppare
to dunk
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Questions & Answers about Mi piace inzuppare i biscotti nel latte caldo, soprattutto al mattino.
What does Mi piace literally mean, and why is its structure different from English when expressing likes?
Mi piace literally translates to “it pleases me.” Unlike English, where we say “I like…”, Italian uses an impersonal construction: the thing that pleases is the subject, while the person who is pleased is indicated by an indirect object pronoun (mi means “to me”).
What is the meaning of inzuppare, and why is it in the infinitive form in this sentence?
Inzuppare means “to dunk” or “to soak” something (in this context, biscuits). It appears in the infinitive form because it acts as a complement to piacere; when expressing enjoyment of an activity, Italian typically uses piacere + infinitive (e.g., "Mi piace inzuppare...").
Why is the word nel used before latte caldo, and how is it formed?
Nel is a contraction of the preposition in and the definite article il. In Italian, in + il = nel, so "nel latte caldo" means "in the hot milk."
What does soprattutto al mattino mean, and what role does it play in the sentence?
Soprattutto al mattino translates to "especially in the morning." It functions as an adverbial phrase, emphasizing that the speaker particularly enjoys dunking biscuits in hot milk during the morning.
Why is biscotti in the plural form with the definite article i?
Biscotti is the plural form of biscotto (meaning cookie or biscuit), and i is the masculine plural definite article used in Italian. This indicates that the speaker is referring to multiple biscuits.