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Il bambino salta l'ostacolo.

Il bambino salta l'ostacolo.
The child jumps over the obstacle.
FromLesson 22inHardcore Italian

Breakdown of Il bambino salta l'ostacolo.

il bambino
the child
saltare
to jump
l'ostacolo
the obstacle

Questions & Answers about Il bambino salta l'ostacolo.

Why is there no preposition like over before l'ostacolo, while in English we usually say "jumps over the obstacle"?
In Italian, the verb saltare is transitive when referring to jumping an obstacle. The action of going over something is implied by the context, so there’s no need for an extra preposition equivalent to over.
What tense is salta in, and how does it agree with the subject il bambino?
Salta is in the present indicative tense and is the third person singular form of saltare. It properly agrees with the singular subject il bambino (the child).
Why is the article contracted to l' in l'ostacolo?
In Italian, when a masculine singular noun begins with a vowel, the definite article il is elided to l' for smoother pronunciation. Since ostacolo begins with the vowel o, it becomes l'ostacolo.
Does the sentence follow the same subject–verb–object order as in English?
Yes, it does. The sentence is structured in an SVO order: il bambino is the subject, salta is the verb, and l'ostacolo is the object, mirroring the typical English sentence structure.
Are there any additional meanings of saltare that might confuse a learner?
While saltare primarily means "to jump," it can also be used in contexts such as "to skip" (for example, saltare una lezione means "to skip a class"). However, in this sentence, it clearly refers to the physical act of jumping over an obstacle.
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