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Bevo l’acqua del fiume.

Bevo l’acqua del fiume.
I drink the water from the river.
FromLesson 24inHardcore Italian

Breakdown of Bevo l’acqua del fiume.

io
I
di
of
bere
to drink
il fiume
the river
l’acqua
the water

Questions & Answers about Bevo l’acqua del fiume.

Why is the subject pronoun omitted in Bevo l’acqua del fiume?
Italian is a “pro‑drop” language, which means subject pronouns (like io for “I”) are often left out because the verb ending already tells you who’s doing the action. Here, bevo ends in ‑o, so you know it’s first‑person singular. You could say Io bevo l’acqua del fiume, but it’s redundant and less natural.
Why is it l’acqua and not la acqua?
The singular definite article la elides before any vowel. So instead of la acqua, you contract to l’ + acqua → l’acqua. This elision happens for both feminine and masculine nouns starting with a vowel (e.g. l’amica, l’uomo).
How do I know that acqua is feminine? Are there exceptions?

Most Italian nouns ending in ‑a are feminine (e.g. casa, portata). However, some ‑a nouns of Greek origin (like problema, programma) are masculine.
Tips to guess gender:

  • ‑a → usually feminine.
  • ‑o → usually masculine.
  • ‑e → can be either; check a dictionary.
    When in doubt, learn the article with the noun: l’acqua.
Why do we use the definite article l’ before acqua here? Could we say Bevo acqua del fiume?
Using l’ makes the phrase specific: l’acqua del fiume = “the water of the river.” If you said Bevo acqua del fiume, it would sound odd or overly poetic in Italian. Instead, if you want a more general statement, you’d usually adjust the preposition (see next question).
What does del mean in del fiume?
del is a contraction of di + il, literally “of the.” In l’acqua del fiume, del fiume means “of the river” (the river’s water).
Why is fiume masculine even though it ends in ‑e?
Nouns ending in ‑e can be masculine or feminine (e.g. pane [m], notte [f]). There’s no hard rule here; you must memorize or check a dictionary. For fiume, the article is il, so it’s masculine.
What’s the difference between del and dal in this context?
  • del = di + il = “of the” (possession or description).
  • dal = da + il = “from the” (origin or source).
    So:
    • l’acqua del fiume = “the water of the river” (the river’s water).
    • l’acqua dal fiume = “the water coming from the river.”
What’s the difference between Bevo l’acqua and Bevo dell’acqua?
  • Bevo l’acqua = “I drink the water” (definite, specific water).
  • Bevo dell’acqua = “I drink some water” (partitive, unspecified quantity).
If I want to say “I drink water from the river” in a general way, how do I phrase it?

Use the preposition da for “from” and drop the article before acqua for an indefinite sense:
Bevo acqua dal fiume.
This literally means “I drink water from the river.”

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