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Questions & Answers about Oggi l’ufficio è pulito.
Why is there an apostrophe in l’ufficio?
Italian contracts the definite article before a vowel to avoid two vowel sounds clashing. Here l’ is the elided form of il (the masculine singular “the”) before ufficio, which starts with a vowel. The apostrophe marks that elision.
Why is the adjective pulito placed after ufficio when in English we say “clean office”?
In Italian, most descriptive adjectives follow the noun they modify. So you say ufficio pulito rather than pulito ufficio. Placing pulito after ufficio is simply the normal word order for a descriptive adjective.
Why is the verb essere used here? Couldn’t we say l’ufficio ha pulito?
Essere + adjective expresses a state or condition (“is clean”). Avere pulito would mean “to have cleaned” (the action of cleaning). Since we’re describing the office’s current state, we use è pulito, not ha pulito.
What’s the difference between l’ufficio è pulito and l’ufficio è stato pulito?
- L’ufficio è pulito states the present condition: “the office is clean.”
- L’ufficio è stato pulito uses the passive perfect (“has been cleaned”) to indicate that someone cleaned it at some point. The first focuses on how it is now; the second on the completed action.
Why don’t we need a subject pronoun like esso or lui (“it”)?
Italian verbs carry person and number information in their endings. È is third-person singular, so we already know the subject is l’ufficio. Adding esso or lui would be redundant and sound unnatural.
Can oggi be placed elsewhere in the sentence?
Yes. You could say l’ufficio è pulito oggi or l’ufficio, oggi, è pulito. Moving oggi to the end or setting it off with commas still conveys “the office is clean today,” though beginning with oggi emphasizes the time frame more.
Are there any pronunciation tips for oggi and l’ufficio?
- oggi: The double g is pronounced like English “j” in “job,” so /ˈɔddʒi/.
- l’ufficio:
• l’ is just /l/
• u is /u/ (“oo” in “food”)
• ff is a longer /f:/
• i is /i/ (“ee” in “see”)
• cio is /tʃo/ (“cho” in “chocolate”).
So roughly /ˈlufːitʃo/.