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Breakdown of Il soffitto della cucina è un po’ polveroso; dovremmo spolverarlo domani.
essere
to be
di
of
domani
tomorrow
la cucina
the kitchen
noi
we
dovere
to have to
lo
it
un po’
a bit
spolverare
to dust
il soffitto
the ceiling
polveroso
dusty
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Questions & Answers about Il soffitto della cucina è un po’ polveroso; dovremmo spolverarlo domani.
What does soffitto mean in English?
It means ceiling, the overhead interior surface of a room.
Why do we say della cucina and not di la cucina?
Because in Italian the preposition di + definite article la contracts to della. So della cucina literally means “of the kitchen.”
What is un po’, and why is there an apostrophe?
Un po’ is a shortened form of un poco. The apostrophe indicates the omitted letters. It means a little or somewhat.
What does polveroso mean and what part of speech is it?
Polveroso is an adjective meaning dusty. It agrees in gender and number with soffitto (which is masculine singular).
What is the function of the semicolon (;) here?
The semicolon links two independent but closely related clauses, indicating a pause stronger than a comma but weaker than a period.
What tense and mood is dovremmo, and how is it used here?
Dovremmo is the first‐person plural conditional of dovere. Here it expresses a suggestion: “we should.”
Why is the pronoun -lo attached to spolverare?
In Italian, object pronouns (like lo = “it” referring to il soffitto) attach to the end of infinitives: spolverare + lo = spolverarlo (“dust it”).
Could the pronoun come before the verb instead?
Yes. With modal verbs you can say Lo dobbiamo spolverare domani. However, after a conditional like dovremmo, attaching to the infinitive (spolverarlo) is more idiomatic.
What does spolverare mean, and how would you translate spolverarlo domani?
Spolverare means to dust. Spolverarlo domani translates as “dust it tomorrow.”