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Breakdown of Il documento è scaduto, devo rinnovarlo allo sportello.
io
I
essere
to be
dovere
to have to
il documento
the document
lo
it
rinnovare
to renew
lo sportello
the counter
scaduto
expired
Questions & Answers about Il documento è scaduto, devo rinnovarlo allo sportello.
What does scaduto mean here?
Scaduto is the past participle of scadere, which means to expire. So il documento è scaduto literally means the document has expired.
Why is it è scaduto instead of ha scaduto?
With scadere we use the auxiliary essere, not avere, to form the passato prossimo. That’s why it’s è scaduto. Verbs like scadere that indicate a change of state typically take essere.
Why is the past participle scaduto and not scaduta?
The past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject. Documento is masculine singular, so you use the masculine singular form scaduto. If you were talking about la tessera (feminine), you’d say la tessera è scaduta.
Why rinnovarlo instead of rinnovare lo or spelling out rinnovare il documento?
In Italian, when an infinitive verb takes a pronoun object, you attach the pronoun to the end of the infinitive. So rinnovare + lo becomes rinnovarlo. You could also say rinnovare il documento, but rinnovarlo is more concise.
What does the pronoun lo refer to?
The pronoun lo replaces il documento, which is the direct object of rinnovare. Instead of repeating il documento, we use lo to avoid redundancy.
Why is it allo sportello?
Sportello is a masculine noun beginning with s + consonant, so the definite article is lo. When you combine the preposition a (to/at) with lo, you get allo. Hence allo sportello.
What is a sportello?
A sportello is a service counter or window—like at a bank, post office, or government office—where you go to carry out official procedures.
Could I say in sportello instead of allo sportello?
No. To indicate going to or doing something at a counter, Italian uses the preposition a. In sportello doesn’t work; you need allo sportello.
Could I place the pronoun differently, as in lo devo rinnovare allo sportello?
Yes. Clitic pronouns can go before a conjugated verb: lo devo rinnovare. Both devo rinnovarlo and lo devo rinnovare are correct, though attaching the pronoun to the infinitive is very common in everyday speech.
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