Breakdown of La serratura nuova funziona molto meglio della vecchia.
nuovo
new
meglio
better
molto
much
di
than
funzionare
to work
la serratura
the lock
la vecchia
the old one
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Questions & Answers about La serratura nuova funziona molto meglio della vecchia.
What’s the reason the adjective nuova is placed after the noun serratura instead of before?
In Italian most descriptive adjectives follow the noun, so la serratura nuova literally reads “the lock that is new.” You can say la nuova serratura to stress “the brand-new lock,” but post-nominal position is more neutral or simply descriptive.
Why is meglio used instead of più buono?
Because funziona is a verb, you need an adverb to say “better.” The irregular adverb for “well” (bene) forms its comparative as meglio. Più buono is a comparative of the adjective buono and cannot modify a verb.
Why do we say molto meglio instead of meglio molto?
In Italian, intensifiers like molto, assai, etc., normally precede the comparative adjective or adverb. So you say molto meglio (“much better”), not meglio molto.
Why is della vecchia used, and why isn’t serratura repeated?
The noun serratura is understood from context and therefore omitted; vecchia stands for serratura vecchia (“old one”). Della is simply the contraction of di + la, meaning “of the old one.”
Why must di and la contract to della?
In Italian the preposition di always contracts with definite articles:
• di + il → del
• di + la → della
• di + lo → dello, etc.
So di + la (serratura vecchia) correctly becomes della vecchia.
Why is the verb funziona in the singular form?
Because its subject la serratura nuova is singular. Italian verbs agree in person and number with their subjects.
Why isn’t there a subject pronoun like essa before funziona?
Italian is a pro-drop language: when the subject is clear from context, you omit the pronoun. Adding essa would sound redundant or overly formal.
Could you use che instead of di in this comparison (i.e., molto meglio che la vecchia)?
No. When comparing two nouns or noun phrases you use di (here contracted to della). Che is used to introduce clauses or compare verbs, not to compare two items directly.