Learn Hardcore Italian: Il cassetto superiore contiene le foto della mia famiglia. - The top drawer contains my family photos.

Italian has two masculine singular definite articles: il and lo.
• Il is used before most consonants (b, c, d, f, g, etc.).
• Lo is reserved for nouns beginning with z, s + consonant (sc, sp…), gn, pn, ps, x, y.
Since cassetto starts with “ca” (a regular consonant + vowel), it takes il.

Why is the adjective superiore placed after cassetto? Can I put it before?

In Italian, most descriptive adjectives follow the noun:
• cassetto superiore = “upper drawer.”
Putting the adjective before (superiore cassetto) sounds poetic or emphatic and is rarely used in everyday speech. The normal order is noun + adjective.

Why don’t we say più superiore? Is superiore already comparative?

Superiore itself functions as a relational adjective meaning “upper” or “higher.” You don’t combine it with più (“more”), because that would be redundant.
• To compare: Italians usually say più alto (“higher”).
• To express “highest”: you’d use the superlative il cassetto più alto or a phrase like il cassetto superiore di tutti.

What form is contiene, and why use contenere instead of avere?

• Contiene is the 3rd person singular present indicative of contenere (“to contain”).
• We choose contenere when talking about a container holding something inside.
Saying il cassetto ha le foto (“the drawer has the photos”) is understandable but less precise; Italians naturally use contenere for physical containers.

Why do we say le foto and not i foto? What are the singular and plural forms?

• Foto is short for fotografia, which is feminine.
• Singular: la foto
• Plural: le foto
The form foto stays the same; only the article changes to show number (la → le).

Can I say le fotografie instead of le foto?

Yes. Fotografie is the full plural of fotografia. In formal or literary contexts you might see fotografie, but in everyday speech foto is very common and perfectly correct.

What does della mean in della mia famiglia? Could I say di mia famiglia?

• Della is a contraction of di + la (“of the”).
• You cannot drop the article before mia famiglia (except with certain close family nouns), so it’s la mia famiglia → di la mia famiglia → della mia famiglia.
Saying di mia famiglia (without la) sounds unnatural in Italian.

Why is there a definite article before the possessive mia famiglia? Are there exceptions?

In Italian, possessive adjectives normally require the matching definite article:
• la mia famiglia, il mio libro, le mie chiavi.
Exception: singular, unmodified terms for close family members (madre, padre, sorella, fratello) often drop the article (e.g., mia madre, tuo fratello).

Could I rephrase the sentence as Nel cassetto superiore ci sono le foto della mia famiglia?

Absolutely. This version uses:
• nel = in + il, indicating location.
• ci sono = “there are.”
So Nel cassetto superiore ci sono le foto della mia famiglia is a very natural, idiomatic alternative meaning the same thing.

How do you pronounce cassetto and contiene, and where is the stress?

• cassetto: stress on the second syllable, cas-ˈSET-to (the “e” in -etto sounds like ɛ).
• contiene: stress on the second syllable, con-ˈTIE-ne (the “ie” produces a /jɛ/ sound).
In both words the accent naturally falls on the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable.