Breakdown of Con un po’ di fortuna il cielo non sarà nuvoloso durante la partita di domenica.
essere
to be
di
of
con
with
non
not
durante
during
il cielo
the sky
la partita
the match
la domenica
the Sunday
nuvoloso
cloudy
la fortuna
the luck
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Questions & Answers about Con un po’ di fortuna il cielo non sarà nuvoloso durante la partita di domenica.
What does con un po’ di fortuna mean and how can it be used in other sentences?
It literally means with a bit of luck (or if we’re lucky) and is used to express hope that circumstances will turn out well. For example:
- Con un po’ di fortuna, troveremo un tavolo libero al ristorante.
- Con un po’ di fortuna, passeremo il weekend senza pioggia.
Why is there an apostrophe in po’?
po’ is the contracted form of poco. When you drop the final syllable of poco, you mark the omission with an apostrophe. The full form is poco, but in spoken and informal Italian po’ is very common.
Why is the future tense sarà used instead of the present tense?
Because the speaker is making a prediction about Sunday’s weather. Italian uses the future simple (e.g. sarà) for forecasts or statements about what will happen. Using the present (e.g. è) would describe current conditions, not a future event.
Why is non placed before sarà?
In Italian, negation is formed by placing non immediately before the conjugated verb. So non sarà means “will not be.” There is no equivalent of English’s post-verbal negation; the structure is always non + verb.
Could we replace nuvoloso with another adjective like coperto?
Yes, but the nuance changes.
- nuvoloso = “cloudy,” i.e. there are many clouds but perhaps some breaks.
- coperto = “overcast,” i.e. the sky is entirely covered by clouds.
Both are grammatically correct; you choose based on how dense you imagine the cloud cover to be.
Why is durante used here? Could we say in or al instead?
durante means “during” and highlights that something happens throughout an event: durante la partita = “during the match.”
- in la partita does not work in Italian.
- alla partita means “at the match” (point in time or place), not “throughout” it.
Therefore durante is the correct preposition for “while the match is going on.”
Why is it la partita di domenica instead of la partita domenica?
di domenica literally means “of Sunday” and functions like “Sunday’s.” So la partita di domenica = “the match on Sunday.”
Informally you might hear la partita domenica, but di + day is the standard way to attach a specific day to an event.