Breakdown of Tiro la sedia verso il tavolo.
io
I
il tavolo
the table
la sedia
the chair
verso
towards
tirare
to pull
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Questions & Answers about Tiro la sedia verso il tavolo.
What tense and person is tiro in this sentence?
Tiro is the first-person singular present indicative of tirare (to pull). In other words, it means “I pull.”
Why isn’t the subject pronoun io included before tiro?
Italian is a pro-drop language. The verb ending -o in tiro already signals “I,” so including io (I) is optional and only used for emphasis.
Why is la used before sedia? Could you omit the article or use una instead?
Sedia is a feminine singular noun, so the definite article is la (“the”). Italian normally requires articles with nouns. If you mean “a chair” rather than a specific chair, you’d say una sedia.
What does verso mean here?
Verso is a preposition meaning “towards,” indicating movement in the direction of something (the table, in this case).
Can we use a instead of verso, and would the meaning change?
Yes. With motion verbs you can say Tiro la sedia al tavolo (where al is the contraction of a + il). It still means “I pull the chair to the table,” but verso places slightly more emphasis on the direction of the movement.
Does verso contract with il to form something like versoil?
No. Only certain simple prepositions (like a, da, di, in, su) contract with articles. Verso never contracts, so you always say verso il tavolo.
How would you replace la sedia with a pronoun?
Use the feminine singular direct-object pronoun la and place it before the verb: La tiro verso il tavolo.
Can you change the word order to emphasize a different part of the sentence?
Yes. The neutral order is Tiro la sedia verso il tavolo. To emphasize direction you could say Verso il tavolo tiro la sedia, or to focus on the chair La sedia la tiro verso il tavolo, though these sound more literary or emphatic.
What’s the difference between tirare and spingere?
Tirare means “to pull” (bringing something toward you), while spingere means “to push” (moving something away from you). They’re opposite actions.