Learn Hardcore Italian: Vedo un pacco imballato dietro la porta.

vedo is the first-person-singular present indicative of vedere (“to see”), so it means “I see” or “I am seeing.” Italian is a null-subject language: the verb ending (-o) already tells you the subject is “I,” so you normally drop the pronoun io unless you want extra emphasis.

What is un pacco imballato, and why does imballato come after pacco?

imballato is the past participle of imballare (“to pack”) used as an adjective, meaning “packed.” In Italian, participles or adjectives that describe the result of an action typically follow the noun they modify, so you say un pacco imballato (“a packed package”).

How does imballato agree with pacco in gender and number?

Italian adjectives and past participles must match their noun in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural). pacco is masculine singular, so the adjective is imballato (-o ending). If it were plural, you’d say pacchi imballati; if it were feminine, busta imballata or buste imballate.

Why is there a definite article la before porta in dietro la porta? Could you say dietro porta?

Most Italian nouns require a definite article even after a preposition. dietro (“behind”) is a simple preposition here and must be followed by la + noun: dietro la porta. Omitting the article (saying dietro porta) is nonstandard.

Why is dietro used here instead of in, sotto, or other prepositions?

Each Italian preposition specifies a different spatial relation. dietro means “behind” (at the back of something). sotto would mean “underneath,” and in means “in” or “inside.” You choose dietro when you want to say something is located behind another object.

Can dietro la porta be moved to the front of the sentence, and does that change the meaning?

Yes. You can say Dietro la porta vedo un pacco imballato to put the location first. The core meaning stays the same; fronting the phrase just shifts the emphasis onto where you see the package.