Learn Hardcore Italian: L’aspirapolvere nuovo è molto silenzioso, cosa che piace al mio gatto. - The new vacuum cleaner is very quiet, which my cat likes.

When a masculine singular article (il) comes before a noun beginning with a vowel (here a in aspirapolvere), Italian drops the vowel of the article and replaces it with an apostrophe. So il aspirapolvere → l’aspirapolvere. This elision makes the pronunciation smoother.

What gender is aspirapolvere and how do you form its plural?

aspirapolvere is a masculine noun despite ending in -e. It follows the regular pattern for masculine nouns ending in -e, so its plural changes the ending to -i: aspirapolveri.

Why is the adjective nuovo placed after the noun in l’aspirapolvere nuovo, and can you move it before?

In Italian many adjectives can go either before or after the noun.

Placed after (“l’aspirapolvere nuovo”) it serves as a neutral, descriptive quality (“the vacuum cleaner that is new”).
Placed before (“il nuovo aspirapolvere”) it often adds a nuance of inherent novelty or emphasis (“brand-new vacuum cleaner”).
Both positions are grammatically correct; the choice depends on the shade of meaning or style you want.

What’s the difference between molto silenzioso and silenziosissimo?

Both express a high degree of quietness:
• molto silenzioso uses molto (“very”) before the adjective—this is the standard, everyday way to intensify.
• silenziosissimo is the absolute superlative of silenzioso, conveying an even stronger or sometimes more formal emphasis.
Use molto silenzioso for simple emphasis; choose silenziosissimo if you want to be extra emphatic or stylistically elevated.

Why is it silenzioso (adjective) and not silenziosamente (adverb)?

Here we’re describing the noun aspirapolvere, so we need an adjective (silenzioso). An adverb (silenziosamente) would modify a verb (how something is done), but in this sentence we’re not describing an action; we’re stating a property of the machine.

What does cosa che do in the sentence, and why not just che or il che?

cosa che functions like English “which”, referring back to the entire idea “the new vacuum cleaner is very quiet.”
• Using che alone (“…, che piace al mio gatto”) is grammatically correct but can feel a bit terse or ambiguous about what che refers to.
• il che (“…, il che piace al mio gatto”) is a more literary/formal alternative and less common in everyday speech.
cosa che is neutral and very common in colloquial Italian for linking to a preceding clause.

How does piace work in cosa che piace al mio gatto? Who is the subject and why is the cat introduced with al?

In Italian piacere means “to be pleasing to.”
• The subject of the verb is the thing that pleases—here cosa (the fact that it’s quiet).
• The person (or animal) who experiences that pleasure is an indirect object, introduced by a.
So a + il mio gatto gives al mio gatto, and the verb agrees in number with cosa (singular), hence piace.

Why is there a comma before cosa che?

Because cosa che piace al mio gatto is a non-restrictive (explanatory) relative clause—it adds extra information about the preceding statement. Italian, like English, sets off such parenthetical or explanatory clauses with a comma.

Could you say cosa che gli piace instead of cosa che piace al mio gatto?

Yes. gli is the third-person singular indirect-object pronoun replacing a + person/animal. After you’ve already introduced il mio gatto clearly, you can shorten to cosa che gli piace. In a standalone sentence, repeating al mio gatto keeps the meaning perfectly clear.