Breakdown of Ogni sabato passo l’aspirapolvere in soggiorno.
io
I
ogni
every
in
in
il soggiorno
the living room
passare l’aspirapolvere
to vacuum
il sabato
the Saturday
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Questions & Answers about Ogni sabato passo l’aspirapolvere in soggiorno.
How do you translate passo l’aspirapolvere into English?
It literally means “I run the vacuum cleaner,” but the natural translation is “I vacuum” or “I vacuum the living room.”
Why is the verb passare used here instead of fare or aspirare?
In Italian the standard collocation for “to vacuum” is passare l’aspirapolvere (literally “to pass the vacuum cleaner”).
- You could also say aspirare (to suck up), but that’s more technical.
- Saying faccio l’aspirapolvere would be unidiomatic because aspirapolvere is a noun, not an activity.
What part of speech is ogni, and why is sabato singular?
Ogni is a distributive adjective meaning “every.” It always takes a singular noun, so you say ogni sabato (never ogni sabati).
Could you use tutti i sabati instead of ogni sabato?
Yes. tutti i sabati also means “every Saturday.” The difference is subtle:
- ogni sabato is slightly more common for a simple “every.”
- tutti i sabati literally means “all the Saturdays,” and you must include the article i.
Why is it in soggiorno rather than nel soggiorno?
With names of rooms or typical places, Italian often drops the article after certain prepositions:
- in soggiorno, in cucina, a letto, a scuola.
Saying nel soggiorno isn’t wrong, but in soggiorno is more idiomatic for describing where you carry out an action.
Why does l’aspirapolvere have an apostrophe at the beginning?
The apostrophe marks elision of the article il before a vowel. So il aspirapolvere becomes l’aspirapolvere.
Why is sabato not capitalized in Italian?
Unlike English, Italian does not capitalize days of the week. So you write lunedì, martedì, mercoledì, etc., all in lowercase.
What tense is passo, and why is it used for a habitual action?
Passo is the first-person singular present indicative of passare. In Italian the present tense often expresses habitual or routine actions—just as English uses the simple present in “I vacuum every Saturday.”
What does aspirapolvere literally mean?
It’s a compound of aspirare (to suck) and polvere (dust), so literally “dust-sucker.” It’s the standard word for “vacuum cleaner.”
Can you move ogni sabato to the end of the sentence?
Yes. Italian word order is flexible with time expressions. You could also say:
Passo l’aspirapolvere in soggiorno ogni sabato.