Ogni sabato passo l’aspirapolvere in soggiorno.

Every Saturday I vacuum the living room.

Breakdown of Ogni sabato passo l’aspirapolvere in soggiorno.

• io: I
• ogni: every
• in: in
• il soggiorno: the living room

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?