Indosso una maglietta di cotone.

I wear a cotton T-shirt.

Breakdown of Indosso una maglietta di cotone.

• io: I
• di: of
• indossare: to wear
• la maglietta: the T-shirt
• il cotone: the cotton

Questions & Answers about Indosso una maglietta di cotone.

What does indosso mean, and how does it differ from verbs like metto or porto?

• Indosso is the first-person singular present indicative of indossare, which specifically means “to wear” (clothes).
• Metto (from mettere) literally means “I put on,” focusing on the action of putting something on.
• Porto (from portare) often means “I carry” or “I bring,” but can also mean “I wear” when talking about accessories (e.g., porto gli occhiali = “I wear glasses”).
• Use indossare when you talk about wearing garments in general.

Why is there no subject pronoun before indosso?

• Italian is a pro-drop language: the verb ending -o already signals “I.”
• You only add io (I) for emphasis: Io indosso una maglietta di cotone (“I, personally, am wearing a cotton t-shirt”).

What’s the difference between maglia, maglietta, and t-shirt?

• Maglia: a general term for a knitted shirt or sweater (often long-sleeved).
• Maglietta: a diminutive of maglia, used for casual shirts, especially short-sleeved ones (i.e., t-shirts).
• T-shirt: an English loanword, very common in spoken Italian; synonymous with maglietta but more informal.

Why is the material expressed with di cotone instead of an adjective?

• In Italian, you use di + material to express what something is made of (e.g., di pelle, di seta, di lana).
• You could also say in cotone, but di cotone is more frequent for clothing materials.

Why doesn’t cotone require an article (e.g., di il cotone)?

• When stating material in a general sense, Italian omits the article: di cotone = “made of cotton.”
• You would include an article if referring to a specific batch or type: del cotone che ho comprato (“of the cotton I bought”).

Where does the stress fall in maglietta and cotone?

• maglietta: stress on the second syllable – mag-LIET-ta.
• cotone: stress on the second syllable – co-TO-ne.

Can I use a continuous form like sto indossando instead?

• Yes. Sto indossando una maglietta di cotone emphasizes that you are in the process of wearing it right now.
• The simple present indosso is more common for describing what you usually wear or what you are wearing at this moment in everyday speech.

Why is the article una and not un’ before maglietta?

• Una is used before feminine nouns starting with a consonant (m-a-g…).
• Un’ (with an apostrophe) is only for feminine nouns starting with a vowel (e.g., un’amica).