Il gatto si nasconde fra le sedie.

The cat hides among the chairs.

Breakdown of Il gatto si nasconde fra le sedie.

• il gatto: the cat
• la sedia: the chair
• nascondersi: to hide
• fra: among

Questions & Answers about Il gatto si nasconde fra le sedie.

What role does si play in Il gatto si nasconde?

Si is the third-person reflexive pronoun. It turns nascondere (“to hide”) into the pronominal verb nascondersi (“to hide oneself”). Here it tells us that the subject (the cat) is doing the hiding to itself.

Why is the reflexive pronoun placed before the verb and not attached at the end?

In simple tenses (like the present indicative nasconde), reflexive pronouns stand before the conjugated verb:
• Il gatto si nasconde.
They only attach to the end in non-finite forms:
• Nascondersi (infinitive)
• Nascondendosi (gerund)

Could you say nasconde without si?

No, because nascondersi is inherently reflexive in this context. Omitting si would leave you with nascondere (to hide something), changing the meaning:
• Nasconde il topo = “He hides the mouse.”
• Si nasconde = “He hides himself.”

What’s the difference between fra and tra in fra le sedie?