Breakdown of Offro un suggerimento utile al mio amico.
io
I
l'amico
the friend
il mio
my
utile
useful
offrire
to offer
al
to
il suggerimento
the suggestion
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Italian grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Offro un suggerimento utile al mio amico.
Why is there no io before offro?
In Italian you usually omit the subject pronoun because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is. The “-o” ending of offro marks it as first-person singular (I offer), so io is unnecessary and often dropped.
What is un suggerimento utile in this sentence—direct or indirect object?
Un suggerimento utile is the direct object (what is being offered). The verb offrire takes a direct object (the suggestion) and an indirect object (the person receiving it).
Why do we say al mio amico, and how does that work grammatically?
Al mio amico is the indirect object (to my friend). Al is the contraction of preposition a (to) + definite article il (the). Mio agrees in gender and number with amico (masculine singular).
Why use the indefinite article un and not uno before suggerimento?
In Italian you use uno before words that start with z, gn, ps, x, y, or s + another consonant. Since suggerimento begins with s + vowel, the correct form is un.
Why does the adjective utile come after the noun suggerimento?
Most Italian adjectives follow the noun they modify. Placing utile after suggerimento is the neutral, descriptive order. Putting adjectives before nouns usually adds emphasis or a subjective shade.
Could you say un utile suggerimento instead? Is there any difference?
Yes, un utile suggerimento is perfectly correct. Moving utile before the noun emphasizes its usefulness and can sound slightly more literary or expressive, but the basic meaning remains the same.
Can I replace al mio amico with a pronoun?
Absolutely. As an indirect-object clitic, al mio amico (“to my friend”) becomes gli (“to him”). You can say Gli offro un suggerimento utile.
How would you make the whole sentence plural?
Turn un suggerimento utile into dei suggerimenti utili (some useful suggestions) and al mio amico into ai miei amici (to my friends). You get:
Offro dei suggerimenti utili ai miei amici.