Ho piegato il cavalletto e l’ho messo nel marsupio grande.

I folded the easel and put it in the large waist pouch.

Breakdown of Ho piegato il cavalletto e l’ho messo nel marsupio grande.

• io: I
• mettere: to put
• e: and
• nel: in

Questions & Answers about Ho piegato il cavalletto e l’ho messo nel marsupio grande.

Why is Ho piegato used instead of Sono piegato?

Because piegare is a transitive verb (“to fold”). Transitive verbs in the passato prossimo take avere, not essere. You only use essere with certain intransitive verbs (often movement or reflexive verbs).

How does l’ho work here? What is it short for?

L’ho is the clitic pronoun lo (referring to il cavalletto) combined with the auxiliary ho. When lo comes before a vowel, it elides and becomes l’, so lo ho messo → l’ho messo.

Does the past participle messo agree with the pronoun l’?

With avere, the past participle normally stays in the masculine singular form. However, if a direct-object pronoun precedes a verb with avere, you must agree the participle. Here l’ = masculine singular “it,” so messo remains messo. If it had been feminine plural, you’d see messe.

What is nel? Why not in il marsupio?