Breakdown of Spesso basta un piccolo aiuto per risolvere un problema.
per
for
spesso
often
il problema
the problem
risolvere
to solve
bastare
to be enough
l’aiuto
the help
piccolo
little
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Questions & Answers about Spesso basta un piccolo aiuto per risolvere un problema.
What does bastare mean here?
The verb bastare means to be enough. In this sentence, basta is the third person singular present form, so basta un piccolo aiuto literally conveys a little help is enough.
Why is there no explicit subject before basta?
In Italian, bastare is often used impersonally. The thing that suffices becomes the grammatical subject, so you don’t need an extra pronoun (like it). Basta un piccolo aiuto directly means one small help suffices.
Why is un piccolo aiuto used instead of il piccolo aiuto?
Un is the indefinite article (a/an). We’re talking about any small help in general, not a specific one, so we use un piccolo aiuto (a little help) rather than il (the).
Why is piccolo placed before aiuto instead of after the noun?
Although many Italian adjectives follow the noun, adjectives of size or quantity like piccolo often come before the noun for emphasis. Piccolo aiuto (small help) sounds more natural than aiuto piccolo.
What does spesso mean and why is it at the beginning of the sentence?
Spesso means often or frequently. Placing it at the start emphasizes the idea of frequent occurrence: Spesso basta… translates to Often, a little help is enough….
How does the construction per risolvere work to express purpose?
Italian uses per + infinitive to express purpose (just like English in order to). So per risolvere means to solve, and per risolvere un problema means to solve a problem.
Why is there no preposition before un problema after risolvere?
The verb risolvere is transitive, which means it takes a direct object without any preposition. You say risolvere un problema, not risolvere a un problema.
Why is problema masculine even though it ends in -a?
Many Italian words ending in -ma derive from Greek and are masculine. That’s why you say un problema or il problema, using masculine articles.